Content:
Almost every gardener is engaged in growing an apple tree. An unpretentious tree not only serves as a decoration for the garden, but also gives a rich harvest, benefiting the whole family.
Variety of varieties
Various varieties of apple trees amaze the imagination, because more than 10,000 of them have been created. Each of them differs in size and taste of fruits, resistance to diseases, period of fruiting, winter hardiness and many other criteria.
Variety of varieties
The work of breeders is aimed at improving the most necessary qualities in each new apple tree. One of these properties is winter hardiness, the most important characteristic of the apple tree for the northern regions. In addition to the well-known Antonovka ordinary, new frost-resistant varieties have been bred: Gift to Grafsky, Marat Busurin, Arkadik and Legend.
Another desirable quality of apple trees is early maturity. Varieties that can bear fruit already in the 2nd year after planting a seedling: Marat Busurin, Antey, Mamrovskoe red, White immune.
The third popular property of apple trees is keeping quality - long shelf life. These include the Gift to Grafsky, Antey, Freshness.
The varieties of columnar apple trees are distinguished by a high degree of yield: President, Triumph, Ostankino, Chervonets, Currency, Dialogue and Kumir. Traditional apple trees can also produce rich harvests. But columnar varieties, due to their compactness, give a great return.
The sweetest varieties of apples: Medunitsa, Candy, Golden Delicious, Belorusskoe Sladkoe, Orlovim, Rozhdestvenskoe, Pepin Saffron, Rizhsky Golubok, Uslada, and also the apple tree Sweet Alai.
No matter how many varieties of apple trees there are, there are 10 most popular varieties, which account for about 70% of world production. The description is given, depending on the ripening time, they are divided into three types: summer, autumn and winter varieties of apple trees.
Three types of apple trees: summer, autumn and winter varieties
There are a huge number of worthy varieties of apple trees: Blue Moon, Marat Busurin, Rodnikovaya, Golden Ranet, Arkad Biryukova, Rossoshanskoe Striped, Darunok, Jonagold, Sladkaya Nega, Surkhurai, Nastenka, Moskovskoe later, Alyonushka, Martovskoe, Fregat, Smuglyanochka, Skarlet, Red Ketty, Beauty of the Garden, Slavyanka, Chosen One, Tolunay, Memory of Michurin, Scent of Uktus, Memory of Ulyanishchev, Riga Dove, Altynai, Zorka, Paper, Victory, Memory of the Warrior, Pioneer of the North, Yellow Sugar, Zhebrovskoe, Sokolovskoe, Makovets , Papirovka's daughter, Korah, Tatiana, Scarlet Flower, Dachnaya, Dessert Petrova, Epic, Modi, Flagship, Starkrimson, Favorite, Brandy Magic, Tellisaare. The gardener has a difficult choice among so many names. Which to choose? After all, each of the varieties has its own advantages.
Top 10 best apple trees
Early varieties of apples, summer, ripen by the end of July. Their taste can be slightly sour, and they can lie no more than 2-3 weeks.
Summer varieties of apple trees
Melba
Melba
A zoned variety bred for the Central strip and the Moscow region. The fruit is even, slightly elongated, white-green in color, one side is covered with a red tint. Delicious juicy pulp, sweet and sour, with a light candy flavor. High-yielding variety, yields from 85 to 150 kg of yield.Melba is characterized by good transportation. Among the shortcomings, it is worth noting the weak frost resistance. Easily affected by scab.
Orlovim
Late summer apple tree. Fruit ripening begins in the second week of August and gradually ends in the last days of September. The fruit has a conical shape and weighs from 120 to 170 g. The color is greenish-yellow with crimson stripes. The pulp is sweet and sour. Productivity - up to 100 kg. Advantages: winter hardy variety, scab resistant. A fast-growing and regularly fruiting variety. Disadvantages: tall tree growth, gradual decrease in scab immunity.
Mantet
Mantet
The apple tree is early. The fruit ripens in summer - the end of July. The tree is medium in height. Fruits are conical in shape, weighing from 90 to 180 g. Fruit color is orange-red with a blush in the form of stripes. The pulp is white, the taste is sweet with sourness. Apples ripen at different times, must be eaten immediately or within 10 days. Advantages: early maturity, pleasant taste. Disadvantages: fast overripening of apples, average level of winter hardiness and weak resistance to scab.
