Description of the plum variety Otsark Premier and pollinators, cultivation and care

One of the promising varieties is the Otsark Premier plum, which has extremely positive reviews among gardening enthusiasts. The fruit crop is grown almost everywhere; it has a sufficient degree of tolerance to adverse environmental factors. To harvest a bountiful harvest of Otsark Premier plum, you need to become more familiar with its strengths and weaknesses, as well as the rules of planting and care.

History of selection

The Otsark Premier plum is a hybrid form, for the development of which Burbank and Methley were involved. The state of Missouri became the birthplace of the fruit crop. The American variety has exclusively absorbed only the best qualities from its parents.

Varietal characteristics and features

This fruit variety attracts the attention of gardeners with its unpretentiousness to growing conditions and care.

External description of the tree

Plum Otsark Premier is positioned as a vigorous plant with a spreading crown, which has a cup-shaped shape and a high degree of foliage. The wood has a dark brown color, a rough surface, and has shallow cracks. The erect lateral processes have light brown bark and no pubescence.

The leaf apparatus has a glossy surface, an ovoid shape and a rich dark green color.

White flowers grow small in size and form in bunches on fruit branches. The Ozark Premier plum is also called Ozark Premier. This early ripening hybrid blooms in mid-May, and the fruits are harvested in late July. The first harvest can already be harvested 3 years after being assigned to a permanent place.

Features of the fetus

The light green fruits of the Otsark Premier plum have an oval shape; when they reach consumer maturity, the color becomes dark red with a dotted blush.On the dense skin there is a waxy coating and a clearly visible seam. The mass of large fruits is 110 grams. The pulp of the Otsark Premier plum has a sweet and sour taste, a creamy color, the pit does not separate very well, and has a pronounced aroma.

The Otsark Premier plum bears fruit abundantly and constantly. From one plant, whose age is from 9 years, it is possible to remove up to 60 kilograms of fruit.

Characteristics

Among other hybrids, the Otsark plum variety is distinguished by a whole set of distinctive features, which determine its demand among gardening enthusiasts.

Drought and frost resistance

When growing Otsark Premier plum, it is not recommended to allow either an excess of moisture in the soil or a lack of it. Although the plant has a sufficient level of resistance to drought, it is worth doing 3 irrigation procedures per season. Resistance to sub-zero temperatures is also at a high level, but it is better to wrap young trees additionally.

What diseases are dangerous for culture

The following common ailments can endanger not only the future harvest, but also the plant itself.

Clusterosporiasis

The disease manifests itself on the Otsark Premier plum in the form of brown lesions with a dark border on the surface of the bark. Through holes appear on the leaf plates, and a white coating appears on the unaffected part. The methods of struggle are:

• removal of infected parts of the crown;
• treatment of the wound surface using garden varnish;
• spraying the tree with a 1% solution of Bordeaux mixture or a working fluid based on copper oxychloride (40 grams of product per 10 liters of water).

Rust

The disease can be identified by the following signs:

• the formation of rapidly spreading convex red spots on the outside of the leaf;
• depressed state of the tree;
• premature falling of leaf blades.

You need to start taking measures against rust at the first symptoms. Otsark plum is treated with a working solution based on copper oxychloride, prepared at the rate of 40 g of the drug per 5 liters of water. The liquid consumption per garden planting is 3 liters of solution. At the end of harvesting the fruits, it is recommended to carry out another treatment with copper sulfate or copper sulfate.

Fruit rot

The obvious symptoms of this disease are:

• brown spots on fruits, which quickly increase in size in conditions of heat and high humidity;
• the presence of spore pads on gray plums.

The insidiousness of the disease lies in the rapid spread of spores, which are easily carried by gusts of wind. You can save the Otsark Premier plum by removing infected fruits and treating them with Bordeaux mixture.

Sooty fungus

The disease is recognized by a black coating on the leaf mass and lateral branches. It blocks the access of oxygen and light to the cells of the garden planting, completely disrupting the process of photosynthesis. The source of the disease is high humidity and stagnation of water in the soil.

To get rid of the disease, you must first eliminate the causes of sooty fungus. Spraying the crown is carried out with a working solution based on crushed laundry soap (150 grams), copper sulfate (5 grams) and water (10 liters).

Pollinator varieties

Since the Otsark Premier plum belongs to self-fertile plants, it requires additional pollination. The best varieties for these purposes are Shiro, Santa Rosa, Satsuma, Starking Delicious, Friar.

