In each summer cottage, fruit trees must grow. Many people like to plant apples, pears and plums, as these fruits make delicious jams, compotes and juices. Today we describe the plum variety President. What is remarkable about these fruits and why are gardeners so fond of them?
History of creation
For more than a hundred years, the President has enjoyed plum; she has gained her well-deserved place in many suburban areas. The variety was bred by amateur breeders from England at the turn of the 19-20th century. The plum turned out to be excellent and immediately became famous for its taste, unpretentiousness in care. Gardeners noted its resistance to many root diseases, from which many garden trees die. Good growth, climate adaptability of the forest-steppe zone, and high transportable qualities were also noted. Soon the variety spread far beyond the borders of England.
Description of the plum variety President
A distinctive feature of the tree immediately catches your eye. It is not columnar, but annually gives a lot of side shoots, therefore, in order to get a stable crop and good, large fruits, the tree needs to be thinned, removing new and too old shoots.
The culture is vigorous, and an adult plant can grow up to 3.5 meters. The seedling quickly adapts to its place and begins to actively develop, its growth per year can be up to forty centimeters. The young tree has a pyramidal shape, but over time its branches are scattered, forming a dense ball of crown. The foliage is dark green in color, large, slightly concave at the base. The glossy shine of foliage shimmers beautifully in the sun, and over time it becomes covered with a waxy coating. The back of the sheets does not fluff; it is smooth.
In spring, the tree is covered with inflorescences collected in umbrellas. It smells very nice, spreading the aroma to many square meters.
Fruit characterization
Oval fruits, quite large on young trees, reach a weight of one hundred grams. On mature they are smaller - up to 65 grams. Plum President, the description of which you are reading, has a dense skin. It has a purple-violet saturated color and is covered with a waxy coating of a bluish tint, there are integumentary small dots on the surface. The plum pulp is homogeneous, very juicy, has a yellow or green-yellow color. The taste is excellent, sweet, tasting score is quite high, 4 points out of five possible. The juice is colorless, sweet. The fruit has an oblong ossicle, it is easily separated from the juicy pulp.
Advantages and disadvantages
The plum variety President has many advantages. And a few shortcomings completely overlap with them. As always, let's start with the positive qualities:
- cultivation in any region is possible, as the tree is frost-resistant, withstands winters with a drop in temperature to -30 degrees;
- well adapted to drought;
- resistance to various biological aggressions;
- fruiting begins relatively early - in the fifth year of life;
- stable and high productivity, it is possible to collect from one tree from 20 to 75 kilograms of fruit, depending on the age of the tree;
- fruits of excellent quality, with a pleasant taste, dietary value (43 kilocalories per hundred grams);
- plum President is well transported and stored.
Disadvantages:
- it thickens every year and during the season, it is necessary to thin out the branches;
- the possibility of infection of the tree with monoliasis, aphids pollinated and plum moth;
- prone to gum disease.
Landing Features
If you decide to get hold of this wonderful tree on your site, then prepare an extensive space for it, since the branches will be scattered, and they need enough space for full development.
You can plant in the spring, in late March or early April, also in autumn, from late September to mid-October. But still, the spring is preferable. At this time, the young seedling will not be attacked by the first frosts, it will begin to grow and develop actively. As practice has shown, trees planted in autumn begin to bear fruit a year later, only sixth.
When planting, the air temperature is important, it should be at least +12 degrees. Also pay special attention to the soil, it should be soft and loose, so that the shovel freely entered.
Priming
Plum President is not too demanding on the condition of the soil, it will take root almost everywhere, but if you want to get a good harvest, then pay attention to the following characteristics of the ideal soil for this crop.
In loamy, breathable and water-intensive soils, the yield is always higher. If the land is very acidic (easily recognizable by a well-growing sorrel, plantain and sour) or boggy, it must be liming. This procedure should be performed directly in the spring, before digging the site. If you never lime the soil, then use our recommendation: you need to use fluff lime (you can replace shale ash, chalk or dolomite flour) and scatter it on the ground with the expectation of half a kilogram per square meter. After that, you can dig the earth.
Liming is very useful for the crop, it normalizes the structure of the soil, making it more moisture- and breathable. It also activates the vital activity of only beneficial microorganisms living in the earth, enriches the soil with calcium, magnesium and other trace elements.
If you decided to use wood ash to lower the acidity of the earth, then take it with a calculation of 1-2 buckets per ten square meters. This method will help to neutralize the harmful effects on plants of heavy metals such as aluminum and iron.
Planting
Plum The President will take root without any problems and will avoid many diseases in a well-ventilated and sunny area. The earth must be leveled so that there is no stagnation of moisture or its runoff. The seedling should be prepared: if the roots are dry, then soak them in water for two days, and immediately before planting, dip them in a mud or clay "talker", this will protect from burns that are possible in contact with fertilizers (manure, superphosphate and compost, which are mixed with the ground in which the seedling will be immersed).
The landing pit should be half a meter deep, eighty centimeters wide. If several trees are planted, then the distance between the rows should be at least four meters, and between the trees - two and a half meters. Seedlings are planted so that the root neck remains on the surface. Watered with forty liters of water as the soil dries.
Plum variety President: reviews
Gardeners are very fond of the variety. They write that the President plum is excellent fruiting, and the yield is only increasing annually. Summer residents of the northern regions note its frost resistance. In the south, praised for resistance to drought and heat. The president also fell in love with large farmers. Reviews from the fishermen are also the most positive. They are especially appreciated for the rapid growth of the tree, abundant harvest, high tolerance to transportation and excellent taste.