Manchurian apricot is an incredibly beautiful plant that can become the pride and central place of the garden plot. Exceptionally beautiful during the flowering period, the tree is completely strewn with large pink flowers.
No less elegant it is in the autumn decoration of bright foliage, as well as at the time of fruiting. Characterized by longevity (life expectancy of more than 100 years), Manchurian apricot is planted on garden plots, used to decorate parks and squares both in single and in group plantings. Thanks to the deep root system, such a tree is used to fix river banks, slopes, and watering systems. Under natural conditions, grows in the Far East, in Eastern Siberia, in the north-eastern part of China.
Breeders have developed decorative varieties of Manchurian apricot . In particular, the East Siberian apricot is a derivative of common and Manchurian apricot , characterized by aromatic tasty fruits.
Manchurian apricot: description
Plant height - 10-15 meters with a half-meter diameter of the trunk. Crohn is spreading, openwork. The bark is dark gray, cracking deep. Leaves measuring 5-12 cm, oval; in the fall they turn red and remain in the tree until the frost.
The pink flowers of the apricot, which is the earliest honey plant, exude an incredible honey aroma. Small in size (about 2.5 cm), they are located on short pedicels of several pieces or individually. Manchurian apricot blooms annually and abundantly. Such a gorgeous sight is observed in April-early May and lasts only 12 days.
The first Manchurian apricot crop, reviews of the beauty of which prompts to acquire such a plant in its area, gives on the 5-7th year of planting. For effective pollination, it is recommended to have several such trees on the site.
Fruits are flat-oval, medium, pubescent, orange-yellow, weighing from 15 to 20 grams, ripen in mid-summer and are inferior in sweetness to southern relatives. To taste bitter-sour. But despite this seemingly small flaw, they make wonderful jams, jellies, jams and compotes.
Manchurian apricot: planting
The bones of such a plant retain their germination for several years and, when planted in autumn, give from 50 to 90% of young plants. Preliminary, it is recommended to lower the bones into the water: the pop-up specimens must be removed, since they are not suitable for planting. It is useful to stratify. When planting, the embedment depth is 1 cm. Emerging seedlings need careful maintenance: watering, loosening, removing weeds, mulching the soil. After 2 years, young plants can be transplanted to a permanent place of growth.
Care Features
Such a tree is not capricious in care: it is important to provide it with regular watering, especially after transplanting and in the process of growth. In the second half of summer, feeding should be done only during a drought. Excessive watering can cause a prolonged growth of shoots, which will not have time to ripen and freeze by winter.
Manchurian apricot (photo in the article) - a frost-resistant plant that can survive temperatures below 30 o C.
It grows on all types of soils and at the same time gives abundant growth, loves the abundance of light. With close proximity of groundwater, the plant should provide good drainage. It can be a 20-centimeter layer of rubble.
Pre-winter preparation includes sheltering young plants with spruce branches near the root neck. If frost damages the annual shoots, the latter must be cut off.
Twice a year, a whitewash of the tree trunk is required. If there is damage, such places need to be cleaned to a living area and a garden var should be applied to them .
Plant pruning
It is recommended that the tree promptly remove dry and diseased branches. It is also worth bearing in mind that the Manchurian apricot does not have the ability to control its own harvest: almost all normally formed ovaries will turn into fruits firmly attached to the branches. The plant may be overloaded with crops, which will weaken the growth of new shoots. Therefore, annual anti-aging pruning is a necessary factor in plant care.
Of the pests, Manchurian apricot can be affected by a spider mite, a cherry elephant, aphids; of diseases - holey spotting and verticillosis.