Columnar apricot: the best varieties, planting and care, cropping with a photo

In the conditions of short summers and cold winters, gardeners did not grow heat-loving crops, because they froze, and if they took root, the ovary fell off in the spring, there were almost no fruits, and those that ripened turned out to be small and tasteless. Breeders worked on breeding hybrids of southern plants that could be cultivated in the middle lane. The result of their work was the creation of a columnar apricot, which quickly replaced the usual varieties of heat-loving crops and began to be grown in gardens and suburban areas, delighting with fragrant fruits.

Description, external features

The tree of a new variety of apricot has an interesting shape like a column. Short branches depart from a straight trunk, the length of which does not exceed 20 cm. In the south, the height of the plant reaches 3 meters, in the middle lane the trees are slightly lower. Buds of white or pink color bloom on them in early spring - at the end of March or April. Leaves, regardless of shape, are pointed upwards.

Apricots of orange, red or yellow color ripen on the side branches. The mass of the fruit depends on the variety, on the conditions of cultivation and care, on average it weighs 20 g, individual specimens reach 80 or even 100 grams, but there are also very small berries. Summer residents are happy to plant columnar apricots, since a tree needs no more than a square meter of area to grow and bear fruit. The advantages of varieties include:

The ability to preserve fruit for the winter.
Good yield.
Interesting looking plant.

Fruits appear in the third year, picking them off is easy and convenient. Columnar apricots are immune to many diseases of garden trees. However, not all summer residents know how to form a crown, that the plant needs to be cut every year, without this the culture does not develop normally, few fruits ripen.

The best varieties of columnar apricot

Scientists did not stop at breeding only one hybrid of horticultural crops, but created several varieties that differ in ripening time, color and weight of fruits, recommended region for cultivation. The best varieties of apricots for the middle lane should be chosen among columnar trees that are not afraid of cold winters and are easily located in a small area.

In order not to take the place of pollinating plants, you need to plant self-fertile hybrids. Perfect for the Moscow region:

Gold;
Starry;
Sunny.

The fruits of the Prince Mart variety ripen by the end of July, already tied on two-year-old trees. Apricot tolerates severe frosts, rarely exposed to diseases, does not require additional pollination. With three or four plants, the family will have enough fruit to eat and preserve for the winter. In the northern regions, the variety can be planted in greenhouses, since the height of the tree barely reaches 2 meters. Fruits of bright orange color weigh about 60 g.

Summer residents and gardeners of the Moscow region are happy to grow the self-fertile apricot Starry, pleasing with its yield.

Although the fruits ripen quite late, a whole bucket of juicy and sweet fruits are harvested from one compact plant, differing in:

yellow;
pulp with a pleasant aroma;
thin skinned;
weighing about 80 grams.

Gold trees with a height of more than 2 meters do not die at 33-34 ° C frost. In August, oval-shaped apricots with an unusual pinkish blush ripen.Harvest variety Sunny cultivated in mid-latitudes. It tolerates low temperatures, does not freeze at minus 35 degrees. Golden fruits ripen in August, weighing up to 60 grams, however, pollinating plants should be planted next to the apricot.

The height of the tree is about 2.5 m, but up to 1.5 buckets of fruit are harvested from it. Sunny also takes root in partial shade, but the yield in such a place drops significantly. In the Kuban, where there is a favorable climate and fertile soil, any variety of stone fruit crops is grown.

Features of planting columnar apricots

Both apricots and hybrids bred by selection are demanding of light, love the sun. In the absence of such conditions, if the fruits are tied, then in a small amount, and the taste will deteriorate sharply. Trees bloom very poorly in the shade.

Places for a columnar apricot do not need much, so you can always find a small area where the cold wind does not fall, there are no drafts. It is not difficult to plant a tree between buildings at a distance of 20-15 centimeters from them, but so that a shadow does not fall on it. You can not place apricots in a lowland, where both melt and rain water stagnate, cool and humid air accumulates. It will be comfortable for a tree if you find a place for it at the foot of a gentle slope.

