Rooting of peach hardwood cuttings for the meadow orchard

In order to make peach meadow orchard systems feasible, the possibility of propagating peaches by hardwood cuttings and thus reducing the establishment cost of this extremely high-density planting system was examined.A medium temperature of 25°C was harmful to auxin-treated peach cuttings, but excellent rooting could be obtained at a temperature as low as 12°C. Further trials conducted under outdoor conditions in winter in the coastal plain of Israel, with a soil temperature of 12–14°C, did not show any effect of timing on rooting, providing the cutting was taken mature enough (after mid-November) and not later than about 6 weeks prior to bud break. In 30 days root initiation started. Although variations were found between cultivars, 1500 mg/l of indole butyric acid in a 5-second base-dip was found to act well with most cultivars. Good aeration was shown to be critical for good root formation. Leaving the cutting for 1 month in damp sand prior to planting in orchard soil was satisfactory. An area of a few hectares of commercial meadow orchards has already been established with this method.