The peculiarity of the northern Dessert apricot variety is that, despite not the most favorable growing conditions, its fruits are large and tasty. This variety cannot be found in the register of fruit trees of the Russian Federation, although the famous breeder Ivan Vladimirovich Michurin put effort into working on it. The scientist worked painstakingly to improve the variety of seeds that came to him in 1925. The predecessors of the Dessert variety were the Best Michurinsky and Tovarishch varieties.
Description of the Dessert variety
As a result of natural pollination with a mixture of pollen from the Best Michurinsky and Comrade seedlings Louise, a common variety in Western Europe, a variety of dessert apricot was bred at the Voronezh Agricultural Institute. The selection that gave the gardeners of the Central Black Earth region the large-fruited, winter-hardy variety Dessertny was carried out by A. N. Venyaminov and L. A. Dolmatova.
A description of the apricot tree variety will help you plan maintenance work. Despite the fact that Dessert Apricot does not require special conditions, measures to form the crown in the first 2-3 years after planting should be systematic. After planting, the seedling of winter-hardy apricot, its outer part, cannot exceed 80 cm from the surface of the ground.
Characteristics of the tree and fruits
The tree can exceed 5 meters in height. The round, wide crown is prone to thickening, so that the fruits on the lower branches receive enough light, the crown must be thinned periodically. Fruiting begins in the fourth year, after the apricot seedling is planted in a permanent place.
The variety, which shows itself to be unpretentious in the climate of the northern regions, refuses to bear fruit in the south. This is due to the fact that during a thaw the buds quickly awaken, but die when frost returns.
Attention! The fruit tree of the Dessert variety of apricots does not tolerate thaws.
In regions where snow falls before the ground has time to freeze, the fruit tree may die due to preheating followed by decomposition of the bark and cambium. In central Russia, Dessert apricot can take root if the climate of the region is ideal for fruiting cherries, cherry plums, and plums.One cannot promise a 100% result in terms of seedling survival, just like in terms of yield.
The fruits of young trees often reach a weight of 50 g, the harvest of adult plants consists of 30 g of apricots.
Dessert apricot fruit:
- juicy aromatic pulp (medium density);
- thin, velvety skin;
- the taste is sweet with pleasant sourness;
- ripe fruit is light yellow;
- symmetric;
- The bone is large and easily separated.
The Dessert harvest occurs at the end of July, beginning of August. It is impossible to store it fresh (in the refrigerator) for more than one week. Soft fruits are stored in marketable condition for no more than 4 days. During transportation, neither the presentation nor the taste are lost. The variety is self-pollinating; for it to bear fruit, you do not need to plant a pollinating apricot nearby.
Variety characteristics:
- begins to bear fruit in the 4th year after planting in a permanent place;
- in regions with consistently cold winters, the plant is not threatened by the bark heating;
- high immunity to diseases.
Provided that it is adjacent to winter-hardy varieties of apricots on the site, the Dessert crop only gets better, acquiring the best qualities inherent in the neighboring plant. In this case, there is no question of maintaining the purity of the variety, but yields, according to gardeners, increase.
Features of planting and care
Gardeners purchase the best planting material from nurseries at institutes and agricultural academies. Seedlings 1-2 years old, grown in similar climatic conditions to the place of intended planting, take root more easily.
Standard formers - packaging of roots, cannot be removed. A root system wrapped in a net is considered open. Its growth can be stimulated with special compounds.To do this, it is necessary to soak the root system in the solution for a period of 12 to 24 hours. Growth stimulants suitable for treating apricot roots before planting are “Kornevin”, “Epin”, “Heteroauxin”.
Mid-autumn - preparing planting holes:
- size 70 cm3;
- one third is filled with drainage - crushed stone, gravel, pebbles;
- installation of orientation pegs;
- filling the rest of the hole with a mixture of selected soil and fertilizers.
Attention! To improve the quality of the land, ash, humus, and peat are used. This is especially important for areas with loamy dense soils. The proportion of ash to other land improvement ingredients depends on the quality of the soil on the site.
Diseases and pests
The resistance of Dessert apricot to all diseases is great, but it can still be affected by:
- Moniliosis. Rotting of a flower, brown color of petals or the appearance of gray rot on fruits is usually preceded by a warm winter. The fungus that causes this disease dies in cold weather.
- Gnomoniosis. Brown spots on the leaves are just the first manifestations. Ultimately, this threatens a complete loss of the harvest; unripe fruits begin to dry out and fall off. Secateurs, copper sulfate and Nitrafen are mandatory means of protection at the first manifestations of the disease.
- Clusterosporiasis. Holes on the leaves are the scourge of drupes. These are only the first signs of a fungal disease. At a later stage, growths appear on the trunk, oozing gum.
Please note: the cause of perforation on the leaves can be bacteria, burns from chemical compounds, or damage by insects. The most dangerous pests for apricot trees are insects - aphids, leaf rollers.
