Apricot is an old-timer not only of the southern regions, it is grown with pleasure by gardeners of the northern regions... This beautiful tree with sunny fruits is prized for its uncomplicated although regular maintenance in spring and fall.
How to care for an apricot in spring, summer and fall
The apricot tree needs year-round care, which involves watering, feeding, pruning. But it all starts with the right fit.
Proper planting is the key to future harvests
For planting an apricot tree, an elevated area is suitable, protected from cold northerly and westerly winds, with deep groundwater. In lowlands, where cold air, snow and moisture accumulate, apricots cannot survive. Siberian and Ural gardeners should be especially attentive to the place of the tree's "residence": in spring, when thaws alternate with frosts, there is a great danger of moisture accumulation near the trunk and freezing of the root collar.
Planting is carried out in the spring, before the buds swell. Planting pits are prepared in advance, preferably from autumn... Their size in all directions is about 70 - 80 cm. If you plan to plant several plants, leave about 4 - 5 meters between the pits.
Expanded clay, sand and gravel mixture or gravel, with a medium-sized fraction, must be poured onto the bottom. This “cushion” is essential to ensure good drainage.
Pour 1.5 - 2 buckets of rotted manure or humus... Then mineral fertilizers are applied - potash, phosphorus, nitrogen, it is possible in combination. You can add 0.5 - 1 kg of wood ash and 1 kg of superphosphate. It is important not to overdo it here: an apricot will better tolerate a lack of fertilizers than an excess of them... Soil is certainly poured on top of the fertilizer to protect the young from burns.
For planting, seedlings are chosen - one-year-olds with a well-developed intact root system, a thorn (a stump from the stock), several strong branches, evenly spaced, forming angles with the stem of about 450.
The seedlings of cultivated varieties should not have thorns. They are peculiar only to wild-growing apricots.
Next to the seedling, a peg-support is added to the planting pit. Later, a planted branch is attached to it so that the tree grows vertically, and an even trunk is formed.
The seedling is lowered into a hole, the roots are spread and covered with soil, gradually and gently crushing the soil. The root collar should be flush with the ground... After that, a circular groove is made along the edge of the hole and 15 - 20 liters of water are poured.
Immediately after planting, the shoot is cut to 40 cm above the ground... After 5-7 days, the twig is carefully tied to the support.
Experts are sure that apricot, not grafted, but grown from a stone, adapts better to climatic conditions, is less demanding on agricultural technology and care. The fruits from such a tree are resistant to diseases and pests.
Seasonal care
Schematically, seasonal apricot care looks like this:
- Spring - pruning, cleaning of frost damage and embedding with garden pitch, whitewashing of the trunk and skeletal branches, top dressing, watering.
- Summer - watering, protection from diseases and pests, in adult plants - support of branches, weighted by the future harvest.
- Fall - repeated lime treatment of the trunk and skeletal branches, feeding, preparation for winter.
Pruning
Apricot tree pruning is done in spring... Remove:
- short generative annual shoots;
- branches growing outside or inside the crown;
- weak and thickening growth.
Thus, the crown is thinned out, sufficient uniform illumination is provided and the growth of fruiting branches is stimulated.
Usually, form a sparse-tiered crown with 7-8 branches of the first order... Less often - in the form of a bowl flattened on top, such a crown contributes to an early harvest of healthy fruits. If the plantings are located against the wall, fan-shaped crowns are formed, cutting off the side shoots.
Children are 2-4 years old cut off excess and improperly growing annual growth. In the next 2-3 years shorten the branches by about a third and thin out, forming a crown. Further fruit-bearing branches are cut annually by 30% along the length... Remove old (no longer fruiting), dried, crooked, broken, unnecessarily thickening young shoots.
Apricot fruits are formed in large quantities, as a rule, on two - three-year branches. Therefore, pruning should not be intense.
When annual growth slows down or stops, anti-aging pruning is required.
Watering
Stagnation of water at the roots is contraindicated for apricot. This is fraught with their rotting and the death of the tree. At the same time, the plant suffers during dry periods from a lack of moisture in the soil and air. An adult plant should be watered at least 4 times per season, more often in the summer months.
Before flowering, shed profusely for the first time, stimulating profuse flowering. Re-watered after flowering, this has a beneficial effect on the appearance of a large number of ovaries and young shoots.
The third watering is needed for the development and formation of large fruits, with high taste. Then watered, if necessary, without drying out. But from August the tree begins to prepare for dormancy, the intensity of watering is reduced.
Autumn and pre-winter hydration is not required for apricot and is even contraindicated.... The exceptions are situations when the soil is dry and the water table is much lower than the root system of the tree.
Preparing for winter
In traditional latitudes, the Moscow region growing apricot has established itself as a hardy winterer. But, fresh seedlings and young trees, especially in harsh regions, need insulation.
Annual plantings are insulated with branches, spruce branches, reeds, fixing everything on the frame. The grown trees are spud, and the trunks (stems) are wrapped, for example, burlap.
Protection against diseases and pests
Apricot pests
Aphids, hawthorn caterpillars, black goldfish - these are the main "enemies" of this garden dweller.
- Against aphids use dandelion, ash and tobacco infusions. They are sprayed on the affected and adjacent trees. If there are few aphids, it can be destroyed mechanically; with abundant aphid reproduction, it is better to remove the leaves and burn them.
