Description of the Medunitsa apple tree variety and its rootstocks, features of planting, cultivation and care

The cold climate zone - Siberia, the Urals - is suitable for growing the Medunitsa apple tree; according to gardeners, it is the best summer variety in the middle zone. It is in this climatic zone that its fruits have high acidity. Lungwort has a sweet taste, which is not typical for apple trees in the middle zone and northern regions. The Medovka variety, which is more resistant to severe frosts, in contrast, has a sour taste.

Description

Depending on the rootstock, the characteristics of the variety may differ slightly. Due to this, the variation in descriptions of tree height, fruit weight, density and structure of the pulp may differ slightly.

Appearance

The height of the tree is from 5 to 10 meters. The uncharacteristic shape of the crown for summer varieties is a wide pyramidal inverted shape. Skeletal branches extend from the trunk with a downward slope at an acute angle. On two-year-old seedlings, the shoots are light brown with ringlets.

Trunk

The height of the Lungwort tree on a dwarf rootstock is 1.5-2 m. On a semi-dwarf rootstock, the trunk reaches a height of 5 m; on seed and columnar apple trees they grow gigantic - up to 8-10 m in height.

Foliage

The foliage is matte green, rough to the touch with a raised, depressed pattern. It does not have a specific shape; there are round and oblong leaves of different lengths and widths. A slight yellowish tint is a natural characteristic of the variety, as is the slight, slightly pronounced curvature of the rigid leaves.

Fetus

The summer variety Medunitsa is characterized by rounded fruits weighing up to 100 g. Apples picked at the stage of technical maturity are stored for no more than 2 weeks. Maturation is not simultaneous. The winter Lungwort harvest retains its quality until mid-autumn. The fruits of the winter variety reach 150 g.Like the leaves, apples do not have a strict shape; among the rounded apples you can find conical fruits, which is not a degeneration of the variety. Most often, the fruits have the shape of an ellipse when viewed from the side.

Ripe apples suitable for picking are yellow-green in color with scarlet stripes. The fruit, which reaches table maturity while on the branch, may be distinguished by the red color of its dense, smooth peel or by its blush that predominates over other shades. At the same time, the vertical stripes remain noticeable.

The yellow flesh has a dense, juicy structure. Tasting score 4.3 points out of 5 possible. The taste of Medunitsa apples corresponds to their name - there are honey notes in the aroma and taste.

Root

In summer varieties of Lungwort on seed-bearing, columnar rootstocks, the root system is sufficiently developed to reliably hold the tree even in hurricane winds. When using dwarf and semi-dwarf rootstocks, the roots of the tree are located close to the surface, which requires additional fixation of the plant with the help of supports.

During severe bad weather, the root system will not provide the tree with reliable support; stormy winds can uproot the tree from the ground.

Types and variations of rootstocks and varieties

Selecting a tree based on the characteristics of the rootstock is necessary for areas with strong winds and certain soil types. Depends on the rootstock:

• height of an adult plant;
• its fruiting period and life expectancy;
• harvest ripening time.

Depending on the characteristics of the rootstock, the stages of care will differ - applying fertilizers, root and foliar feeding, pruning.

Summer dessert

A tall apple tree over 5 years old annually produces a harvest of 80 kg. The weight of each fruit is from 80 to 150 g.The juicy, aromatic pulp has a creamy tint.

Winter

The winter Lungwort variety differs from the summer varieties in terms of fruit ripening, which occurs at the end of September. The harvest from this tree can be stored until spring; it has a high shelf life. The peculiarity is the higher acid content in the fruits; apples taste more like honey cake.

Dwarf

The height of the tree is insignificant - 1.5-2 m. When planting, the minimum interval between plants is 1 m. The low-growing Lungwort begins to bear fruit in the 3rd year after planting an annual seedling. When planting a 2-year-old shoot, you can taste the first fruits already in the first season, but the tree has not yet gained sufficient strength, which can affect the wintering period in severe frosts. Therefore, in the first year it is recommended to remove the ovaries.

To ensure good rooting and high-quality development of the plant, a garter is needed. A healthy crown with uniform development will give maximum benefit for 12 seasons after the first fruiting. Main disadvantage dwarf apple trees in their short lifespan.

Semi-dwarf

A semi-dwarf rootstock will make Lungwort not so tall and will bring the gardener closer to the joy of receiving the first harvest. The height of the tree on a semi-dwarf rootstock is 4-5 m; such Lungwort will begin to bear fruit in the 4-5th season. The minimum interval between seedlings should not be less than 3 meters.

