Apricot Hargrand: variety description and characteristics, planting and care with photo

Apricot fruits have many useful properties that a person needs to strengthen immunity and replenish lost elements during the winter. Many try to grow early varieties in order to quickly enjoy the taste of apricot. But the cultivation and consumption of late and mid-season varieties, such as Hargrand, sometimes exceeds the amount of valuable micro and macro elements contained in an apricot.

Variety description

The apricot variety was randomly bred by Canadian breeder J. Lyon in Harrow, Ontario, Canada in 1961 by pollination with the Gold Rich variety. The Hargrand apricot variety was registered and described in 1981, after which it began to gain its popularity.

Tree tall up to 5 m, crown is wide, sprawling, trunk is tuberous, brown-gray, moderate vigor Buds are large, formed not only on annual and biennial branches, light brown. The leaves are ovoid with a pointed tip, thin, dark green above, pale green below, located on long brown-green petioles.

Medium-sized flowers, white-pink on short petioles, bloom from mid to late May.

Fruits are large, oval-shaped, from 60 g to 150 g, the skin is thin, but dense, orange in color with pink dots. The shape of the fruit is round, the pulp is tender, juicy with a honey flavor, orange in color with a slight sweet aroma of honey. The stone is round-flattened with a rib, well separated from the fruit, the kernel is bitter.

Characteristics of the variety

Hargrand apricot is partially self-fertile, fast-growing, for higher yields, you can plant the Gold Rich variety.

1. Frost resistance of the root system up to -30 °C.
2. Resistance of fruit buds to short-term frosts.
3. Fruit ripening later, late July, early-mid August.
4. High-yielding apricot, need fruit normalization.
5. Fruits are stored for a long time, up to 2 weeks, especially if the temperature regime is +5 degrees.
6. Do not crack.
7. Tolerate transportation well.
8. Good presentation.
9. Resistance to diseases and pests is high, especially to bacterial cancer.
10. Has a long fruiting period, over 40 years.

Advantages and disadvantages

Apricot has more advantages than many other varieties for central Russia: it self-pollinates, high yields, almost does not get sick and is not damaged by pests.

Commercial qualities are high, Hargrand is an apricot of universal use, fresh and processed.

Disadvantage of the variety: crop normalization is needed, otherwise the branches break, and the extra ovary does not fall off on its own. He needs constant care.

Growing and care

Apricot Hargrand grows well in loamy, sandy loamy soils and black earth. The place should be sunny, without drafts, the side is south, southeast, southwest. The soil for planting should be well-groomed, weed-free, loose, with a neutral level of acidity.

Seedlings should be planted in spring, in April, subject to passing frosts and warmed soil up to +12. Material for planting should be taken in proven nurseries, special attention should be paid to the root system, which should be free of pests, holes, flexible, branched, without rot and other damage.

Before planting, it is soaked in water for 2-3 hours, after which it is treated with a disinfectant solution and a growth stimulator.

It is demanding in care, you need to apply complex fertilizers 3-4 times per season. Watering in the first years of the seedling should be plentiful: 1-2 buckets every 7-10 days. The crown of the tree is spreading, it needs shaping and regulating pruning. For the winter, the root circle should be covered with dry branches, hay, spruce branches, sawdust or peat.

Treatment and prevention of diseases

Apricot Hargrand is disease resistant, but should be sprayed with fungicides in the spring when the leaves appear and in the fall after harvest for prevention. Sanitary pruning and cleaning around the tree should be carried out, the trunk should be painted with a mixture of lime and copper sulfate. Loosen the soil and remove pests.

Hargrand apricot variety is suitable for cultivation in central Russia, subject to shelter and high hilling of the trunk, can be grown in Southern Siberia. The plant is widespread in the CIS countries, it is used for cultivation on an industrial scale.

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