Apple tree seedlings - which ones and how to choose? Useful Tips
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APPLE SEEDLINGS: LEARNING TO MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE
Often I come across complaints from gardeners: they say, they bought several apple seedlings, and they all froze out.
But they chose the best foreign varieties ...
Well what can I say: when laying a garden, it is not enough to be guided by your wishes and advertising. What points are important to consider for amateur gardeners, especially in the middle lane and more northern regions?
Winter hardiness apple trees. This is the ability of plants to tolerate winter conditions without significant damage. Therefore, choose seedlings of only zoned varieties.
Deadlines maturation. Summer apple trees bear fruit in August, the harvest is stored for about 10 days. Mostly fruits are eaten fresh (White filling, Grushov-ka, Medunitsa). Autumn apples ripen in September and are stored for up to 3 months (Koreyanka, Melba, Borovinka). The fruits can be removed from the tree without waiting for them to fall off.
Late apple trees slowly ripen and fill up, accumulating vitamins, and during the ripening period the proportion of aromatic substances increases, so they are healthier and tastier than early ripening apples.
Winter apple trees ripen in late September-October. Fruits can lie up to 6 months (Welsey, Antonovka, Bogatyr, Moscow winter). However, keep in mind that they usually acquire their optimal taste only after being stored for 2-3 weeks.
Stability к diseases. Rely on plants of varieties that are resistant to the main diseases of the apple tree (scab, powdery mildew, bark and wood diseases). Even so, do not neglect treatments using fungicides and insecticides.
Rootstock sapling. This is the lower part of the trunk (under the graft) with roots. It directly affects the size of the future tree, its strength of growth. For a small plot, when you want to have different fruit trees, you can plant columnar apple trees or on a dwarf rootstock (get undersized trees). In a large garden, you can also plant on seed stock (powerful, tall trees).
Quantity seedlings. For a family of 4, the minimum "set" consists of 3 apple trees - summer, autumn and winter ripening period. You can create a garden of two apple trees on a semi-dwarf rootstock and several vigorous varieties - enough to eat in the season and make preparations for the winter.
© Author: Oleg MAYANOV, biologist, Moscow
See also: Saplings for the berry - choose correctly (memo + table)
Note: How to save apples: highlights
From my own experience, I was convinced that the fruits of Antonovka are best preserved. At the same time, I have a secret: after laying apples in the cellar for the winter, I don’t touch them at all until it’s time to serve them. Other points are also important.
Only healthy apples are stored well. And taking care of this begins in spring, with feeding. I'm not limited to only manure or compost. Fruit trees also need mineral fertilizers (observe the dosage indicated in the instructions!).
I remove the fruits from the tree when they reach removable maturity. In our area, this is usually the end of September (I look at the color). It is important not to miss the moment.
I store the crops in the cellar on shelves. I select fruits of medium size (large ones are worse), without damage. And for this I collect apples together with the stalk, in a special basket, fastened with belts on the belt, so that both hands are free.
Before storing each apple, you can wipe each apple with a cloth dipped in glycerin, or wrap it in paper without printing ink. Another option is to pour the fruits in a box with dry sawdust or shavings (from hardwood). I put the apple with the stalk up, then the seeds inside will not germinate. It is advisable that the fruits do not touch each other during storage.
A few words about the cellar. I insulated it well, the temperature inside is stable at about 0 degrees. To regulate humidity, he equipped a chimney: good air circulation is especially important in the first time after laying the fruits for storage, when they are breathing intensively. And for the winter, I plug the exhaust outlet with a rag. I put a box with charcoal in the cellar, it takes away excess moisture.
© Author: Roman VASIN, Bryansk
CHOICE OF APPLE SEEDLINGS - ADVICE AND FEEDBACK
HOW TO DEAL WITH APPLE SEEDLING? MY ADVICE
Regrading when selling seedlings is a fairly common phenomenon. I don’t know who is to blame - the workers when digging and delivering the goods or the sellers, but the fact is the fact - personally, twenty percent of the apple trees I bought turned out to be of a different variety. How to deal with your disappointments?
Of course, after several years of patient courtship, it is a shame to see that the desired variety has not settled in the garden. I console myself: but there is another newcomer, welcome!