Flowering and fruiting of the Otsark plum

The hybrid is an early ripening plant; the fruit ripening period is early - at the end of July.Under favorable growing conditions, the productivity indicators of the Otsark plum only increase every year.

Harvest and use

It is not for nothing that the Otsark Premier plum is classified as a commercial variety; its fruits have a high degree of transportability and keeping quality. The harvest can also be used to prepare various desserts, jams, compotes, and can also be consumed fresh. The commercial and taste qualities of the fruit are at a high level.

How to grow a tree on a plot

The Otsark Premier plum has an intensive rate of growth and development, which requires a proper approach to planting and care. In order for a tree to have increased immunity to major diseases and pests, and also to produce a bountiful harvest, it is necessary to plant seedlings at the appropriate time and follow the basic rules of agricultural technology.

Optimal time for planting

It is recommended to plant the Otsark Premier plum in the spring, having prepared the place for planting in the fall. But you can select seedlings for a permanent place in the fall by digging out and fertilizing the pit two weeks before the planting day.

Selecting a location

It is advisable to choose a site for planting seedlings in well-lit clearings protected from draft winds. To avoid future problems with the fruit crop, it is not worth preparing a place for planting the Otsark plum in wetlands, and places with close groundwater are also not suitable.

Preparing the soil and seedlings

For the Otsark Premier plum, it is preferable to choose areas with light and well-drained soil. The plant will not grow or bear fruit in acidic soil.

To normalize the acidity level, it is necessary to use slaked lime, crushed chalk or dolomite flour.

The highest yields were observed on well-fertilized soils. In the fall, during preparatory work, you need to add rotted manure (3 kilograms), wood ash (100 grams), and potassium salt (40 grams) to the pit. All components are designed for 1 kilogram of garden soil. If planting is done in the spring, then to increase the nutritional value of the soil by 1 square meter, rotted manure (5 kilograms), wood ash (400 grams) and potassium salt (80 grams) are used.

Landing technology

It is best to choose annual or biennial plants with a closed root system to create an orchard. The size of the pit directly depends on the size of the underground part of the seedling; it is optimal to dig a pit, the depth and width of which is 60 centimeters. To tie a plum, a wooden peg is placed in the center of the hole, after which a young tree is placed, its roots are straightened and sprinkled with fertile soil. The main thing is to leave the root collar of the Otsark plum 5 centimeters higher from the ground level.

The soil around the seedling is compacted and moistened abundantly, using 10 liters of water per plant. To retain moisture, the soil is mulched with peat or rotted sawdust.

Taking care of the culture

Proper care of the Otsark Premier plum is the key to a rich and tasty harvest.

Fertilizer and watering

The fruit crop responds gratefully to the addition of nutritional compounds; they are added to the soil in the third year after planting. During spring and autumn digging, the plum should be fed with organic matter (compost, mature manure). Mineral complexes for plums Otsark are used three times per season: before flowering, 14 days after its completion and at the stage of fruit filling.

Irrigation is carried out regularly throughout the entire growing season of the plum tree. At the beginning of spring, during the flowering stage and 2 weeks after it, 5 buckets of water are used per planting. But at the fruit-filling stage, the norm should be increased to 7 buckets of water. A month before the arrival of frost, up to 15 buckets of water are poured under each tree, and mulch is laid on top.

Stone fruit pruning

Given the active growth of vegetative mass in the first years after planting, the Otsark Premier plum tree needs annual pruning. All incapacitated shoots and branches that have already gone beyond the formed crown must be removed. The trimming also applies to the central conductor; it is shortened to 1.5 meters.

Loosening and care of the tree trunk circle

To improve the moisture and air permeability of the soil, the soil is regularly loosened. The manipulation is performed a couple of days after irrigation. It is possible to avoid the development of various ailments and the invasion of parasites by removing weeds from the tree trunk.

Diseases and the fight against them

To protect garden plants from dangerous diseases, it is necessary to carry out treatments with Bordeaux mixture or a working solution based on copper sulfate, which is diluted according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The first procedure is carried out in early spring before the buds open, the second - 2 weeks before the flowering phase, the third - after the leaves fall.

Preparing for winter

In addition to moisture-recharging irrigation, before the onset of cold weather, the soil in the tree trunk circle should be mulched. The trunk of the Otsark plum needs to be whitened and wrapped in paper and burlap. Such simple actions will protect the tree from severe frosts.

Plum Otsark Premier is an excellent option for an unpretentious and high-yielding plant.Even novice gardeners can grow it, the main thing is to adhere to the planting algorithm and basic recommendations regarding care.