Column-shaped apple trees - for small plots and gardens
APPLE-COLUMN TYPE
The areas of personal plots are usually small, but I want to try a variety of fruits in terms of color, weight, and taste of the many varieties of summer, autumn and winter periods of consumption. Moreover, even in the same family there may be completely different taste preferences. Column-shaped apple trees will help to solve this problem.
Compare: for an apple tree with the usual type of crown, a food area of 12-15 square meters is needed. m, if planted according to the scheme 4 × 3 or 5 × 3 m, in the same area you can plant 12-15 columnar apple trees, because 1 square meter is enough to feed one plant. m
Column-shaped apple trees are a special group of plants: with a thickened trunk, shortened internodes, and strong wood.
The trunk along the entire length is abundantly overgrown with shortened fruit formations (rings, spears, twigs) and is therefore densely covered with fruits. The tree either does not have branches at all, or they form in a small amount and grow parallel to the central trunk.
The researchers found that the columnar apple varieties can exceed the usual in terms of early maturity and make it possible to get an economic crop already after the 2-3rd year after planting. They are characterized by high productivity. In foreign countries, 10-20 thousand trees per 1 ha are planted with the organization of technological driveways, and more than 100 tons / ha are harvested.
The history of selection of columnar apple trees has only a few decades, and due to the low knowledge of this biological form, columnar varieties were recommended only for amateur and farm enterprises. But in recent years, varieties have been created whose fruits meet the requirements of consumer demand, meet the conditions of long-term storage, are transportable, and have a valuable biochemical composition. They are adapted to adverse environmental factors and in the future can take their rightful place in industrial gardening.
In recent years, varieties have been created that are immune to scab, the most malicious disease in central Russia, do not require fungicide treatment and can be used for the production of organic products.
In our Institute of Genetics and Selection of Fruit Plants (currently part of the IV Michurin Federal Scientific Center), new highly productive, columnar cultivars, resistant to adverse environmental conditions, with high quality fruits, have been created Gothic, Geyser, Stele, Arrow, Cascade, Cornet. They are characterized by high productivity, early maturity. Rootstocks 54-118 and 62-396 are used for them - they are well compatible with the scion, frost-hardy and winter-hardy (the root system withstands up to minus 16 °), which ensures the quick entry of varieties into fruiting (for the 2-3rd year), drought-resistant, with high wood strength.
See also: Column-shaped apple trees for beginners - questions and answers of a professional
At the XIX Russian agricultural exhibition "Golden Autumn-2017" Federal Research Center named after I.V. Michurina was awarded a gold medal and a diploma "For the creation of a columnar apple tree for intensive plantings." Below are the characteristics of our varieties.
Varieties of Column-shaped Apple Trees
Geyser (Karpovskoye x Charlotte). It is highly resistant to low temperatures and scab. After artificial freezing at a temperature of minus 40 ° C, the cambium and kidneys did not freeze, and the degree of wood damage was 1,9 points. A tree on a mid-rootstock stock of 54-118 reaches a height of 10 m by the age of 3,3 years. Fruits with an average mass of 190 g, one-dimensional, flattened, of regular shape, have an early winter ripening period. The integumentary coloration is uniform, dark red on most of the fruit. The flesh is yellowish, dense, fine-grained. Tasting score 4,5 points. Biochemical composition (mg / 100 g): vitamin C - 8,8, soluble solids - 15,7, sugar - 13,9, P-active catechins - 86.
Gothic (13-12 (Renet Chernenko x Ме-к and ntosh "Vazah") x Rock). Highly resistant to low temperatures. After artificial freezing at minus 40 ° C, the cambium and kidneys did not freeze, and the degree of wood damage was 2,8 points. A tree on an average rootstock stock of 54-118 reaches a height of 5 m by the age of 1,5 years. Fruits with an average weight of 167 g, one-dimensional, oblong, early winter consumption. The integumentary color is very pronounced, striped, red on most of the fruit. The pulp is creamy, medium density, fine-grained. Tasting score 4,4 points.
Biochemical composition (mg / 100 g): vitamin C - 9,3, soluble solids - 16,9, sugars - 12,2, P-active catechins - 112.
Cascade ((13-22 (Krasulya) x KB5) x 2-13 (24-2xZhigulevskoe)). It is highly resistant to low temperatures and monogenic resistance to scab (Vf gene). After artificial freezing at a temperature of minus 40 ° C, the bark and cambium did not freeze, and the degree of damage to wood and kidneys was 1,2 and 0,3 points, respectively. A tree on a medium-sized stockstock 54-118 reaches 10 m by the age of 2,5 years. Fruits with an average weight of 180 g, early winter consumption, one-dimensional, flattened, regular shape. The integumentary coloration is uniform, dark red on most of the fruit. The flesh is yellowish, dense, fine-grained. Tasting score 4,5 points. Biochemical composition (mg / 100 g): vitamin C -18,5, soluble solids - 15,9, sugar - 12,5, P-active catechins - 92.
