Many gardeners who planted plum trees on their site later complain that there is no crop. This may be due to the wrong choice of variety. Breeders have developed many of them that are distinguished by excellent characteristics: frost resistance, early maturity, productivity. One of them is the "blue gift" plum. We will talk about this variety later in the article.
Blue Gift Plum: Description
The named variety was bred by the breeding and technological institute as a result of crossing plums of "Ochakovskaya" and "memory of Timiryazev." The main characteristics of the "blue gift" look like this:
- The tree is medium in size, with an oval crown, not very thick. The color of the leaves is dark green.
- Oval saturated purple fruits weigh 14 g. They have a pronounced waxy coating. The seam is not very pronounced.
- Blossoms on May 12-19, the fruits ripen by August 20. Fruits in 4 years, regularly.
- Experts gave a taste of fruit a score of 4 points, the aroma and sugar content of the average level. The flesh of the fruit is yellow-green, juicy. The lag of the bone from the pulp is satisfactory.
The advantages of this plum are:
- high winter hardiness;
- self-fertile qualities;
- good yield
- universality of fruits.
The disadvantage is the small weight of the fruit.
Blue gift plum brings good harvests. On the branches of a tree, fruits are placed in large numbers, like sea buckthorn. True, rare cases of crop failure after very cold winters were also noted.
Seedling selection and planting
Gardeners have an opinion about the whims of the plum tree. This is partly true. Growing a good plum crop in central Russia is not always easy. Winter thaws and short summers are serious obstacles to growing fruit. Not the last value is given to the microclimate on the site itself.
Plum tree planting “blue gift” should be carried out in an elevated place, protected from the north by a forest. Marshy and peaty soil, lowlands or river sites are not suitable for plum trees.
For planting, you should purchase selected seedlings of high quality, with developed roots, and their trunk should be at least one meter in length.
Planting a tree is best in early spring. After planting, it is cut at a level of 40 cm in height, the cut is treated with oil paint. Branches will grow in the upper part, from which the crown will be formed in the future.
Protection against diseases and pests
The plum variety “blue gift” is resistant to diseases and pests, but preventive measures will not hinder. To prevent the occurrence of diseases and parasites, you need:
- In early spring, spray plants with HOM, which protects against fungal diseases and aphid reproduction.
- At the beginning of flowering, at the stage of budding, the trees are treated with fungicidal agents to prevent moniliosis and kleasterosporiosis.
- The use of boric acid through spraying increases the number of ovaries.
- To prevent infection of aphids, insecticides must be used.
- Bordeaux mixture protects against many diseases.
- From the codling moth, pheromone traps and insecticide spraying will help.
Following these useful tips will help to grow a high-quality crop on your site and to please yourself and loved ones with homemade workpieces.