The first appearance of columnar apple trees occurs in nineteen sixty-fourth. In Canada, a mutant branch was noticed on an apple tree of the well-known Mac variety, which immediately attracted attention. Subsequently, it laid the foundation for a new variety, called the leader, from which the hybridization of these varieties began.
A columnar apple tree gives abundant flowering in the second or third year, however, it can not be called a long-liver. Orchards from such apple trees exist from five to ten years. The main feature of these varieties is the lack of growth hormones that are produced in the roots. As a result of this, a very large number of flower buds are laid, and the side branches become useless for the future harvest. The central trunk is a powerful base for fruiting. Due to this, you can reduce the distance between the trees from fifty to eighty centimeters. This planting density significantly affects the increase in productivity.
Caring for apples lies in certain knowledge, without which a good harvest can not be achieved. The main thing to consider is that a huge number of ovaries are not able to withstand even a large tree, and a dwarf column-shaped apple tree will not cope with such abundant flowering. Therefore, in the first year of life, it is most advisable to remove all the flowers. By the second year, when the tree has already taken root, you can proceed directly to rationing the number of fruits. In the process of flowering, the apple tree is covered with many floral links, consisting of small bouquets. In order to get a normal ovary, in each link you need to leave two bunches, and the rest must be removed without damaging the young leaves. When the ovary is already visible, you need to remove another half of the flowers in bouquets. At that time, when future fruits reach the size of a cherry, their number must be reduced to two in a bouquet, and after they become the size of a walnut, you need to leave only one apple in each bouquet.
If the fruits become smaller compared to last year, then this indicates a glut of the tree. Usually stick ten to fifteen pieces on one plant.
The columnar apple tree has a superficial root system that does not have a shaft, which usually goes deep into. The more pronounced the dwarfism of the tree, the more its roots are weaker and more tender. Basically they depart from the trunk for twenty-twenty-five centimeters. They can be damaged even when the earth is trampled around them, and loosening is completely impossible. Therefore, they use the tinning method - they sow cereals, then they periodically mow them, while trying not to damage the trees. Instead of cereals, you can plant dill or lemon balm. Incidentally, they repel pests very well.
Watering, which is especially needed by a columnar apple tree, should be constant and, if possible, drip. Once every two weeks, you need to do a wash, that is, water the soil abundantly so that the moisture goes as deep as possible, and the upper layers are enriched with oxygen. If drip irrigation is not possible, then the apple tree is watered every three days with mandatory mulching.
The main secret of how to prune an apple tree is that the more branches are removed, the more powerful the shoots will be. The closer the branch is to the vertical, the stronger it grows (compared to the declined lower branches). Therefore, the central conductor is not cut so that unnecessary branches are not formed. Proper care ensures the growth of the crown by ten to fifteen centimeters and the formation of two or three side branches. In the event that the central conductor grows poorly, it is severely cut. Then the top of the head is tied up vertically to the support, and from the rest, fruit links are formed, which basically function for about three to five years.
Of course, there is a lot of trouble with a column-shaped apple tree, but everything will pay off with an excellent crop of excellent quality, which can be harvested without much effort, without bending down and climbing a tree.