Columnar

Columnar rootstock is used when it is necessary to obtain a dwarf plant with a pyramidal shape. It is almost impossible to obtain such a plant from a nursery; such grafting is more often used by gardeners themselves.

Seminal

An apple tree on a seed rootstock lives up to 90 years, and it will bear fruit for more than half a century.The height of the tree reaches 5-7 meters; it will begin to bear fruit in the 5-6th season after planting in a permanent place. The distance between the planting holes of Lungwort apple trees on a seed rootstock is at least 4.4 m. To ensure that the crowns do not shade each other, the optimal distance between the holes is 6 meters.

Advantages and disadvantages of varieties

A characteristic feature of the Lungwort variety (all types) is that the fruits practically do not fall off after full ripening; they hold securely on the branches. During long-term storage, fruits lose their taste. The ripening of fruits on one tree is uneven; it can take 2-3 weeks from the first ripe apple to the last.

An apple tree on a dwarf rootstock practically does not require thinning of branches, while for normal fruiting of a tree on a seed rootstock, regular pruning of the crown will be required. Seed rootstocks provide fruiting for at least half a century, and dwarf trees live no more than 30 years, their fruiting period does not exceed 15 seasons.

Whatever rootstock is used, all deficiencies can be corrected with the right care.

Attention! For humid areas, it is better to choose a plant on a clonal rootstock; it increases the apple tree’s resistance to excessive soil moisture.

Comparisons with other varieties

If we compare with the varieties Medovka, Medok and Candy, then:

1. In terms of disease resistance, Lungwort has the highest indicator.
2. In fruit weight it is inferior to Medk and Medovka.
3. The taste of the fruit is characterized as sweet with a hint of honey. They have the same description Medoc apples. The fruit of the Candy variety is simply called sweet, while Medovka has a sweet and sour taste.
4. In comparison with the same varieties, Medunitsa has the highest yield with good transportability.
5. In terms of the shelf life of the crop - one and a half months, it is second only to Candy, the fruits of which can retain commercial quality for 2 months.
6. Frost resistance is higher only in Medovka.
7. You can eat fresh, make preserves, jams, compotes for long-term storage from all 4 varieties listed above. Suitable for drying only Candy apples.

Advantages of varieties

Honey Ranet and Summer Honey can be considered worthy competitors of Lungwort, but they are also inferior to it in some respects. Honey Ranet loses in such indicators as:

• fruit size;
• richness of taste;
• less resistance to diseases;
• productivity.

Summer Honey Lungwort is inferior in transportability, but significantly superior in disease resistance.

Characteristics

Candy - a variety that ripens for apple Spas, bred by S. I. Isaev. Bears fruit in the 5-6th season. Frost-resistant, grows in central Russia. Productivity up to 100 kg per adult (10-year-old) plant. The variety is self-fertile and is used as a pollinator for other varieties of apple trees.

Medovka is an early ripening variety. The tree is frost-resistant and, if damaged by severe cold, quickly regenerates. Unstable yield - a break for one season every 4-5 years, is compensated by the high taste of the fruit. Tree height is 4-4.5 m.

Medok is a columnar tree, about 2 meters high. Ripens in late August - early September. During the season you can get 15 kg of apples from one tree. It begins to bear fruit in the 2nd year.

Honey Ranet is an early ripening variety, tree height 4-4.5 m, small apples 35-70 g, yellow color. Productivity and frost resistance are high.

Summer Honey is offered by the Kurilovsky nursery. This variety is new to Russia; it was bred in Europe.The fruits with soft pink skin ripen by mid-August, their weight is on average 230 g. The pulp is juicy, fine-grained, dense. The taste is sweet and sour.

Crown formation

Formation of the crown of apple trees depends on the height of the tree. The optimal growth of the trunk in height is 60 cm; if this level is exceeded, then the crown needs pruning. With lower growth rates of apple trees that do not belong to dwarf breeds, it is necessary to apply fertilizing with growth regulators.

Pruning branches is not a mandatory step in the annual care of apple trees on dwarf and columnar rootstocks. For tall trees, it is necessary to form the crown by shortening the shoots.

Flowering and pollination

Lungwort is a self-fertile apple tree, but the quality of the harvest largely depends on what variety of apples is planted in the neighborhood and whether they can become pollinators for Lungwort. The best neighbors for Lungwort are:

• Brown Striped;
• White filling;
• Victory;
• Belfer to the Chinese;
• Chernenko;
• Anis Sverdlovsky.

