Plum is very popular in our country. You can make juices, jams, compotes from delicious, aromatic and healthy fruits, not to mention how fresh it is. Today, a lot of varieties have been developed, which are distinguished by increased winter hardiness, productivity, excellent taste.
Often choosing a plum variety for planting on their site, gardeners consider the latest development of breeders, forgetting about those that were bred decades ago. But they are well established and time-tested. Today we would like to recall the magnificent domestic plum variety “Volga beauty”. For almost eighty years, he has been delighting gardeners with large and stable yields of delicious fruits. Why is the Volga Beauty plum so good? Description, photos and reviews of gardeners we will present to you in this article.
Grade history
In Russia, plums began to be grown during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich. It was by his decree that the first seedlings were brought into the country. Thanks to the painstaking work of breeders, a lot of very interesting plum varieties have appeared, many of which have become national favorites.
Plum "Volga beauty" was bred almost eighty years ago (1939). The author of the variety was the famous Russian scientist-breeder E.P. Finayev. At an experimental garden station in Samara, he conducted an experiment on crossing the varieties of the “early maturing early” and “greenback beauvais” popular at that time. The results of this experiment exceeded the scientist's expectations - the new plum absorbed the best qualities of the parent plants: early maturity, yield, high frost resistance and excellent taste of the fruit.
In 1955, the plum "Volga beauty" was tested. In 1965, it was included in the state varietal register.
Plum “Volga beauty”: variety description, photo
Description of this variety is now included in all publications on gardening and textbooks for beginning agronomists. This is a self-fertile (not requiring planting in the vicinity of other pollinating varieties) early variety, which gives a large crop of fruits belonging to the dessert group. All details about him, as well as photos, are further in the review.
Tree
These are quite large plants, about seven meters high. For this reason, the Volga Beauty plum (photo you can see below) needs annual forming pruning, without which tree care will be too complicated. Form a crown on a low-tier or bunk-free system. Pruning not only facilitates harvesting, but also has a positive effect on fruit quality and yield.
Plum "Volga beauty" grows quite quickly, forming a spherical lush crown of medium density. Branches and shoots are covered with gray-brown bark.
Leaves
Large and fairly wide, egg-shaped, painted in a light green color. On the outside, the edge of the sheet is framed by notches. The leaf blade is opaque and slightly wrinkled, flat, with a sharply defined transition to the nose. Petioles of medium length, pigmented, thick. Stipules with weak dissection, medium size. Three-flowered inflorescences. large flowers, painted white or pinkish.
Fruit
Plum fruits “Volga beauty” (reviews by gardeners confirm this) are large: from 34 to 50 grams. They have an oval-rounded shape, slightly narrowed to the base. The top is a little depressed, rounded. The base has a slight depression. The fruits are distinguished by a solid, blurry, red-violet paint. The skin is smooth, medium in thickness. Plum "Volga beauty" has a small number of subcutaneous points that are painted white and are clearly visible on the surface. The abdominal suture is pronounced, of medium depth.
The stalks are thick, well separated from the branches. The bones are medium in size, have an oval shape, the base and apex are pointed, they are easily separated from the pulp. The pulp is colored yellow-orange, has a fibrous texture, juicy, very tender. The taste of fruits is dessert, sweet and sour. The fruits contain:
- 22% solids;
- 10.35% sugars;
- 11.78 mg per 100 g of ascorbic acid;
- 1.95% of other acids.
The fruits ripen from the tenth to the twenty-fifth of August. Trees enter fruiting in the fourth year, so the “Volga beauty” plum belongs to early varieties. Crops are high and stable: an eight-year-old tree gives up to ten kilograms of fruit, twelve-year-old - up to 25 kg of crop.
Frost resistance
“Volga beauty” - a plum, the description of which we presented above, tolerates frosts and summer droughts quite well. Based on the experience of growing this variety in different regions, it can be argued that only in the period of very severe frosts, fruit buds can partially freeze out, while the tree suffers minimally. During prolonged drought, the plant survives without additional watering.
Landing Features
Plum productivity “Volga beauty” depends largely on the choice of seedling and the correct planting, so the gardener needs to know the variety's requirements for soil composition and location. According to the description of breeders, the “Volga beauty” prefers loamy light soils. It is advisable to avoid shaded areas - the plant needs a lot of sun, so a small hill will be an ideal place for this variety.
When planting several seedlings, observe the distance between the trees, given the rather impressive size of an adult tree. Since this is a rather large drain, pits should be placed at least four meters apart. During spring planting, a hole is dug up 2 weeks before planting. Its size depends on the fertility of the soil - the poorer the soil, the larger the pit should be.
On loams, 70–80 cm in diameter and 50 cm in depth are sufficient. For filling, a mixture of the following composition is prepared:
- 2 buckets of garden soil;
- a compost bucket;
- a bucket of river sand (coarse);
- 100 g of wood ash.
For depleted soils, mineral fertilizers (100 g) and potassium salt (50 g) should be added to this mixture. All ingredients mix well and fall asleep in the pit.
