Apricot

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-07 15:51

© Alena Bashtovenko

Latin name: Prunus Family: Pink Headings: Fruit and berry crops

Apricot (Latin Prunus) is a popular fruit crop belonging to the genus of deciduous trees of the Rosaceae family. Nowadays, many types of apricots are actively cultivated in warm countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, some European countries), and are also cultivated in the south of the Russian Federation.

Description

Apricot is represented by deciduous trees up to 10-12 m high with a trunk covered with cracking gray-brown bark and a spreading crown. Annual shoots are brown in color with a red tint, equipped with a huge number of small strokes. The foliage of the apricot is simple, it can have an oval or ovoid shape, the tips are sharp, the edges are jagged, the arrangement is alternate. The leaves sit on long and slender glandular petioles.

Apricot flowers are small, solitary, can be white or white-pink in color. During flowering, they give off a pleasant aroma that attracts bees and other insects. Apricot blooms in the third decade of April - the first decade of May. A distinctive feature of apricot is that the flowers are formed before the foliage unfolds. The fruits are represented by juicy drupes, velvety to the touch; depending on the variety, they are round, ovoid or ellipsoidal; the color is usually yellow or orange, possibly the presence of a pinkish barrel.

The pulp of apricot fruit is sweet-sour or sweet, it can be both juicy and dry. Wild species bear bitter fruits that are not edible. The seed of the fruit contains only one thing. It is ovoid and light brown in color, with a slight bulge on the sides. Apricot fruits ripen in mid-July - early August. From regions with a cold climate - fruiting is postponed to September - October. Apricot is ranked among the long-livers, the average age is 60 years.

Location

Apricot is a light and heat-loving crop, not too demanding on the composition of the soil. The crop bears fruit in the best way on well-cultivated, loose, moist, permeable, neutral soils. The presence of lime in the soil is welcomed. The plant is ranked among drought-resistant crops, does not need protection from the wind. Negatively, the culture refers to saline and highly waterlogged soils.

Reproduction and planting

The apricot is propagated mainly by seed and grafting. Seeds are planted early after warming up the soil or in late autumn under a shelter. Long-term stratification (3 months) is required for spring sowing.

The easiest method to get apricots in the garden is to plant nursery-purchased seedlings. Planting is preferable in the spring. Autumn planting is not prohibited, it is carried out in the second decade of September, in the southern regions - in the third decade of September - the first decade of October. A planting pit is prepared either 2-3 weeks before the intended planting, or in the fall. The second option is optimal.

The size of the planting pit largely depends on the development of the root system of the seedling. Approximate dimensions: diameter - 70 cm, depth - 70 cm. A distance of four meters is observed between the plants. At the bottom of the pit, they must arrange good drainage in the form of fine gravel or broken bricks, the voids are covered with fertile garden soil, mixed with rotted organic matter and mineral fertilizers. When planting, the roots of the seedlings are carefully straightened, avoiding damage. It is not necessary to deepen the root collar. After planting the seedling, abundant watering is carried out.

Care

Apricot is quite whimsical to care for. He needs systematic and abundant watering, especially during heat and drought. Watering is stopped in August, since the plant must have time to prepare for winter and complete all growth and formation processes. Otherwise, young shoots will freeze.

It is also important to prepare the trees for wintering. In autumn, the boles of trees and the main skeletal branches are whitewashed with lime. The addition of copper sulfate to the lime mortar is encouraged. At the beginning of spring, plants are treated from cracks and damage. For these purposes, a garden var is used.

Most apricots begin to bear fruit in the seventh year after planting. Flowering occurs much earlier - usually in the third year. To a large extent, these terms depend on the quality of care. In addition to watering and fertilizing, plants need weeding, loosening and the fight against pests and diseases, which, unfortunately, often bother the crop, especially in adverse weather conditions.

Requires apricot and pruning (and both sanitary and formative). The formation of trees begins at the time of planting seedlings in a permanent place. The trunk and main skeletal branches are shortened. In the future, pruning is aimed at giving the trees a sparse long-tiered crown, it involves pruning fruit-bearing shoots by 1/2 part and removing thickening shoots.