Apricot Olympus: variety description, yield characteristics and cultivation with photo

Where apricots were first planted is not exactly known. The fruit tree grew both in the Caucasus and in Asia several millennia BC. The fruits of the stone tree came to Greece along with the soldiers of Alexander the Great and began to be grown in gardens. During this period, many varieties of apricots were created by crossing, Olympus, which is one of them, pleases with a stable yield. Orange and yellow fruits are rich in vitamins, a variety of trace elements. With their use, immunity is strengthened, the thyroid gland begins to work better.

History of occurrence

The selection of the Olympus apricot was carried out by specialists from the Nikitsky Botanical Garden, located near Y alta. When crossing 2 varieties of plants in the fifties of the last century, a vigorous tree was created, which inherited its power from the hardy apricot, received drought resistance and the sweet taste of the fruit from Yerevani. The variety is cultivated on the Crimean peninsula. During transportation, fruits do not deteriorate, do not lose their marketable appearance, are stored for a long time, and are grown by gardeners and summer residents.

Variety description

A tall apricot tree Olympus forms a sprawling rounded crown. The breeders who were involved in the creation of this stone fruit crop tried to adapt the variety to adverse climate conditions - to Siberian frosts, to the lack of rain, to sharp temperature fluctuations, to pest invasions.

Olympus is not afraid of drought, tolerates slight frosts, is resistant to some pathogens of fungal diseases, but pollinators should be planted next to the tree that have the same growing season.

Fruit color

The first fruits usually appear on the tree at the age of 3, although the plant flowers earlier. Ripened fruits are different:

• large size;
• beautiful golden skin;
• gentle blush;
• oval shape.

Dense flesh has a rich orange color. A small bone is easily separated from it.

Fruit Taste

The ovary is formed on last year's gains and spurs. One apricot weighs about 70g. Fruit is rich:

• organic acids;
• vitamin C and pectin;
• sugars and carotene.

Apricots make excellent compotes, jams, both adults and children love to eat them fresh. The pulp of the fruit has a pleasant sweet and sour taste, garden aroma.

Ripening dates

Olymp fruits in the Crimea, in the steppe part of Ukraine, are filled with juice and ripen in July, there are years that they are harvested at the beginning of the month, but more often after the 15th. The tree gives a stable harvest, but if you carefully read the description of the variety, it becomes clear that you need to cut it every year, otherwise the fruits become smaller.

Olympus is planted not only by summer residents, but also by farmers, for whom it is important that apricots tolerate transportation well and do not rot for a long time.

Features of cultivation

A tall tree normally takes root, pleases with fruits for more than a dozen years, if favorable conditions are created for it. Apricots love the sun and warmth, light fertile soil, and respond positively to top dressing.

Choosing a landing site

Olympus, like other varieties and hybrids, will not grow in a lowland where melt and rainwater collects, cold air stays for a long time. You need to grow apricot on a small hill or at the base of a slope. The rays of the sun should hit the tree all day, it must also be protected from the north wind.

You can not place a seedling in a place where nightshade and stone fruit crops were cultivated. The tree does not take root on acidic and clay soils. In the first version, the site is limed, in the other case, the soil is diluted with humus, peat, sand.

Landing

It is possible to grow Olympus from a stone only in the Crimea and Ukraine, since it was bred for this area. Summer residents and gardeners who cultivate this variety of apricot cut cuttings from the strongest shoots and put them in water in which the growth stimulator is diluted.

When buying ready-made seedlings, you need to check if they have double buds, the wilds are covered with thorns. Having dug a hole to a depth of 60 cm, what is done in advance:

1. Small pebbles or expanded clay are laid on the bottom.
2. The groove is covered with peat and soil, leaving a small mound on top.
3. The tree is planted not earlier than in 10 days, when the ground settles a little. The neck of the root is left above the ground.
4. A young apricot is tied to a support.

Having compacted the soil in the trunk circle, pour buckets of 3 water. Organics and mineral fertilizers are applied during the preparation of the pit.

Care

In 3-4 years, the tree will please with the first fruits, if you constantly take care of it. It is necessary not to be lazy to cut the branches, form a crown, moisten and loosen the ground under the apricot, feed the plant with nutrients.

Irrigation

Although Olympus tolerates long droughts, juicy and large fruits ripen only when the tree has enough moisture. In the first years, the seedling is watered with warm water, making shallow grooves.

Preparing for winter

Before the onset of cold weather, the trunk of a young tree is wrapped with needles or durable material so that hares, mice and other rodents do not damage it. Fallen leaves and blackened fruits are raked up and burned.

Apricot can be buried for the winter with earth, sprinkled with peat, straw or sawdust, but this is not done in the southern regions, because there are no severe frosts.

Advantages and disadvantages of the variety

Olympus is valued for its high yield, excellent taste of fruits that can be transported over long distances without worrying that they will lose their presentation. The variety is suitable for growing on a large scale and for summer cottages. Apricot is not afraid of drought, rarely affected by fungi and viruses.

The disadvantages of Olympus include the need for annual pruning, without performing this procedure, small fruits ripen.

Diseases and prevention

Damp and cold weather contributes to the activation of fungi, which, rapidly multiplying, harm not only one tree, but can also destroy an entire garden. Although Olympus is resistant to a number of diseases, the plant will not cope on its own:

• with gray mold;
• cytosporosis;
• vertical wilting.

To prevent the reproduction of pathogens, leaves and mummified fruits are raked, removed from the site and burned. In early spring and September, trees are sprayed with copper sulphate or Bordeaux liquid to prevent fungal diseases.

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