It is unlikely that there will be a gardener who does not grow plums. This popular culture is liked by many for the taste and versatility of the fruit, as well as the mild whimsical care. Despite the fact that plum is considered a thermophilic plant, breeders have bred many varieties suitable for the Urals and Siberia. These varieties withstand severe Siberian frosts and delight their owners with a quality crop. One of these varieties is the "Altai anniversary".
The variety was developed by breeders in the climatic zone of Altai from the varieties Manchurian Prune and Immune. It is considered one of the most valuable Siberian varieties, in 1974 entered the State Register. It is recommended for use in the Siberian and Ural regions, in Northern Kazakhstan.
Plum "Altai anniversary": grade description with photo
The plum tree has a crown of medium density, rounded in shape. Branches are brownish-gray. Shoots of considerable thickness, straight. The leaves are large, 12.5 x 7 cm, light green dull shade, with a reddish top. Petiole has a dark anthocyanin color, medium length. The bud gives 2-3 flowers that open before the leaves appear. Buds of white color.
The fruits of the “Altai anniversary” plum weigh 14-16 grams and have an angularly-rounded shape. The seam groove is pronounced. The color of the fruit is yellow-orange with a scarlet blush, there is a wax coating. The skin is soft, not bitter. The pulp of the fruit is juicy, tasty, yellow-orange.
Plum "Altai anniversary" - a mid-early variety. The fruits ripen by mid-August or a little later. The tree brings a crop for 3-4 years.
The variety is universal.
Advantages and disadvantages of the variety
Having considered the description of the plum variety "Altai anniversary" with a photo, you should dwell on the pros and cons of this plant.
The advantages of the variety are:
- excellent flavoring properties of fruits;
- copious fertility;
- strong winter hardiness of trees;
- resistance to clastosporiosis.
Cons can be considered:
- instability to evaporation;
- low drainability;
- lack of drought tolerance;
- self-infertility;
- damage by the eater.
These are the main characteristics of the "Altai anniversary" plum.
Selection of seedlings
Future productivity is largely determined by the quality of planting material. Choosing good seedlings is not easy.
It is best to buy seedlings in the spring. Experts give several recommendations in this direction:
- First of all, you should evaluate the appearance of the seedling. It should not have signs of illness, drying out and other injuries. Each tree should have a tag with information about the variety, producer and other useful data. The roots of a healthy seedling have a light shade without spots and diseases.
- The height of the seedling can tell whether it was properly looked after during cultivation. In annual seedlings grown from seed, the height is 1.5 m. If it has not reached this value, it is possible that the tree was not adequately cared for. If the height is much greater, perhaps the trees were grown using the wrong technology.
- Taste qualities of fruits depend on agricultural technology and climatic conditions. Therefore, experts recommend growing varieties developed specifically for a particular area.
- For quick survival, you need to take 1-2-year-old seedlings. Older plants are more difficult to tolerate transplant stress.
- When buying seedlings, it is worthwhile to familiarize yourself with possible variety diseases and methods for overcoming them in advance.
These are the main recommendations when buying plum tree planting material.
Landing
With proper planting and care, the “Altai anniversary” plum will delight gardeners with good productivity and the absence of problems during cultivation.
Plum trees are planted at a distance of 2-3 meters from other crops. Small places should be flat.
The best season for planting plums in Siberia is the spring season or early autumn. Pits are made to a depth of 50 cm, a width of 60-100 cm. Organics, superphosphate, potassium, lime are laid down, mixed with the ground. Heavy soil should be diluted with sand.
The seedling must be shortened by 30-50%. After planting, the plant is well watered and mulched with an organic mixture.
In areas located in the lowlands, plums are planted on hills up to 50 cm high with a width of 200 cm. Organic fertilizers, nitrate, superphosphate, potassium salt are fertilized in advance, they are dug, they form a hill from the ground, mixing gravel with sand. A depression is made in the center of the hill, to the middle of which more fertile soil is laid, and sand and gravel are placed at the edges.
