Apricot "favorite": a description of the variety, features of care, productivity, reviews. Apricot for the Moscow region

A culture such as apricot belonging to the genus Armeniaca Scop, is part of the plum subfamily. The most common in the world are twelve species of this fruit. The main cultivated variety is Avulgaris, or ordinary apricot.

About this fruit was known seven to eight millennia ago. He was brought to Europe from Armenia, and it happened about two hundred years ago. In this country, one of the symbols is apricot. The tree is also called the "Armenian apple". In our country, culture is most often found in the North Caucasus and Crimea.

There is no such person who would not like to eat a fruit such as apricot. The tree, strewn with yellowish-pinkish fruits of Avulgaris, is the dream of every gardener. Tender, like velvet skins and juicy fragrant flesh - all this makes apricot a favorite fruit of many. And from the very childhood. And if earlier this fruit tree could be grown only in the southern regions, in recent years breeders have been brought out such varieties that are relatively well tolerated by the relatively harsh winter conditions.

general information

Winter-resistant apricots immediately fell in love with gardeners. The most popular of them are "red cheeked", "Russian", "hardy", "beloved", "honey", "snowball" and "calyx". No less useful property of this culture is its ability to self-pollination. This characteristic is a guarantee of an excellent crop, even if the apricot tree on the site is the only one.

According to the terms of maturation, this culture is early, medium and late. Experts recommend to grow several types of garden in the garden, differing in this parameter. Then almost all the season you can have sweet apricots on the table. The early varieties include "Alyosha", "June", "Leshore", "Tsarist", "Sambursky Early", "Alliance", "Melitopol Early" and "Iceberg". Mid-ripe are considered to be "red-cheeked", "goldenrich", "monastic", "Altair", "Zaporozhets", "petrel", etc. The late varieties include "spark", "Kiev red," "costume", "Denisyuk's special "And apricot" favorite. " Many of them grow well in the Moscow region gardens and are pleased with their harvest.

The best apricot for the suburbs

For each region, it is necessary to choose specific varieties capable of withstanding the climatic conditions of this zone. For example, for cultivation in the suburbs, only those species that have a sufficiently high winter hardiness and well tolerate frost will do, which are quite common here in the cold season. Apricot "favorite", belonging to a group of varieties with a late maturation period, differs unpretentiousness and fastness. Its fruits are appreciated for their excellent taste, for its magnificent aroma and good appearance. Apricot "favorite" was bred in early 2000 by breeder Kramarenko. The originator of the variety is the main botanical garden of the country. In 2004, the culture was included in the State Register of the Central Region. This, judging by the reviews, is the best apricot for the Moscow region.

Variety description

This fruit tree has a moderate growth force. In height, the adult plant reaches three to four meters. Apricot "favorite" of the late maturation period has a middle-cranial crown. It has branchy annual shoots, shiny, without pubescence and having a brown color. The bark on old trunks gradually becomes gray-brown and is covered with longitudinal cracks. The leaf plate of this sort of apricot has an elongated shape, with sharpening at the end and jagged edges. The petiole of the plant is thin. The apricot tree "favorite" is covered in spring with white flowers having an average size (in diameter up to three centimeters). Buds blossom before the appearance of leaves.

The fruits of the apricot, which weighs up to thirty grams, are large enough. They have a rounded shape, uneven surface and slight pubescence. The fruits of the apricot "Favorit" have an orange color with a pronounced blush. They have a bright flesh and dense juicy texture. The bone of the fruit is small enough, while it can easily be separated. Apricot "favorite", as already mentioned, refers to the self-fertilized, so for him no additional pollinators are needed. However, many experts advise: for a good ovary next to him plant such varieties as "lél", "king" or "monastic". Judging by the reviews, this apricot for the suburbs fits best.

Advantages, disadvantages of the variety

In the list of positive characteristics of "Favorite" the first place is occupied by early fertility. In addition, this grade has high frost resistance, which makes it possible to grow it in the conditions of the Moscow region, self-fertilization, excellent marketability and good transportability.

In addition to the benefits, experts also call a number of shortcomings, which are characteristic of apricot "favorite". This - the late maturation period, the need for regular pruning and thinning the crown, as well as the dependence of taste and quality of the fruit on the weather.

All about time and place of planting

"Favorite", like most fruit trees, is a light and thermophilic culture. Therefore, planting of apricot in the open ground should be carried out in early spring. In the Moscow region these works are better to implement in the first days of April. Planting apricot during this period will enable the seedling to take root better, and the risk of damage to the trees by frost is reduced to a minimum. Experts consider the placement of seedlings in the open ground to be less favorable.