Seedling Selection
Based on the description of “Volga beauty” plum in different sources, it is possible to recommend gardeners to buy planting material in local nurseries - this will save you from various misunderstandings with the variety, and the plants purchased in your region are already adapted to the local climate.
For planting, choose two-year-old seedlings. Their roots should be no shorter than 10 cm, and they should be healthy, without damage. Pay attention to the trunk: in a healthy tree it is even, covered with smooth bark. If you will dig a seedling in the nursery with you, immediately wrap the roots with a damp cloth and cover with a plastic bag on top to avoid excessive drying.
If you bought a seedling in the fall, and are going to plant it in the spring - you need to dig it. In a place protected from drafts and wind, dig a small trench so that it passes from west to east, and lay the seedling obliquely. The depth of the trench is about half a meter.
Planting a seedling
Drive a peg into the center of the prepared hole to tie the tree. Around it, form a small mound of nutrient soil, which you also prepared in advance. Install the seedling in the pit so that the peg is on the south side and spread the roots well. It is necessary to correctly determine the depth, so that after planting and subsequent irrigation, the root collar is raised above the soil surface by five centimeters.
Around a young tree, form an earthen roller with a radius of no more than half a meter. Water the plant liberally (at least three buckets of water). Mulch the trunk circle using rotted sawdust, mowed grass, peat.
Plum care
In many regions, the Volga Beauty plum is still very popular today. Description, photos posted in different publications, allow us to say that this is a fairly powerful, abundantly bearing plant. However, some gardeners complain that not every year their tree pleases with a large harvest. Why is this happening? Most likely, due to non-compliance with the rules of agricultural technology, which are really simple. We will talk about them so that you can grow a powerful, healthy tree from a seedling and annually receive stable crops.
The basic requirements for plum care are quite traditional - fertilizing, watering, shelter for the winter, pruning, pest and disease control.
Pruning
The formation of the crown must begin in the second year. As a rule, pruning is carried out in the spring. In the second year, it is necessary to shorten the height to about a meter of the main trunk. Then form the crown in a tiered way. The lower or first tier consists of three branches. It is located at a height of sixty centimeters from the soil surface. For the second tier, two branches are needed - fifty centimeters above the bottom. The third tier is fifty centimeters higher than the previous one and it consists of only one twig.
The shoot located above it is cut off next spring. The subsequent formation is aimed at shortening overgrown shoots and removing too thick branches. In addition to forming, the tree requires sanitary pruning. It is held in the fall. At this time, all shoots damaged or showing signs of disease are removed.
Does pruning for the adult plum need the Volga Beauty? The reviews of experienced gardeners indicate that in this case such a procedure has a powerful anti-aging effect. It is carried out in the spring, removing all branches that grow inside the crown, intersect or thicken it.
There is another original way of forming the crown of plums “Volga beauty”. In the description of the variety in many publications, it is rarely mentioned, although it deserves attention. It is about forming a plum bush. Sometimes a tree independently chooses this form - more often this happens after the main shoot has broken off or has frozen out in winter. With the complete absence or significant shortening of the conductor, a lot of branches appear at the bottom, which form a bush.
This form of the plant is attractive for a number of reasons - it tolerates winter better, is not so prone to sunburns, caring for it is much easier, and the yield is not reduced.
Watering
Plum loves moisture, so in order to get a good harvest you need to water it regularly. But there should be a measure in everything: excess can provoke cracking of the fruit. In dry summers, plums should be watered once a week around the entire perimeter of the crown. One adult tree needs up to seven buckets of water.
It is important to ensure that the soil does not dry out during flowering, setting and fruit ripening. Mulching will help reduce watering, while not only moisture will be preserved, but also the structure of the soil will improve.
Top dressing
If, when planting a “Volga beauty”, you added mineral and organic fertilizers, then you should not feed the tree in the first two years. Then the seedlings are fertilized three times a season - in early May, dilute two tablespoons of urea in ten liters of water. In early June - use nitrofoska at the rate of two tablespoons (tablespoons) per ten liters of water. The third feeding is carried out in mid-August. During this period, superphosphate is used: two tablespoons (tablespoons) per bucket of water. Such a quantity of diluted fertilizer is enough for a young tree, as it grows, it increases to three buckets.
Mineral fertilizers should be applied under the drain after the main watering in order to protect the roots from burns. In addition to mineral top dressing, every year it is advisable to bring rotted manure or compost (2-3 buckets) under the drain. The application of lime fluff or chalk (one or two glasses) will help to significantly increase the yield and quality of the fruit. However, such a procedure is permissible no more than once every three years,
Before applying organic fertilizers, it is necessary to clear the soil in the near-stem circle from weeds. After weeding, you can not remove the grass - it will become mulch and protect the soil from drying out.
Plum variety "Volga beauty": reviews of gardeners
Everyone who grows plums of this variety on their site is satisfied with large yields of large beautiful fruits with a great dessert flavor. Residents of the northern regions note its high winter hardiness and early maturity. Another indisputable advantage of this variety is its high resistance to diseases and pests. This variety is practically not affected by gray rot and gum dropping. The disadvantages include: the height of the trees - harvesting is inconvenient. In addition, it is noted that in very wet years the fruits crack.