WHO IS ABLE TO EAT
I really wanted to plant an apple tree Medunitsa. Her sweet apples without a gram of acid can be eaten even unripe. Therefore, she rejoiced like a child when the tree was solemnly planted near the entrance to the site.
The first fruits were looked forward to - and here they are, five apples, ripen on flexible branches. Rip and try? No, let them hang for another week, they will be sweeter.
The next weekend started with a surprise. In our absence, the village goats squeezed the gate and climbed onto the site. And in addition to two growing pines and cabbage, they ate apples that fell to the ground. Whether it was a lungwort, we never found out. The intrigue remains.
What did we get?
The next year, we did not leave a chance for goats to climb onto the site. A bucket of apples picked on time is a good reward for the hard work and years of waiting, but ... Sweet and sour taste and too elegant appearance clearly did not belong to Medunitsa. Then what is it?! It was very similar to Zaryanka.
An excursion to the site of the nursery, where the seedlings were from, put everything in its place. We got, it turns out, Dessert Petrov!
OH, APPLE!
However, Dessert Petrov pleased every year more and more.
This variety has one drawback - dependence on the weather. If the summer is cold and rainy, apples will be so-so, but in hot and sunny weather you will not find tastier apples. It was hot last year. And we just enjoyed the tender, spicy, fragrant pulp that melts in your mouth.
The harvest was large, but making preparations from such apples seemed blasphemy, so they gave away the delicacy to neighbors and relatives.
HERE IS ANTONOVKA
My friend really wants Antonovka. I bought it three times, but each time it turned out to be a different variety. And I wanted Zhigulevskoe. I planted it, but after a few years I realized that it was regrading again. The tree stretched upward, forming an elongated panicle of the crown.
with branches at an acute angle. Oh, it doesn't look like Zhigulevskoye!
And here it is - a single apple hangs modestly on the upper branch, with its greenish-yellow appearance demonstrating the complete absence of Zhigulevsky's plentiful strokes and spots. When it ripened and flopped into the autumn grass, it became clear that only Antonovka could smell like that. One thing upsets, there is still no good harvest.
STUNNED STRONGLY
A few days ago, under an apple tree that refuses to bear fruit, they put on a real show. Loudly discussed whether to remove the lazy tree. They waved an axe. And we decided to give it one last chance. Let's see how well they scared the stubborn. And what, twice such threats helped us.
AGAIN MIXED
Once in a store they gave me two half-dead seedlings for free. Will they suddenly take root? Labels dangled on dried branches: "Ural bulk". I was once treated to small yellow apples on long petioles, they were translucent and seemed filled with sweet and sour juice.
In the spring, both seedlings were covered with greenery and, in gratitude for the rescue, began to develop rapidly. The prospect of becoming the owner of two well-produced and small-fruited apple trees was a little scary.
And here it is - the first harvest. It immediately became clear that regrading had occurred again. The petioles were ordinary, and the green apples were still “bigger” every day. At the end of August, they became so large and so elegant that the soul rejoiced. The solemn tasting did not disappoint: the taste was excellent.
The matter remained for the small - to determine the varieties. Yes, they were different varieties, although similar. And here we were waiting for the "bummer". I didn’t know where the seedlings came from, so I couldn’t see the assortment of the nursery. And so the now adult apple trees grow side by side, brought into our large garden by the will of the sorter. What to do? Only accept in the garden family. □
© Author: Marina Latypova, Kazan
See also: We choose seedlings of berry bushes - a memo to the gardener
HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT APPLE SEEDLING - VIDEO
Below other entries on the topic "Dacha and garden - with their own hands"
- Preparing apple trees for wintering - gardener tips
- Intensive type garden - what is it and how to grow it!
- Belarusian varieties of apples (winter) - description and photo
- Stock for an apple tree - seed or clone
- How to properly plant on one apple tree several varieties
- Perspective and yielding apple tree forms for your garden and cottages
- The best varieties of apple trees for the Moscow region - photo + name + description and my reviews
- Foreign varieties of apples - Florina, Hanik crisp, Red Delicious and Ligol - my reviews
- Proper planting of apple trees + folk signs (Moscow region)
- Belarusian apple varieties - photo, description and name
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