August
Fruiting begins in the second half of August. The apples are large, weighing from 160 g, and have an elongated shape. Fruit color is yellow-green with a blush. The pulp is juicy, sweet and sour. Mature trees yield up to 120 kg of harvest. Advantages: high frost resistance, good immunity to scab, high marketability. Disadvantages: tall tree growth and poor keeping quality.
Autumn varieties of apple trees
Uspenskoe
Uspenskoe
Autumn grade. The fruits are large, round, yellowish-green with a blush. The pulp is characterized by a sweet and sour taste. Keeping life is from 2 to 3 months. Positive properties: good level of frost resistance, scab resistance, regularity of the crop, high marketability. A negative quality is a short shelf life and a tendency to shedding.
Darling
Dwarf variety. Ripening period - late August, early September. The fruits are medium, round. The color is yellow with red shading. Advantages: high winter hardiness, compactness. Disadvantages: susceptibility to scab, short shelf life.
Zhigulevskoe
Zhigulevskoe
Late autumn variety. The apples are large, weighing from 120 to 350 g. The shape is round, the color is yellow, there is a bright, red, striped blush. Ripening lasts from September to January. Advantages: amicable ripening, immunity to scab, high marketability. The disadvantage is the average winter hardiness, it is affected by the moth.
Winter varieties of apple trees
Bryansk
An early winter variety for the Central region and the Middle zone. Large size of fruits, weighing from 150 to 400 g. Green color with raspberry bloom. The pulp is sweet with sourness. You need to eat fresh in the fall. Advantages of the variety: fast-growing, scab resistant, winter-hardy, partially self-fertile, high marketability. Cons: poor keeping quality and susceptibility to fruit rot.
Imant
Late winter apple variety. The fruits are large, weighing from 180 to 200 g, have a conical shape. The color is purplish green. The pulp is juicy, the taste is sweet and sour. Advantages: long shelf life, good transport tolerance, winter hardiness. He is not afraid of scab. Disadvantages: freezing of the growth in severe frosts.
Imant
Lobo
Early winter apple variety. Fruits are large in size, weighing from 150 to 250 g, conical in shape. Yellowish green color with a burgundy tint. The variety produces sweet apples. You can store the fruits until March. Pluses of the variety: early maturity, long storage, regular appearance of the crop, high marketability. Negative: weak immunity to scab and powdery mildew.
Agricultural principles
To grow an apple tree, you should choose a place with a deep bed of ground water - no closer than 2 m to the soil surface. The close occurrence of waters leads to decay of the roots. The ground should be neutral or slightly acidic.The high acidity of the soil is neutralized by the introduction of dolomite flour or ash.
For normal development, it is necessary to acquire zoned seedlings. Planting multiple varieties is recommended to ensure cross-pollination. To be able to leave the harvest for storage, you need to choose late varieties for planting.
A seedling with its own roots can be purchased from a private farm. In nurseries, a grafted apple tree is usually purchased. The stock is of several types: dwarf, vigorous, medium-sized, and columnar. A seedling with an open root system should be planted in the spring, before bud break, or in the fall, around mid-September. The closed root system allows apple trees to be planted all season.
Pit preparation begins one month before planting. Digging holes 60 × 100 cm every 4 m. For columnar seedlings, it is permissible to reduce the distance between trees to 1.5-2 m. Soil preparation consists in the introduction of organic and mineral fertilizers. They are poured onto the bottom of the hole, and covered with a mound of dug soil on top so that the roots of the apple tree do not die from contact with mineral fertilizers.
High acidity of the soil is neutralized by the introduction of dolomite flour
After planting the seedling, it must be watered with 2-3 buckets of water, mulch the soil with humus or sawdust. After this, the seedling is pruned by one third to allow it to strengthen the root system. Throughout the life of the fruit tree, annual formative and sanitary pruning is carried out. For the first 3-5 years, the near-trunk circle is cleared of weeds and loosened. In the first year of planting, the seedlings are watered abundantly every week, then watering is carried out during the formation of fruits or during a dry period. If the soil is poor, you need to make an annual top dressing with organic and mineral fertilizers.
Most varieties of apple trees are self-fertile, that is, they are not capable of self-pollination. Spraying trees with sweet water is used to attract insects, but this method does not work in cold rainy weather. If there are no pollinating varieties in the nearby area, then you have to self-pollinate the apple tree manually.
A wealth of varieties is one of the many benefits of apple trees for experienced and novice gardeners.
