Plum trees grow in almost every garden or summer cottage. Juicy, aromatic, tasty and very healthy fruits are second only to apples in popularity. Today, there are many old, well-established plum varieties that differ in fruit size, shape, color of the skin and pulp, and taste. However, breeders do not stop work on breeding more advanced varieties with increased frost resistance, fruit ripening speed and excellent taste.
Firefly plum is a somewhat unusual variety that has an uncharacteristic yellow coloration of the fruit, a pleasant delicate aroma and a sweet taste that attracts gardeners. "Firefly" refers to a group of varieties of medium maturity. He was obtained at the Research Institute of Genetics and Breeding them. I.V. Michurina during the crossing of two well-known varieties: "Volga beauty" and "Eurasia 21". The authors of this development were L. E. Kursakova, G. G. Nikiforov, R. E. Bogdanov and G. A. Kursakov. The variety has passed state tests since 2004. In 2012, he was allowed to grow in the Central Black Earth region of our country - Belgorod, Oryol, Voronezh, Lipetsk, Tambov and Kursk regions.
Firefly plum: grade description
A powerful tree with a spreading crown reaches a height of five meters. The oval-shaped crown is moderately thickened. Shoots of brown-brown color, straight and thin, have a slight pubescence. Medium-sized leaves of an elliptical shape are painted in saturated green. At the edges they are finely serrated. The concave leaf blade has a smooth and matte surface. Petioles are pigmented. The plant blooms with small white flowers.
Fruit
When describing the “firefly" plum, one should dwell on large (up to 40 grams) round-shaped fruits. They are covered with a thin, smooth yellow peel with a slight waxy coating, which is easily separated from the fetus. On it you can see small, faint gray subcutaneous points. The stalks, average in length and thickness, are easily separated from the branches.
The yellow flesh is juicy and dense, with a pleasant sweet taste with sourness. The stone is small, perfectly separated from the pulp. The biochemical composition of the fruit includes:
- sugar - 13%;
- solids - 14.05%;
- acids - 1%;
- ascorbic acid - 6 mg per 100 grams of product.
The fruits are characterized by an average level of transportability. The description and photo of the “firefly” plum can be quite often found today in special publications for gardeners, as interest in this variety is growing every year.
Professional tasters praised the taste of the firefly fruit, giving them 4.5 points. Today it is one of the best table varieties in our country. The fruits are suitable for fresh consumption, and they can also be used for winter harvesting in the form of juices, fruit drinks, preserves. Many housewives make marmalades and jellies of a very beautiful golden color from these plums.
The firefly plum, the photo of which we posted in this article, developed specifically for the Chernozem region, perfectly withstands harsh winters, when the air temperature drops to -20 ° C, and is also not afraid of spring return frosts. This variety is also resistant to dry summers. It has an average resistance to most diseases characteristic of stone fruits.
Trees begin to bloom quite early in mid-May. The fruits ripen in the last decade of July or in the early days of August. The firefly begins to bear fruit in the third or fourth year. The average yield is at least 112 centners per hectare.
Grade Pollinators
Most plum varieties obtained from Eurasia 21 are poorly pollinated. To improve this indicator, the creators of the cultivar recommend planting trees nearby, which in terms of flowering coincide with the cultivar Eurasia 21. These include: “lighthouse”, “collective farm greenhouse”, “fruitful greenhouse”.
Rules for planting a plum
In order for the “firefly” plum to yield good harvests, it is necessary to correctly conduct a number of agrotechnical measures and observe simple rules for caring for the plant.
Plants of this variety are planted in well-lit areas where groundwater occurs at a depth of at least two meters. Trees are placed at a distance of three to four meters from each other. Before planting, potash top dressing, a layer of manure, as well as some wood ash and superphosphate are placed in the landing pits with a depth of at least 0.5 meters.
Having placed the seedling in the center of the pit, evenly sprinkle the roots, compact the soil so that there are no voids left. To deepen a root neck is not recommended. After compaction of the soil carry out abundant watering. It is necessary to mulch the trunk circle with peat or humus.
After landing care
Proper care of the firefly plum comes down to regular watering, loosening the soil, weeding, top dressing and pruning and protection from pests. Before fruiting, before flowering and during the formation of the ovary, watering is carried out in the amount of 4-5 buckets under one tree once or twice a month. With a large amount of rainfall, watering can be canceled.
Feeding and trimming
With mineral fertilizers, the plant is fed during autumn digging, organic matter is added no more than once every three years. To form a crown in a young tree after planting, the first pruning is carried out in spring. Then the firefly drain should be cut annually. Fresh sections must be treated with garden varieties.
Many gardeners note that as the tree grows, cracking of the bark is observed. This should not be ignored. Such damage must be carefully cleaned to healthy areas of the cortex, and then treated with a solution of iron sulfate. The treated surface is lubricated with garden var. If lichen or moss appears on the bark, it should be removed and then the whitewashed trunk.
Winter Care
With the onset of winter tree care does not end. The loose snow is a good helper for rodents in the construction of passages leading to food, namely to the young bark. Therefore, immediately after the snowfall, you should trample the snow around the tree. Adult tree mice are not so dangerous.
Firefly plum: gardeners reviews
To date, no serious flaws in this variety have been identified. Despite this, reviews of the "firefly" are mixed. Some gardeners have low yields, although the tree is actively flowering. According to experts, this problem is associated with pollinators. As a rule, in gardens where a large number of plums of various varieties grows, this does not happen. Typically, an average tree produces four buckets of fruit annually.
However, most flower growers have no complaints about “firefly” plum, but they believe that special attention should be paid to it. Unusual color, excellent characteristics (productivity, resistance to weather vagaries, great taste) provide this variety with a good future.