When selecting a neighborhood that has a beneficial effect on the yield of Lungwort, you need to take into account the fact that pollinating varieties should bloom at the same time as it in May.

Fruiting

Fruiting of Lungwort on all types of rootstocks is consistently high (for a given tree size). If we are talking about a dwarf rootstock, then from one 2-meter tree you can get 15 kg of fruit, and from a tall 7-meter tree all 80 kg.

The lower the tree should become at a later stage of development, the faster the first harvest can be harvested from it. Tall plants take longer to mature, but their fruiting period is 40-50 seasons longer.

Winter hardiness

Lungwort is resistant to frosts down to -40 °C and to frosts that return in the spring. Successfully cultivated in the Urals and Siberia.The taste of the fruit is not affected by growing conditions.

Disease resistance

Initially, breeders were faced with the task of creating a scab-resistant variety. The goal was achieved; Lungwort turned out to be resistant to other diseases of apple crops.

Disease strains are being transformed; today Lungwort is again susceptible to the new generation of scab, because it has immunity only from the types of scab known in the 40s of the last century. Preventative treatments for lungwort from scab are necessary in the same way as other varieties of apple trees.

Selection

The Lungwort apple tree was bred as a result of crossing the Brown Striped and Welsey. The authorship belongs to S.I. Isaev, who has been working on improving the variety since 1935 on the basis of Moscow State University. Lomonosov. In 1944, the first harvest with characteristic honey notes was harvested from the apple tree.

The biologist was awarded the Stalin Prize for his work, but the Medunitsa variety is not listed in the State Register of Fruit Trees.

Agrotechnics of cultivation

Agricultural technology for growing the Medunitsa variety largely depends on the climate of the region. This affects the timing of treatments, fertilizing, pruning, and planting seedlings, because the criteria are not calendar dates, but natural factors - snow melting, thawing of the ground, the onset of consistently positive air temperatures.

Landing

It is recommended to plant an apple tree in the Caucasus, central Russia and other regions where snow covers the ground with a dense carpet in winter 15-20 days before the onset of frost. In this case, there should be no possibility of warming, during which the movement of tree sap and swelling of the buds will begin.

If at least one factor can be questioned, then tree planting should be planned for spring.In spring, apple trees must be planted in the Urals, Siberia, and regions of the Far East. And the holes for planting need to be prepared in the fall, adding the necessary minerals and humus to them.

The depth of the hole and its distance from the neighboring one must be selected as required by the plant on the selected type of rootstock.

Selection of planting material

Each region has its own preferred rootstock varieties. Professional breeders working in garden plant nurseries will help you choose planting material. It is difficult to briefly describe all the nuances of choice; when choosing a plant for each specific site, the density and fertility of the soil, temperature changes throughout the day and year, the proximity of groundwater, the windiness of the area and other factors are taken into account.
Choosing a landing site

Loam is the best soil for Lungwort with sufficient drainage and abundant mineral elements. On other soils, it is also necessary to provide the plant with sufficient light, access of air and nutrients to the roots, and good drainage of excess water.

Deadlines

When planting seedlings in the fall, the last ten days of October are recommended. In spring, the time of planting directly depends on the moment of snow melting. The soil should not be overly moist. Although the Medunitsa variety is resistant to humidity, long-term contact with water is undesirable for the roots of the seedling.
Sequence of actions when landing

Landing algorithm:

1. The hole is dug in width and depth twice as large as the diameter of the root system of the seedling itself.
2. A part of the soil enriched with mineral fertilizers and humus is laid out at the bottom. The thickness of this layer is approximately 20 cm.
3. A peg is driven into the center so that its upper part protrudes above the surface.
4. The roots of the tree are immersed in the hole, the trunk is fixed in a vertical position and tied to a peg.
5. The root system is sprinkled with the remaining soil so that the root collar rises 5 cm above the ground.
6. The soil around the trunk becomes compacted.
7. At a distance of 50-70 cm from the trunk, a ditch is made for irrigation. Its circumference should not coincide with the ends of the root system.

Growing

Growing lungwort involves proper care - fertilizing, protective measures against diseases and insect pests, periodic watering, crown formation and thinning, loosening the soil to ensure the soil is saturated with air.

Care

Lungwort is not a demanding variety, but it still needs to be looked after regularly, starting in early spring and ending in late autumn in preparation for the winter cold.

Trimming

Pruning of branches is done in the spring before the onset of warm weather - until the moment when the tree’s sap begins to flow and the buds swell. In the spring, old and frost-damaged branches are removed, for which there is no hope of restoration. In the fall, shoots that take away strength from the main trunk are removed.