In order that the apricot "favorite" self-fertilized normally grows and yields a good harvest, it is better to take away the southern side of the site, where there is free access to sunlight. This fruit tree can be planted both along the fence, and near buildings. The main requirement for planting is that the site must be protected from wind and draft.

For fast rooting young trees can be protected from the northern side by small shields, painted with white. Such designs well reflect sunlight and prevent the seedlings from freezing.

Apricot "favorite" perfectly develops and successfully fructifies on elevated areas and small slopes. You should not plant this crop in lowlands or in places where there is constant flooding. At the same time, the groundwater table at this location should not exceed 3-4 m.

The soil

Sweet varieties of apricot are quite demanding on the nutrient composition and structure of the soil. For them, an easy fertile soil is perfect - loam or sandy loamy soil. The optimum acidity of the soil must be neutral or slightly acidic with a pH level of 6 to 7. At the same time, the soil must necessarily pass both water and air. For cultivation of this sort of apricot, sand or clay areas are not practical.

If the culture is planted on a rainless chernozem, then the tree not only enters the fruiting period late, but also gives irregular and meager yields. Good "neighbors" for apricots of this variety are oak, old pears, as well as maple and ash. "Favorit" has a developed and deep root system, therefore on sites where these plants are present, it usually always gets well.

Choose seedlings

A healthy planting material is the key to successful rooting and development of a strong tree. Apricot "favorite", the yield of which also depends on this condition, must meet certain criteria. When selecting seedlings in the first place, one should pay attention to the external state of the branches and trunk. They should be even, do not have injuries, wounds. For cultivation in the suburbs it is desirable to choose the planting material on the stamping agents. During the rootstock you should use frost-resistant non-sparing crops, for example, plum, plum, peach, almonds and, of course, apricots. So experts increase frost resistance, as well as drought tolerance of the variety. The best indicators of resistance against drought in apricots grafted on almonds, slightly lower - on a peach. When buying seedlings, you need to pay attention to the development of the root system. The roots should not be damaged. In this case, the presence of dried or frozen parts is unacceptable.

Proceeding from this, we can say that it is better to buy seedlings in nurseries or specialized stores. The trees that are offered in the market by private traders do not always have good quality. For planting it is necessary to choose one-year or two-year seedlings with an open or closed root system. Those trees that sell today nurseries in containers, much better take root and much earlier enter into fruiting.

Preparation of the landing site

It is best to conduct preparatory work on the site one year before the apricot is planted on it. For example, in the Moscow Region, a one-component primer is very often found, which should be structured. For starters, a landing pit with a diameter of about eighty and a depth of up to seventy centimeters is excavated. Its size is better to increase in the case when the soil area is not enriched with nutrients. In general, the poorer the land, the more it is necessary to dig a pit. The bottom is covered with drainage from expanded clay, large gravel or broken bricks. For backfilling in the excavation should be prepared soil mixture of clay, peat and sand, taken in equal proportions. Many there also add lime or wood ash, a gram of fifteen to twenty compost, superphosphate and potassium salt. Above the foundation pit is filled with a layer of pure soil.

Disembarkation: step-by-step instruction

Before placing seedlings in the ground, they should be cut off the damaged and dried roots. Shear updates are not required for previously processed shoots. The roots of the seedlings should be dipped in the soil chatterbox. It must be prepared immediately before disembarkation. For this, the fertile soil should be diluted with water until a thick cream is obtained. Experts recommend adding to the mixture and heteroauxin at a rate of 0.1 grams per ten liters of water. This tool will stimulate the formation of roots and promote the best development of young trees.

Then, in a prepared pit, a small earth mound is made on the bottom. A peg is driven ten centimeters from the center. A seedling is placed in the center of the planting pit, the roots of which are neatly straightened on the mound. It is necessary to make sure that the root neck was four to six centimeters above the bottom.

Falling asleep with the ground, the seedling should be periodically shaken to fill the soil with all voids. Ground should be gently trampled with your foot. After that the seedling twines tie to the peg. Then a hole with a diameter of about forty centimeters is formed, and an earthen roller is made at the edges.

Sprinkle the seedlings after planting followed by twenty liters of clean warm water. After that, the hole is mulched with dry earth, wood shavings or peat. During the first month after planting, it is necessary to carefully monitor the moisture content of the soil, in no case permitting the drying of the soil.

