Climate and Soil Requirements
Factors restricting nectarine growing are low winter temperatures, winter cooling need of the variety, spring late frosts and low summer temperature. Buds and shoots freeze in places where winter temperature falls down to –18°C, –20°C.
Due to the fact that nectarine is a fruit variety which blooms early, it is highly damaged by spring late frosts. In places where summer temperature is low, ripening of fruits delays and fruit yield reduces.
Nectarine likes well-drained, sandy, clayey, silty, pebbly, deep and fast-warming alluvial soils and soil pH must be between 6 and 7. It may be grown through sufficient irrigation and good fertilisation in sandy soils.
It does not give good result in heavily clayey soils. Vegetation weakens and trees fail to display any natural resistance to fungal diseases in such soils. Withering is observed on leaves and glue formation on trunks and branches.
While nectarine grafted on almond displays resistance to highly calcareous soils, plum rootstock is used in relatively heavy soils.