When the crown is formed, Lungwort should have 5-6 main skeletal branches left. At the pruning stage, the strongest branches are selected from all the shoots. When pruning, you should have garden varnish or water-based paint on hand to treat fresh cuts.

Care during flowering

During flowering, the apple tree requires nitrogen; it is applied with fertilizing in May and early June. For young plants, urea is added at the same time; it is a growth activator. Urea is added in a ratio of 1 to 5 with water. An infusion of chicken manure and nettle can be used as a nitrogen-containing liquid.

You can replace these folk remedies with Kemira Lux, which is used as a top dressing at the stage of bud formation.

Watering

To water an adult tall apple tree, 30-40 liters of water will be required; for a young or dwarf Lungwort, 10 liters is enough. The frequency of watering depends on weather conditions. In moderately warm conditions, watering is carried out once every 15 days; in hot, arid climates, irrigation can be done much more often, 2 times a week.

Pest Control

In early spring, for preventive purposes, it is useful to spray the Medunitsa apple tree against pests with a decoction of herbaceous elderberry. 1 kg of leaves and flowers are poured into 10 liters of water, left for 24 hours, and 50 g of laundry soap are added. In spring and autumn, the trunks of apple trees are whitened to repel crawling insects.

Protection against diseases

Prevention of scab and fruit rot involves watering the area of ​​land adjacent to the trunk with a 10% solution of ammonium nitrate. The wood itself is treated with a 2% solution of Bordeaux mixture. Copper sulfate is used until the buds swell. The dilution proportion is 100 g per 10 liters of water.

Top dressing

In addition to saturating the soil with nitrogen 3 times during the season, the apple tree needs minerals. The most important thing is to saturate the soil with organic fertilizers - humus, slurry during spring digging.

In areas with harsh winters, dry cow pats and straw can be used to insulate the soil around the root system. In the spring, manure with melt water will fall into the soil, enriching it with essential nutrients.
Necessary feeding

Bacterial fertilizers improve the soil and increase productivity. These include:

Mineral	Organic
"Nitragin"	Manure
Azotobacterin	Humus
"Phosphorobacterin"	Compost
	"Guano"

Foliar feeding

For foliar feeding, urea, superphosphates, calcium phosphate, and potassium salt are used. Boron, manganese, molybdenum and other minerals should be supplied in small quantities; they are also part of foliar feeding.

Harvest

Due to the peculiarity of Lungwort fruits changing taste, it is necessary to determine whether it is important to store the harvest fresh, or whether it is better to put the apples into processing. The most pronounced aroma and rich honey taste usually last no longer than two weeks after harvest.

Collection

The harvest from the Medunitsa apple tree can be harvested in a state of technical ripeness and fully ripened. Considering the non-simultaneous ripening of Lungwort fruits, the summer variety is harvested from the last ten days of August to the last days of September. The winter variety ripens 2-4 weeks later, but it is also uneven in ripeness, which suggests harvesting fruits from mid-September to the end of October.

Safety

Winter Lungwort is stored for 3-4 months, summer varieties for no more than a month.

Use of fruits

Apples of the Medunitsa variety are recognized as dessert apples, but despite this, they are excellent for making compotes, jams, and preserves. Low acidity protects winter preparations from fermentation. This variety is not suitable for drying.

To help the gardener

For amateur gardeners, it is not so easy to get a seedling of the Lungwort apple tree, even at an agricultural fair. And not all sellers on such improvised trading platforms deserve trust. It is better to buy varietal apple trees from professional breeding organizations; their representatives rarely transport seedlings hundreds of kilometers from the nursery.

Price of seedlings

The cost of apple tree seedlings of the Medunitsa variety in nurseries varies from 350 to 500 rubles. This is the cost for next year, because many are already accepting orders for the spring supply of seedlings.

Regions of production

The regions where Medunitsa seedlings are produced are St. Petersburg, Moscow, the Urals, and the Caucasus. Wherever the Medunitsa apple tree grows, private and public nurseries offer seedlings on rootstocks that are most suitable for the climate of the region.

Nurseries

There are apple tree nurseries in almost all regions. There are a lot of them in central Russia. In the Leningrad region alone, apple trees can be purchased at 33 points.

There are 91 fruit tree nurseries in Moscow and the region, and in 55 of them you can buy apple trees. The Urals and Siberia also have their own nurseries. When choosing an organization that sells seedlings, it is better to give preference to nurseries that belong to scientific agricultural institutions.