Medlar - A Grateful Southerner

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Fruits and berries, as a rule, are harvested before the first cold weather. But in the case of the medlar, an exception is made. While leafless autumn trees are preparing for winter sleep, this southerner is just ready to share her harvest. A light frost will give its fruits even more juiciness and taste. Is it possible to grow such an original, southern tree in our latitudes?

Conquered the ancient Romans and Greeks

Medlar was cultivated 3000 years ago in the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. She belongs to the glorious Rosaceae family. Despite the fact that in the Middle Ages it became a little less revered due to the emergence of new species of plants, today it is again highly respected. It is appreciated for its beauty, gentle disposition, fragrant, honey-bearing flowers, very useful and nutritious fruits.

The homeland of this deciduous plant is sunny Asia Minor and the Caucasus. There it is called a chishka, the Spaniards call it nispero, and the Israelis call it Shasaki. It is successfully grown in the Crimea and Mediterranean countries. However, this southerner can withstand both drought and severe frosts (down to -39 C). If you choose between the two common types of medlar - German and Japanese (lokva) - the first is more suitable for open ground (varieties - Morozko, Karadag, Goytkhovskaya, Sochinskaya). And the second - evergreen lokva - perfectly takes root on the windowsill. She is more pampered and warm-loving. Although it is sometimes found in the gardens of the Moscow region.

Beautiful in any season

At home, the medlar grows up to 8-9m, but in the middle lane its growth is no more than 5m. All kinds of pollinating insects flock to its beautiful, five-petalled, whitish flowers (with a diameter of 4-5 cm). This is useful not only for medlar, but also for other plants in the garden. Flowers against a background of no less decorative (length - 15cm, width up to 4cm) dark green leaves look even more elegant. The tree can brighten up any unremarkable part of the garden with its appearance and even become a picturesque, original hedge along the fence.

With good care, reddish-brown fruits (with a diameter of 2-3 cm) appear annually and in large quantities. From below they have unfolded sepals, and inside there are 3-4 large, oblong bones. The harvest is usually harvested later than the rest of the fruit - in late October - early November (with the onset of the first frost). It is permissible to pick the fruits earlier - then they will be stored for the winter. Ripe medlar are covered with fine wrinkles and cracks. After the first frost, they lose a little in volume, but they are filled with a unique sweet-sour taste. But their main advantage is in a unique set of nutrients that improve digestion, bowel function and promote the elimination of radioactive elements. All kinds of jams, pastilles, marmalades, compotes and marinades are prepared from them.

Scarification of seeds accelerates their growth

Both the seed and the vegetative methods of reproduction of the medlar are very intricate and lengthy. The first of them is more suitable for residents of middle latitudes, since the medlar from the stone will be more frost-resistant than from the cuttings. But you will have to wait for sprouts up to 3 years. But if the bones are properly scarified, then the medlar will grow faster. To do this, first use ordinary sandpaper, with which the bones are wiped, then they are soaked in water for three days, and the floating bones are thrown away. After that, you need to dry for 5 hours and bathe in a sulfuric solution (per liter of water - a teaspoon of sulfuric acid). The process is completed by placing thoroughly washed and dried seeds in wet sawdust, peat or sand for 3-4 months in a cool and dark place (side shelf of the refrigerator, cellar). Seedlings are grown at a temperature not lower than 20-22 C heat.

Easier to graft

Propagation by green cuttings is also possible. Planting material is obtained during the flowering period. Then young shoots are buried in wet sand and covered with a dark film or painted glass to protect them from direct sunlight. Before planting in the ground, the cuttings are dipped in a composition with wood ash (1 glass per liter).

Still, one of the easiest and most effective ways to tame a medlar is to get vaccinated. For this, other fruit families of it are suitable - quince, dwarf pear, mountain ash, hawthorn, etc. After the grafting method, the plant grows better and gives fruit sooner. But one of the gardeners reproduces this southerner with root suckers, separating them before the autumn planting. In this case, warm soil and good weather are needed.

Care for the medlar is minimal: pruning, feeding, watering. As a fertilizer, it is especially grateful to ordinary manure. She has no special and malicious pests or ailments.