Apples are valued for their health benefits and palatability. The number of apple varieties is increasing every year, but some of them are becoming especially popular due to their delicious fruits and their good keeping quality. Jonagold belongs to such varieties.
Jonagold (apple tree): description
Jonagold is a winter grade apple tree. It is obtained by crossing the very well-known varieties Golden Delicious and Jonathan. It happened back in the middle of the last century in America. This variety came to us after a couple of decades, and immediately gardeners drew attention to it. Industrial cultivation has begun.
Jonagold apple tree (photo) is popular not only in the USA. There she enters the top 15 most requested. It is one of the most commonly grown varieties in Belgium. It is valued for large fruits, although its price is low.
Jonagold apple tree of medium height, in the first years of life has a wide rounded crown. Then, at the time of full fruiting, she becomes widely oval. Thickness of young branches is average. The shape of the crown does not require special adjustments. Skeletal branches grow at such an angle that they do not need to be regulated.
Each year, an average number of young branches form on a tree. Fruits the tree on the glove, annual growth and fruit twigs.
It begins fruiting rather early, in the third year after planting a permanent apple tree, Jonagold.
Description, photo indicates that the fruits are larger than average, in diameter reach up to 9 cm. The weight of one fruit is up to 220 g. Apples of the same size, round. The color is yellow, with a red or orange blush covering two-thirds of the fruit. The skin is of medium thickness, shiny, covered with a waxy coating. The pulp is very tasty, fragrant, with a wine aftertaste, sweet and sour (4.6 b.), Yellow.
Reach the fruits of removable ripeness at the end of September, a week earlier than the mother variety Golden Delishes. It is then that they are removed from the trees and stored.
They can be stored in a cellar or other premises of this type. There they can maintain their palatability until February. If you use a refrigerator for storage, you can enjoy fresh Jonagold apples in April.
Using
Jonagold apples are well tolerated, therefore, can be transported over long distances.
Use apples of this variety for the manufacture of juices, wine. From the bottom produce mashed potatoes, dry powders. And what do gardeners who have the Jonagold apple tree say? Reviews say that at home, apples of this variety are boiled in jams, preserves, compotes, and used as a filling for pies. But they consider the best use of fresh apples, because they are very tasty and fragrant.
Pollinators
It blooms not very early. Jonagold refers to triploids. In order for the amount of ovary to be sufficient, you need to have at least two pollinators.
Free pollination ranges from 9 to 21 percent. The best pollinators for this variety of apple trees are:
- James Greve
- Renet Orange Coke.
A good result shows pollination by varieties:
- Jonathan;
- Champion;
- Idared
- Elstar
Productivity
The yield of the Jonagold variety does not depend on weather conditions. She is always stable and quite high.
At the age of 7 years, the Jonagold apple tree is able to produce up to 15 kg of fruits from a tree, at 12 years of age, the yield is up to 55 kg from a tree.
Frost resistance of apple trees
Jonagold is an apple tree of medium frost resistance. It does not tolerate a sharp change in winter temperatures typical for the region to extreme ones. After freezing, it is poorly restored, productivity decreases. In the middle lane, trees of this variety are best grown on frost-resistant substrates.
Growing
You can plant an apple tree in autumn or spring. It is believed that the Jonagold apple variety is better established in the fall. But for this it needs to be properly planted.
A pit for a seedling is prepared in advance, two weeks before planting. Its size should be sufficient to place the root and provide it with a set of useful substances. Having prepared a pit 1 m deep, loosen the soil. This allows the roots of the plant to grow unhindered for several years in and out. The length and width of the pit is also equal to 1 m.
The soil for planting an apple tree should be a neutral acid reaction, pH 5.0-6.5. The layer of black soil or humus layer must be at least 18 cm. The apple tree does not tolerate stagnation of water in the root system. The groundwater level should not be less than 1.5 m. Apple trees do not grow on swamp soils and peat bogs.
The topsoil is laid separately. Fertilizers and substances useful for the seedling are added. This is rotten manure, a handful of ash. You can add complex or potash-phosphorus fertilizers.
At the bottom of the pit a mound of prepared land is poured. Set a seedling on it. The roots are straightened so that they are directed along the sides of the knoll. Install a peg in the pit to which the seedling will be tied. Carefully fill the remaining space with earth, periodically compacting it.
Watered. Under one tree, pour up to 30 liters of water. Then the mug circle is mulched with a thick layer of peat, humus, hay or mowed grass. This is especially necessary in the spring. Mulch will help retain moisture near the roots of the plant and prevent weeds from drowning it. Water abundantly once or twice a week. It largely depends on the weather and soil conditions.
In the spring, planted 5 days after thawing the soil. In the fall - two weeks before the onset of steady frost.
When planting, make sure that the landing site is located at a height of at least 10 cm above the soil level. The distance between the apple trees should be at least 4.5 m.
Crown formation
Jonagold is an apple tree that does not require special pruning. Its skeletal branches grow at the right angle. Therefore, the main task is to form a crown by cutting the conductor 40 cm from the upper branch of the lower tier, and leaving the desired number of skeletal branches (4-6).
If the tree is weak, the lower tier consists of 3-4 branches, the conductor is cut to 20 cm. The next year it is shortened again by 40 cm. After 4 years of such procedures, the conductor is cut at a height of 2.5 m, transferring it to the side branch.
Subsequently, branches growing in the crown or intersecting are removed. Cut off the damaged or sick. The crown is constantly supported in a conical shape.
Top dressing
In the first 4 years of life (in the second year after planting), nitrogen fertilizers are applied that contribute to the growth of the apple tree. When freezing branches or the root system, which can occur in an apple tree of the Jonagold variety, non-root top dressings are used with a 0.5% urea solution. The first time it is carried out a couple of weeks after flowering, the second - another two weeks later. Potassium chloride is added to the solution.
Non-root top dressing with preparations containing boron contributes to better fruit setting.
Disease resistance
Jonagold is an apple tree with moderate resistance to scab damage. But powdery mildew is often affected. You need to deal with these diseases regularly. In early spring, the tree is treated with Bordeaux fluid. After budding, but not during flowering, it is treated with other preparations containing copper. The number of treatments depends on weather conditions. In rainy and hot weather, they need to be carried out more often than in dry summers.
Clones of apple tree
Jonagold is a popular and famous apple tree. Therefore, it is often used to breed new species. Currently there are more than 100 of them. All of them are divided into 5 color groups.
These are mutants with a bright red blurry or striped cover, a solid red color or blush, blurred over the entire surface with and without strokes.