On snowy areas you can put in boxes without a bottom. To do this, you need to prepare boxes 1x1 meter. The material may be different:
The box is filled with soil filled with fertilizers, a plum is planted.
Care
In the spring, the “Altai anniversary” plum needs sanitary pruning. Old branches that do not grow, as well as weak, diseased ones, are removed.
If the tree bears fruit annually, it is enough to prune it once every 2-3 years. Perennial branches are cut. Annual branches do not touch. A garden var is applied to the wounds.
Branches that are frozen are cut to healthy wood.
Cut trees are fed and watered.
After planting, the plum does not fertilize 3-4 years. After the beginning of fruiting, they are fed with a mixture of 7 kg of organics and 100 g of ash. Every two to three years they feed with fluffy lime.
Watering after the 2nd year of life should be limited. Excess moisture contributes to strong growth, the appearance of aphids, low productivity and increased winter warming.
Strong watering is necessary for young plants. Fruiting plums are watered 1-2 times, including before loading the fruits. After collecting the drain, watering is stopped.
Disease
Plum "Altai jubilee", like other varieties, is prone to certain diseases. These include:
- Gum Detection. Trees affected by severe frosts, as well as highly fertilized plants, are affected. The affected areas are cleaned with a knife and treated with copper sulfate. To prevent the disease, do not get too carried away with fertilizers.
- Dwarfism. It is characterized by the appearance of small leaves, a decrease in the growth and development of the tree. As a result, the drain may die. To combat dwarfism, the tree is completely uprooted. To avoid illness, you should monitor the cleanliness of the tool when working in the garden.
- Kleasterosporiosis. Signs of the disease are small spots on the leaves, after which holes appear. For the treatment and prevention of the disease, Bordeaux is used. It is also important to remove and burn all the old shoots in time, as well as dig the soil in near-stem circles. "Altai anniversary" is rarely affected by this disease, but the gardener still needs to know about it.
- Rust. It is characterized by the appearance of yellow spots on the leaves. Bordeaux fluid and other fungicides are used to combat. Prevention consists in digging the trunk tree and burning excess foliage on the site.
- Chlorosis. The disease manifests itself in green veins on yellow leaves. To avoid chlorosis, you need to properly plant or transplant the plum. Disease appears on trees growing in calcareous soils. Therefore, when planting, they reduce the amount of lime. Antichlorosin and Chelate also help against chlorosis.
Pests
The two main plum pests are the aphid and the vortex.
Aphids feed on leaf juices. To notice it, you need to often examine the leaves from below. At the initial stages of the appearance of aphids, it can be removed with the infusion of shag with tobacco. 400 grams of the mixture is poured with 10 liters of water, kept for two days, then soap is added and the leaves are sprayed three times.
Maslovsky's caterpillar is an insect similar to an ant with wings. The caterpillar lays eggs in the fruits of the plum. You can detect the worm in the plum bone. The solutions of "Lepidocide", "Actelliki" help from the eater.
Pollinators
Plum "Altai Jubilee" - a self-fertile variety belonging to the group of plums that bloom early. For this reason, the tree is not pollinated by varieties for central Russia and requires varieties of its group as pollinators. These include:
- "Kseniya";
- Katunskaya;
- "Memory of Putov";
- Chemalskaya;
- "Uzyuk".
All these plums are distinguished by early flowering and fruiting.
It is good if representatives of other plum varieties grow in the neighboring plot. This will be enough for the pollination process. But if the neighbors don’t have plum trees, they should plant “Altai jubilee” plum pollinators on their plot. Only in this case can we expect a good harvest.
Gardeners reviews
Reviews about the "Altai anniversary" plum are the most positive. Gardeners like the high yield and good frost resistance of the tree. Plum trees of this variety have excellent external characteristics and bear delicious fruits.
Unfortunately, the fruits do not tolerate transportation. But from this plum excellent stews and preserves are obtained, which is highly appreciated by gardeners.