Apricot "favorite": features of care

Like any other plant, this fruit culture also requires a proper approach to growing. Only competent care for this apricot variety will allow the grower to grow a strong and healthy tree on the site, annually pleasing with a plentiful harvest of quality delicious fruits. The main rules of agricultural technology are timely pruning, feeding, protection from pests or diseases, and, of course, timely watering. Gardener should monitor the cleanliness of the parasite, regularly removing weeds and periodically loosening the soil.

Watering

Apricot "favorite" has a powerful and deep root system. Therefore, it can easily obtain moisture necessary for normal growth from the lower layers of the soil. Under normal climatic conditions, experts recommend conducting four basic watering - in April, May, in the first days of July and in October.

Irrigation is best done using a drip system or by means of annular grooves. The norm of water for one-year-old trees is fifteen or twenty liters, for two-year-olds there are two buckets, three-year-olds are three, etc. At each irrigation, it is necessary to moisturize the earth in depth by thirty or forty centimeters. After any irrigation, the well is mulched with needles, dry earth or wood shavings.

Trimming

This is one of the main stages in the process of caring for such a fruit tree as apricot "favorite." Pruning is most often carried out in the spring. In the fall, it can weaken the tree, especially in the cold or rainy season. In the first years of life the crown is being formed. The most commonly chosen is a sparse-tiered form. In this case five to seven first orders of branches are left for growing, with an interval of forty centimeters.

The following year, after the landing, all branches are cut off at a level about one meter from the ground. Initially, the ones that are located in the main row are shortened in half. Then cut the remaining branches to the cambial ring. At the end of the summer, the minor processes are removed and growing at an acute angle.

In the second year of the life of the apricot, the second tier is laid. At the level of forty centimeters from the first branch, the second order is already formed. In this case, small annual branches are not cut off, and annual shoots with a length of sixty or more centimeters are shortened by half. The next year, a new stage is being formed according to the same scheme. After the end of the crown formation, sanitary and thinning pruning is performed. This removes dry and broken branches, as well as those shoots that grow vertically or in depth.

Application of fertilizing

Fertilize apricot varieties "favorite" should begin after the first of its fruiting. Feeding should be done annually. The necessary norm is divided into two parts: the first half is added to the soil already in early spring, and the second half is only after harvesting. Organic fertilizers of apricot must be given only once in three years. Top dressing should be distributed evenly around the parasite and then sprinkled with a layer of clean soil for seven to ten centimeters.

Preparation of culture for winter cold

That the apricot tree does not suffer from low temperatures, cold winds or snow, it is necessary to prepare it in advance for wintering. For this, the gardener should whiten the stems and bases in the skeletal branches with garden white or slaked lime in the autumn. Then the near-trunk area is mulched with peat, sawdust or fir-tree lapnika. Crown in young trees to be tied with string.

If the winters in the region, for example, in the Moscow suburbs are cold, then it is required to form a cone over the tree from the garden shelter or from the spunbond, and the ground should be covered with sand or earth. For mulching experts do not recommend the use of hay, fallen leaves or straw, and as an anchorage it is not necessary to use wire or other metal products.

The yield of apricot

As already mentioned, this variety is fast-growing. It begins to bear fruit for the third or fourth year after disembarkation. The maturation of its fruits in most of the regions of our country begins in August and lasts until the end of September. In the case when there was cold or rainy weather in the summer, there is a risk that most of the apricots will remain on the branches in an immature state. The average yield of each "Favorit" tree is from eighteen to twenty-three kilograms.

Fruits in the refrigerator should be stored in airtight paper bags. They are well preserved in plastic containers. In such conditions, the apricot varieties "favorite" for a long time remain fresh for six to eight days. At temperatures from zero to one degree and at a humidity of 85-95%, the fruit can be stored up to thirty to forty days. A longer shelf life is not recommended, since in this case the structure of the pulp begins to break down.

Reviews

It must be said that today many gardeners on the plot grow apricot "favorite". The reviews show that this variety is the best for growing in the Moscow region. Here, it can grow into a magnificent tree, which in summer gives rapid growths, on average, up to one and a half meters. As evidenced by the reviews of gardeners, apricot "favorite" is a fairly unpretentious variety. If at its cultivation all agrotechnical norms are observed, then the tree will give regular harvests, pleasing the owners with its sweet fruits. It persistently tolerates fairly low temperatures and even in the conditions of a cool climate fructifies well.