2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Asimina (lat. Asimina) - a genus of deciduous and evergreen plants of the Annonaceae family. Other names are pow-pow, banana tree, Nebraska banana. Such names were given to the plant in connection with the external similarity of the fruits with bananas. To date, 8 species of azimine are distinguished, of which only one (three-lobed azimine) is cultivated in Russia and neighboring countries. Natural area - North America.
Characteristics of culture
Azimina is a deciduous or evergreen tree up to 12 m high with a uniformly leafy crown of a wide pyramidal shape. The bark is gray, smooth. Young shoots are densely pubescent. The leaves are large, leathery, light green, oblong-ovate, narrowed to a thickened petiole and pointed towards the top, 22-35 cm long, 7-12 cm wide. The underside of the leaves is pubescent, the upper side is glossy with shine. In autumn, the leaves turn yellow. The flowers are brown-purple or red-purple, bell-shaped, located on last year's shoots, bloom simultaneously with the leaves.
The fruit is a juicy, cylindrical berry, always with curled ends. Fruits are collected in multiple fruits. The weight of one fruit varies from 60 to 200 g. Unripe fruits are dark green, over time they become pale yellow, then brown. The pulp of the fruit is tender, light yellow or creamy, has a sharp pineapple-strawberry aroma and a sweet-sugary taste. You can pick the fruits green, they ripen within 10-12 days in a well-lit room. Azimina blooms in April-May, fruits ripen in September-October. Subject to optimal conditions and proper care, azimine gives high yields - from 25 kg and more. Some gardeners use azimine as an ornamental plant.
Growing conditions
Azimina is a light-loving culture, it develops well in areas open to the sun. Young plants need light shading from direct sunlight. In full shade, the plants practically do not bloom and give very low fruit yields. The culture is undemanding to soil conditions, tolerates heavy soils, but does not tolerate waterlogged areas and lowlands with stagnant cold air. It is not forbidden to grow azimine in pots in room conditions, however, the tree will not please with its high growth.
Reproduction and planting
Azimine is propagated by seeds, root suckers and layering. The seeds are subjected to preliminary stratification, which lasts 90-120 days at a temperature of 0C. You can sow seeds before winter, in this case they undergo natural stratification. Seedlings with such sowing appear only by July of the next year. When stratified seeds are planted, seedlings appear after 7 weeks. Seedlings have a very sensitive root system, and they do not like transplanting. Therefore, it is best to sow plants in voluminous and deep pots, followed by transshipment. Fill the pots with a mixture of light fertile soil, rotted manure, wood ash and fine sand. Azimina, grown from seeds, begins to bear fruit only for 5-6 years.
Care
Young plants develop very slowly. And in order to activate growth, it is important to carry out regular watering and feeding. The soil in the near-trunk zone should always be in a moist state; drying out and stagnation of water should not be allowed. During active growth, the culture is fed according to the following scheme: at the beginning of June - with rotted manure, in the middle of June - with water-soluble complex mineral fertilizers, at the end of June - with wood ash and pond silt. Azimina needs annual pruning, both sanitary and formative.
