To get a good harvest, you need to thoroughly prepare before planting and growing crops. This applies to everything, including apple trees. You can choose something, and then find out that the soil or location is not suitable for the tree, and you will be left without a harvest. We will talk about Scala apple trees.
Description and features
To begin with, you can read the description of the species, talk with experienced gardeners and seedling sellers.The Scala apple tree is considered a medium-sized tree, the height of which reaches a maximum of 8 meters. The crown is wide, but not too dense.
The main features of apple trees of this type are considered to be frost resistance, as well as the fruits themselves - beautiful, large, with a sweet and sour taste. The skin of the apple is thin, smooth, greenish-yellow in color with a bright red cover. The pulp is medium density, granular structure, juicy, creamy white in color.
Advantages and disadvantages of the variety
The apple tree of this species was artificially bred by crossing the Prima and Bessemyanka species in order to improve the main indicators. The advantages of the Skala variety include:
- frost resistance;
- rarely susceptible to fungal diseases and scab;
- large volume of harvest;
- regularity of harvest.
But there are also disadvantages:
- short shelf life of fruits (up to 3 months);
- lack of ability to self-pollinate.
Characteristics of the Scala apple tree
Below we will give the main characteristics of this variety of apples, which will help you decide whether to grow this species.
Dimensions
The tree itself is classified as medium-sized; the maximum height it can reach is 8 meters. The crown is wide and spreading, but not dense. We should also talk about the fruits: round, regular in shape, the weight of one varies on average from 230 to 250 grams. With proper care, you can get apples weighing more than 300 grams.
Productivity
The starting harvest can be harvested no earlier than the 5th year from the date of planting the tree. In the first years, it is necessary to pick off the flowers in order to get many good fruits in the future. The yield is high - about 280 kilograms per hectare.
Frequency of fruiting
Starting from the 5th-7th year, the tree will bear fruit regularly and in large quantities. They ripen around mid-September. A distinctive feature of the Skala variety is that even if the tree has suffered from frost, fruiting may become less this year, but not disappear.
Winter hardiness
Winter hardiness is high. If the tree is properly cared for, it will easily survive frosts down to -45 degrees. Even unexpected frosts in the spring are not scary for this variety - the buds do not freeze.
Disease resistance
Disease resistance is average. Apple trees of the Skala variety practically do not suffer from scab and fungal diseases, but are not resistant to fruit rot and bitter pitting. To avoid this, you need to fertilize the soil in time, spray the trees, form the crown, remove spoiled elements and harvest in a timely manner.
Fruit evaluation
The average rating of Skala apples is 4.3 points out of 5 based on the main tasting indicators. However, some gardeners note excessive acidity of the fruits.
Regions of distribution
The species was bred in the Tambov region for the needs of the Central region of Russia. It is for this reason that the Rock became widespread in the Tambov, Lipetsk, Voronezh, Belgorod, Oryol and Kursk regions. Here the apple tree shows all the positive characteristics and does not need special care. In other cities of Russia, cultivation of this variety is also possible, but it needs to be adapted to the local climate.
What are the subspecies
There are 2 subspecies of the Scala apple tree:
- Standard. It is distinguished by its compact size (up to 3 meters), relatively short lifespan (up to 25 years) and earlier fruiting (usually in early September).
- Columnar.A short tree (up to 2 meters) with a small crown brings a large harvest of large fruits of 200-300 grams. The downside is that the lifespan is up to 15 years.
Reviews from gardeners
Nina, Republic of Adygea: “We have different varieties of apple trees growing on our site, and Skala is one of our favorites. The tree does not require special care, its size is small, and it bears a lot of fruit. The only drawback is the short shelf life. But we found a way out by making all kinds of preparations.”
Ekaterina, Saransk: “After we harvested the first harvest of Skala apples, I decided to replace other types of apple trees with this one. There are so many fruits that sometimes you have to prop up the branches so they don’t break.”
Peter, Kemerovo: “I like this species: it can withstand our winters and bear fruit well. At the same time, I never even formed the crown of the tree. The only thing that is required is to prevent diseases and control pests in a timely manner.”