Stela (Column 12-63 (9) x Rock). The variety is highly resistant to low temperatures and medium resistant to scab. After artificial freezing at a temperature of minus 40 ° C, the bark and cambium did not freeze, and the degree of damage to wood and kidneys was 2 and 0,1 points, respectively. A dwarf tree, on an average rootstock 54-118 by the age of 5 it reaches a height of 1,3 m. Fruits with an average weight of 173 g, winter consumption, one-dimensional, flattened, regular shape. The integumentary coloration is uniform with stripes, pink-red on most of the fruit. The flesh is yellowish, dense, fine-grained. Tasting score 4,3 points. Biochemical composition (mg / 100 g): vitamin C -10,8, soluble solids - 15,7, sugars - 11,6, P-active catechins - 106.
Arrow (25-12 x column 69-157). The variety is highly resistant to low temperatures and medium resistant to scab. After artificial freezing at minus 40 ° C, the cambium, kidneys did not freeze, and the degree of wood damage was 2,1 points. A tree on a mid-rootstock stock of 54-118 reaches a height of 5 m by the age of 1,7 years. Fruits with an average mass of 150 g, early winter ripening, one-dimensional, flattened, regular shape. The integumentary coloration is strongly pronounced, dark red, blurred over most of the fruit. The flesh is yellowish, medium density, fine-grained with a strong aroma. Tasting score 4,3 points. Biochemical composition (mg / 100 g): vitamin C - 10,3, soluble solids - 16,3, sugars - 12,7, P-active catechins - 160.
In modern conditions of “nervousness” of the climate, the issue of improving the assortment of fruit crops, including apple trees, is an acute issue. In this regard, columnar-shaped varieties having a compact crown, having high productivity, and resistance to adverse environmental conditions are of great interest. The fruits of such varieties have high commercial qualities, valuable biochemical composition, are competitive and enjoy well-deserved attention of consumers.
All of the above columnar varieties are listed in the State Register of selection achievements approved for use. The Cornet variety is undergoing state testing. Elite forms are also highlighted that have advantages over existing varieties in terms of economic and biological indicators.
We also recommend reading: Growing columnar apple trees - planting and care. Professional Tips
COLUMN-APPLE APPLES - VIDEO
© Authors:
A. YUSHKOV, Doctor of Agricultural Sciences, Head of the Breeding and Genetic Center of VNIIGiSPR
N. SAVEL'EVA, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Leading Researcher at the Laboratory of the Gene Pool of the Federal State Budget Scientific Institution named after I.V. Michurina "Michurinsk
Below other entries on the topic "Dacha and garden - with their own hands"
- Preparing apple trees for wintering - gardener tips
- Top dressing for the harvest of apples: nitrogen and potash, root and foliar
- Heat and drought-resistant varieties of apple trees on low growths - my reviews
- Old varieties of apple trees
- Signs that an apple is ready for harvesting - a reminder to the gardener about the signs of ripeness
- Chinese apple tree, planting and care, varieties and varieties
- To apple fruit every year
- The experience of planting an apple tree with 100% survival rate - pros and cons
- Perspective and yielding apple tree forms for your garden and cottages
- Clonal stocks for the apple tree - what is it? Advantages of apple trees on clone stocks
Subscribe to updates in our groups and share.
Let's be friends!
#
I saw on the Internet a photo of columnar trees - apple trees, pears, plums, apricots, cherries. Tell me how these trees grow in the middle lane? I have a small plot, such plants would just fit. But none of my friends have experience in growing “columns”. And I still do not dare to give money for a "pig in a poke."
#
- The columnar type of trees is inherent in only a few varieties of apple trees. Such trees are a column - a trunk, overgrown on the sides with small (10-15 mm) fruit formations. Continuation growth is only vertical, but there are no lateral branches.
Column-shaped apple trees have reduced winter hardiness, and growing them in the Moscow region is a rather risky occupation. But care for the columnar plants is no different from caring for ordinary varieties of trees grafted onto a dwarf rootstock.
Varieties of plums, pears, apricots and other plants that are recommended on the Internet do not belong to columnar plants and are spurous forms of these crops, that is, plants with short internodes (distance between leaves). Without annual pruning that regulates the growth of lateral branches, the crown of these trees for 2-3 years turns into a thick round shape.
#
How to prepare apple trees for winter?
Galina Kharitonova, Smolensk region
#
- After harvesting, remove the hunting belts from the boles and burn them. Carefully inspect the trunks of all trees, so as not to miss a single nest with cocoons of the codling moth and other pests. Carefully clean the stems and skeletal branches with an iron brush, laying a film under the tree. Do this in humid weather - then the bark moves away easier. Treat all wounds with a 5% solution of iron sulfate, cover the cracks with garden var. And after a month, trunks prepared in this way must be whitewashed for the winter.