Apple Prima: description and characteristics of the variety, growing regions and yield

The juicy fruits of the early autumn Prima apple tree do not leave indifferent those people who ate them. They have a beautiful appearance and excellent taste. The variety is undemanding to agricultural technology and bears fruit well. It is zoned and grown in gardens in southern Russia. The Prima variety also shows increased resistance to scab.

Description of the plant

The tree is characterized by an active growth rate - on seed rootstocks it stretches up to 6 meters in height, and on dwarf ones - up to 4 meters. Over time, the branches of the variety become thickened and need sanitary pruning. Their color is brown.

According to the description of the leaves, gardeners distinguish the Prima apple tree from other similar varieties. Leaf blade appearance:

• medium size;
• corrugated surface felt under the fingers;
• oval shape;
• rear side slightly pubescent;
• the base and top of small sheets are pointed;
• large leaves have a round base;
• petioles are short and medium in thickness, and are rejected at an acute angle from the shoots.

Apple-tree flowers of soft pink shade, medium size. Scarlet buds. The fruits of the tree are large and medium, their weight ranges from 120 to 190 grams, rounded. Often they are without symmetry, with a smooth, shiny skin. Fruit color ranges from yellow to green-yellow. Maybe blush. For those apples that are located in the center of the crown, the stalk is short, and for those that grow on the outskirts of the tree, it is longer.

On the cut of the fruit you can see the pulp of a creamy shade, very juicy and with a pleasant sweet and sour taste. Contains an apple of this variety 13.2% solids, 9.8% sugar, 0.91% titratable acids. Vitamin C is present in more than 9 mg for every 100 g of fruit, and P-active substances up to 150 mg.

Advantages and disadvantages

The indisputable advantage of the Prima variety is its immunity to scab, early maturity, large fruit size, excellent taste, rich apple aroma. In addition, good fruit transportability. The disadvantages include high shedding of fruits, insufficient resistance to powdery mildew, frequency of fruiting.

Maturation and fruiting

Fructification of the Prima apple tree begins in the 3-4th year. The productivity of the tree is high, on average 250 kg/ha.The ripening of apples begins on August 10, and before that they are often shed. This situation occurs in windy weather, when the plant lacks moisture both in the soil and in the air.

The Prima apple tree is known for its frequency of fruiting.

Fruits are distinguished by good transportability and keeping quality. The length of the storage period is up to 2 months if the place for this is a dark, cool room.

Disease resistance and winter hardiness

Resistance to various diseases in this apple tree is different - it is practically not affected by scab, but suffers from powdery mildew. The source of this disease is a fungus, it chooses a convenient place for itself on any part of the tree. In appearance, the affected area is covered with a gray film. The disease is controlled by the use of fungicides. To get rid of the disease, treatment is carried out up to 5 times a year, and the plant is also fed with nitrogen and potassium supplements.

Since the variety is bred for the southern regions, the winter hardiness of the Prima apple tree is of medium degree.

Apple subspecies Prima

Breeders are always looking for noteworthy varieties. They also experimented with this apple tree. As a result of crossing in the fourth generation, the Prima variety was obtained.

After breeding, this variety became the basis for the creation of new plants. These are varieties such as Kuban Cossack, Memory of Sergeyev. Breeders use the Prima apple tree as a scab resistance donor. There is also a subspecies Rouge. It differs from the mother tree in more even fruits and ripens 10-20 days earlier - in early August. There is also a dwarf subspecies of Rouge. To form this plant, take a dwarf rootstock M9. Such a tree suffers less from powdery mildew.

Growing regions

Apple Prima is a plant of early autumn ripening, which has gained wide popularity in the Krasnodar Territory and the southern part of the Russian Federation. The variety is not suitable for the Moscow region.

The virtues of the Prima apple tree are enough to make many gardeners want to plant it. And when a tree is taken care of and basic agricultural practices are followed, it will generously bestow beautiful and tasty fruits on those who grow it.

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