Apricot is an unusually tasty, juicy, aromatic and very healthy fruit. Culture requires care, timely watering and top dressing.
Apricot Description
Apricot - a fruit tree from the family of Rosaceae, genus Plum. It was brought to Russia from warm places. In the southern strip of the country begins to bloom in mid-April, in the eastern part it blooms in early May.
The tree blooms mainly with white, red and pink flowers, exuding a very delicate aroma, but drops flowers quickly enough, on average, in 8-10 days. The height of the apricot tree can reach up to 8 meters, the crown is thick, branched. The leaves have a light green or emerald green color, the shape is oval, round or in the form of hearts. With proper care and top dressing, the life expectancy of an apricot can reach 100 years. Fruiting begins after 3 years of life.
Ah, that apricot! Variety Lel
This variety was bred in 1986 on the basis of the Moscow Botanical Garden. N.V. Tsitsina RAS breeders A.K. Skvortsov and L.A. Kramarenko. In 2004, it was included in the State Register of Breeding Plants of the Russian Federation.
Despite moderate productivity, Lel apricot, reviews of which are only the best, is successfully grown in collective gardens and in household plots. The excellent appearance and sour-sweet taste of its fruits completely make up for this drawback. Read more about how to grow apricot Lel correctly (description of the variety is presented in the article).
Appearance
The tree is medium-sized, reaching a height of 3 m, the crown is quite neat and compact. One-year shoots are slightly branched. This variety is characterized by moderate, rather moderate growth.
The leaves are dark green shiny, egg-shaped, with small denticles, smooth and soft to the touch. In the fall they are painted in different shades of red.
White-pink single flowers of medium size, with five rounded petals, can withstand a temperature drop of -1.5 degrees. The flowering period is from late April to early May.
Apricot Lel: fruit description
The fruits of this variety are very beautiful and shiny, rounded, slightly flattened on the sides, weight - about 20 g. The skin is orange, almost not pubescent, without a blush. The pulp is orange in color, dense and very tender. The bone separates perfectly. Ripening early. Productivity is average, sometimes high. The fruits are delicious both fresh and in preservation. Keeping quality is good.
Apricot fruits are tasty, nutritious and aromatic. Contain a significant amount of sugar, pectin, organic acids, carotene, as well as malic and citric acid. The mineral and vitamin composition plays an important role - the presence of B, C, P, PP, H, E vitamins, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, iodine, iron, folic acid, etc.
The consumption of apricots allows you to maintain health and prevent the development of many diseases. Calorie content of 100 g of fruits - 44 kcal.
Landing
For planting apricot Lel, you must choose a well-ventilated and illuminated area of the garden, preferably on the south side of the fences or buildings. Culture loves fertile, potassium-rich soils with deep groundwater. Autumn and spring months are suitable for planting. In this case, you need to pay attention to the condition of the soil (it must be loose, crumbling) and the air temperature, which at night should not fall below +10 degrees.
Apricot Lel is undemanding to the soil, it can grow successfully even on rocky ground. Groundwater should not exceed 2-3 m.
When a tree is planted in spring, a pit is prepared for it in the fall. In size, it should be at least 1.5 m in basic parameters. Drainage is added to the bottom of the landing pit, and on top is soil mixed with humus, superphosphate, potassium salt and lime. At a distance of about 10-15 cm from the seedling stem, a wooden stake 1.7 m high is stuck and a tree is tied to it. Apricot is poured with 10 liters of water. Mulch moist soil with dry grass or sawdust with a layer of 10-15 cm.
Care
For the normal development, growth and stable harvest, timely implementation of agricultural activities is necessary.
Apricot Lel is a drought tolerant tree requiring moderate watering. During the season it is watered three times: in mid-spring, at the end of May, and a few weeks before the fruit ripens. In addition, another watering is required - in the fall when preparing the apricot for wintering.
It is important to remember that the apricot tree is quite sensitive to waterlogging of the soil, its waterlogging can lead to decay of the roots.