- With caterpillars of a hawthorn butterfly also fight mechanically.
- Black goldfish larva, settled in the root system, is capable of destroying an adult plant. Prevention of the appearance of the pest is the autumn treatment of the branches, trunk and trunk circle with Bordeaux liquid.
Diseases
Apricots, like other fruit trees, are susceptible to viral, fungal and bacterial diseases:
- Viral diseases of apricot - annular "smallpox", viral wilting, apricot mosaic.
- Fungal - cytosporosis, gray fruit rot, rust.
Pathogens are carried by the gardener's hands or with garden tools. therefore the main task of prevention - the use of exceptionally clean tools for various work related to vaccinations, trimming, processing. Tools must be washed and disinfected.
The vaccination will be protected from infection by viruses and bacteria by heating for ten minutes at a temperature of about 50 degrees.
Why plant an apricot?
Fruit trees are propagated by grafting in order to obtain seedlings with improved varietal qualities.
Southern species such as apricots are grafted into those that are adapted to harsh conditions, to increase the resistance of southerners to colder climates.
Is it possible to plant an apricot on cherry plum or plum?
For the stock, you need to choose a healthy, strong tree aged 3-6 years, with a trunk 3-9 cm in diameter... It is more correct to plant an apricot on a stone fruit stock.
- Popular use of cherry plum... The graft takes root easily, and the cherry plum sweetness is transmitted to the fruits.
- Plum is considered a successful stock.... The cuttings “do not conflict” and grow together quickly, the tree grows hardy, no growth is formed at the grafting site.
- On the turn, or better on the thorny, the apricot graft is grafted close to the root collar - to reduce the amount of root growth.
- Peach is also used for grafting, but the survival rate is worse than that of plums and cherry plums, and this option is suitable only for the southern regions.
- Cherry rarely grafted, because later you have to strengthen weak fragile branches.
But the best stock for an apricot cut there remains another apricot.
When can you vaccinate in the Moscow region and other regions?
You can plant apricots from spring to autumn. It is important that the weather is dry and warm and the sun is hidden behind the clouds.
Spring vaccinations give the best results... During active sap flow, the cuttings grow together easily and manage to get stronger over the summer.
Vaccination in a warm summer is also a good time.... Sufficient time to grow together, especially under favorable conditions for a long time.
In autumn in a warm season you can try grafting a stalk. But there is a great risk of frost before the scion grows together with the stock and gets stronger. Such cuttings die.
How to choose the right stock
The basis for grafting and the future tree is the stock. From it, the plant inherits fertility, resistance to difficult environmental conditions, and longevity.
Therefore, it is important to choose a rootstock for an apricot cutting.:
- compatible with a scion, resistant to cold;
- undemanding to soil moisture conditions;
- adapted to local climatic features;
- possessing a powerful developed root system,
- not weakened and not infected pests or microorganisms, only a healthy plant.
There are rootstocks cultivated, wild, weak and vigorous, vegetative and seed.
For the stock, a specially grown tree, wild growth, a broken tree, or just an unsuccessful variety / specimen are chosen.
Vaccination methods
The main methods of grafting apricots:
- for the bark;
- in a lateral section;
- into cleavage;
- budding;
- improved cupula.
How to plant an apricot correctly
Shoots for scion are cut at the end of autumn. Do not use thin, sore, weak branches. Wrapped in film, left in the snow for the winter, or stored in a basement in a cold, humid environment - sawdust, shavings, sand, peat, rags. Soak before inoculation.
At all stages, an exceptionally clean, disinfected sharp instrument is used.
Cleft grafting
A tree is cut, a small shallow split is made in the center. The scion is tightly installed in it. This method is used if the scion is much thinner than the stock..
Cupulka
Rootstock and scion of equal diameter are suitable for cupulae. Slices of cuttings are tightly connected to each other and fixed... Such an inoculation looks like a single stem.
Bark grafting
For grafting, the bark is incised and slightly parted to the sides (like a fastener). The scion is inserted into the incision, the bark is "closed" and wrapped tightly.
Growing and rules for feeding a tree
As we said above, you need to take care of the apricot. Like other plants, fruit apricot needs additional fertilizing with basic mineral fertilizers - phosphorus, nitrogen, potash.
- Under young trees in the spring, 50-70 g of ammonium nitrate is introduced, in the fall - a bucket of humus, compost or manure, about 140 g of superphosphate 35 g of potassium chloride.
- Apricots 4-5 years old "Feed" a double portion of fertilizer.
- At 6-8 years old the rate is increased a little, and 10-year-old trees already need 8-9 buckets of organic matter, 250g of potash, 900g of phosphorus and 400g of nitrogen fertilizers.
Early-autumn spraying of the crown a weak solution of nitrogen fertilizer will improve flowering next spring and increase the number of ovaries.
Apricots also require a special approach. In the spring they need to be fed with microelements.: spray with iron-containing fertilizers, manganese sulfate and boric acid solutions.
It is useful to periodically sprinkle slaked lime on the underbarrel space and cover with mulch.
Apricot requires the attention of a gardener. But he pays for the care with abundant harvests, which can please the tree in the fifth year of its life... And every summer smells of juicy, sunny yellow apricot happiness.