In the southern regions, the planting of a columnar apricot in open ground is carried out both in October and in April. In autumn, he manages to take root and get stronger before the cold weather, which will come no earlier than December. In the middle lane, trees are planted only at the end of spring or in the first month of summer, since frosts are not uncommon here, and when they come, the hydrometeorological center is not able to foresee.

Apricot develops poorly, often gets sick in the place where it used to grow:

tomatoes and peppers;
raspberries and strawberries;
potatoes and eggplants.

Such crops are affected by a helicopter, fruit trees are infected with fungi. It is very difficult to deal with the pathogen. Apricot seedlings, preferably 2-year-olds, are placed at a distance of 80 cm-1 m, leaving at least a meter between rows. Trees take root well on loose soils permeable to moisture, grow on loams, gray soils and black soils.

It is advisable to buy seedlings in special nurseries that are located in your area, since the apricots they sell are adapted to this particular climate. The height of the tree must be within a meter. It is necessary to check whether the roots are bent, whether the seedlings have a he althy bark, whether there is a trace from the vaccination. You should not buy an apricot grown from a stone.

The pit for the tree has been prepared since autumn. Both its depth and its width should be within 60-70 cm. So that the water does not turn sour, expanded clay or small gravel is poured onto the bottom with a layer of 40 mm, after which wood ash or mineral fertilizers in the form of urea, superphosphate or potassium nitrate are added.

The top layer of the earth is mixed with humus and sand, put on the bottom of the pit, a support for the tree is installed nearby and covered, and in the spring:

Make a hole in which an apricot is planted vertically.
Pour and compact the soil, leaving the neck of the root about 5 cm above the surface.
A furrow is made along the trunk circle, sprinkled with peat or straw.
The tree is attached to a support, watered with 2 buckets of warm water.

In order for the columnar plant to take root faster, the roots are soaked in a solution of potassium permanganate or a biostimulant, after which they are shortened a little and dipped in a mash made from clay and manure.

Care

In order for the columnar apricot to please with juicy fruits, timely planting alone is not enough. The tree needs constant care.

Care includes:

feeding;
watering;
prophylactic treatment;
cropping;
preparing for winter.

Fertilizers are applied every month, from spring to autumn. Chicken manure is suitable as organic matter, 1 kg of the substance is taken for 3 buckets of water. Apricot needs potassium, phosphorus, nitrogen. The culture normally tolerates drought, with stagnant moisture it dies.You need to water the tree no more than once every 2 weeks, unless, of course, there is a strong heat, the sprinkling system is best suited. In its absence, up to 5 buckets of water are poured under the apricot.

Before the cold weather, they also begin to abundantly moisten the earth in the trunk circle. The soil must be loosened carefully so as not to touch the roots located close to the surface. The columnar apricot is processed with copper sulfate in early spring and after the ovary has formed. The tree trunk is wrapped with dense material so that hares do not gnaw it, the ground under the plant is mulched with a thick layer of hay, sawdust, humus.

Cutting

After the formation of the crown, and this must be done, otherwise the tree will not bear fruit well, shoots are shortened every year so that their length does not exceed 20 cm, and at least 3 buds remain on each. Be sure to remove dried branches and those on which the ovary no longer forms.Columnar apricot pruning is performed in both March and October.

Fight disease

Drupe plants are affected by fruit rot, which occurs when the ascomycete fungus propagates. Flowers fall from the tree, the ovary withers, branches and leaves dry up. Columnar apricots also suffer from moniliosis, the culture suffers from perforated spotting, which is facilitated by rainy and damp weather.

Prevent the activation of fungi by spraying plants with a solution of copper sulphate, Bordeaux liquid, removing dried stems, mummified fruits, blackened leaves, affected bark, digging tree trunks. Processing of trees is carried out in early spring, when the buds have not yet woken up, it is repeated after the formation of the ovary.

Diseased apricots are sprayed with fungicides. The most effective among them are Signum, Horus, Malkin, Kuproksat.

Wounds and cracks that appeared on the shoots and trunks are cleaned, capturing a couple of centimeters of he althy wood. After this, the damage sites are disinfected with copper sulphate, a solution of potassium permanganate or Fundazol, covered with Rannet paste or garden pitch. In order for apricots to develop better, get sick less, it is necessary to plant varieties that are adapted to certain climate conditions.