Pruning
The compact crown of Lel apricot, as a rule, does not cause gardeners much trouble. Tree pruning is performed annually. In the spring, branches frozen after winter are removed. It is in the spring time that pruning is considered the most effective. Summer pruning is done in late August. In the fall, trees are pruned in order to prepare them for the winter period and increase winter hardiness.
Winter preparations
Adult apricot Lel is able to tolerate low temperatures well. Its preparation for winter includes wrapping it with burlap trunk and hilling snow near the trunk zone. Young seedlings need more careful care. A small structure is constructed from wooden pegs and covered with a film, sprinkled with earth on top.
The most dangerous time for apricot trees is winter thaws, when warming comes with a drop in temperature. During this period, cracking of the stem or freezing of flower buds is possible. Most often this applies to young trees, which have not yet managed to grow a sufficient amount of wood.
Fertilizer and fertilizing
During the first five years of the apricot tree, fertilizer can be applied to the near-trunk zone. Further, the soil coverage for fertilizer should increase every year.
In spring, the soil is fertilized by applying 4 kg of humus mixed with 5 g of phosphorus, 6 g of nitrogen, 8 g of potassium per square meter.
Also, for good productivity, apricot trees need mineral fertilizing:
- 2-3 years after planting, superphosphate (0.13 kg), ammonium nitrate (0.06 kg) and potassium chloride (0.04 kg) must be added;
- for the 4-5th year superphosphate (0.2 kg), potassium chloride (0.06 kg) and ammonium nitrate (0.1 kg) are added;
- on the 6th, 7th and 8th year - superphosphate (0.31 kg), ammonium nitrate (0.21 kg) and potassium chloride (0.14 kg).
In the future, superphosphate (0.88 kg), ammonium nitrate (0.37 kg) and potassium chloride (0.25 kg) are added annually.
Breeding
Apricot Lel is propagated vegetatively (i.e. by vaccination), by cuttings or grown from seeds.
The last option is used to produce new varieties. Apricots that are grown from seed have a high survival rate and frost resistance. For planting, seeds from the most ripe fruits are selected, then a test for their quality is carried out. The bones are lowered into a container of water. Those that pop up are unsuitable for landing. Then, a stratification procedure is carried out, based on temperature differences. Seeds are planted in a pot and waiting for seedlings. When the seedlings get stronger, they are planted in the ground, taking into account all the requirements for planting this tree.
Cuttings are an extremely inefficient way of propagating apricot. Cuttings, as a rule, do not take root, and green ones give very insignificant results. In addition, apricot grown in this way is endowed with low viability.
Vaccination is considered the most popular method of propagating apricot. It perfectly takes root on seedlings of cherry, plum, peach, etc. Good results can be achieved by grafting the cuttings using improved copulation or under the bark, which gives the highest percentage of survival. The most favorable time for such manipulations falls on the beginning of May.
Diseases and Pests
Among the diseases affecting the apricot Lel (photo attached), one can distinguish the Valsa fungus, moniliosis, bacterial spotting, cytosporosis, verticillosis, gum spotting and hole spotting. There are different ways to deal with them. Be sure to remove the affected fruits and leaves. To process a tree with a Bordeaux mixture, blue vitriol or other fungicidal agents.
Of the insects, the aphid, leaflet and peduncle pose a threat to the apricot, insecticides and herbal infusions will help get rid of them.
Reviews
As a rule, apricot ( Lel variety ) receives positive reviews from gardeners. The fruits, although not large, are quite juicy. The dense pulp has an excellent sweet taste with a slight acidity.
Many gardeners note that the planted seedlings take root well, grow normally and winter well. Only it is necessary to carry out prophylaxis against pests and diseases in time.
Almost all, without exception, recommend protecting apricot trees from the cold wind, because they are afraid of them. Therefore, for planting, you need to choose a sunny and quiet area of the garden.