Description of plum variety Otsark Premier and pollinators, cultivation and care
One of the promising varieties is the Ozark Premier plum, which has extremely positive reviews among gardening enthusiasts. The fruit crop is grown almost everywhere, it has a sufficient degree of tolerance to adverse environmental factors. To harvest a bountiful harvest of the Ozark Premier plum, you need to familiarize yourself in more detail with its strengths and weaknesses, as well as the rules of planting and care.
Breeding history
Plum Ozark Premier is a hybrid form, which Burbank and Metli were involved in breeding. The state of Missouri became the birthplace of the fruit culture. The American variety has absorbed only the best qualities from its parents.
Varietal characteristics and features
This fruit variety attracts the attention of gardeners with its unpretentiousness to growing conditions and care.
External description of the tree
Plum Otsark Premier is positioned as a vigorous plant with a spreading crown, which has a cup-shaped shape and a high degree of foliage. The wood is distinguished by a dark brown color, a rough surface, there are shallow cracks. Erect lateral processes have a light brown bark, no pubescence.
The leaf apparatus has a glossy surface, an ovoid shape and a rich dark green color.
White flowers grow small in size, are formed on fruit branches in bunches. Another plum Ozark Premier is called the Ozark Premier. This early ripening hybrid blooms in mid-May, and the fruit is eaten in the last days of July. The first crop has already been harvested 3 years after being assigned to a permanent place.
Features of the fetus
The light green fruits of the Ozark Premier plum have an oval shape, the color, upon reaching consumer maturity, becomes dark red with a dotted blush. On dense skin, there is a waxy coating and a clearly visible seam. The mass of large fruits is 110 grams. The pulp of the Ozark Premier plum has a sweet and sour taste, creamy color, the stone is not separated very well, has a pronounced aroma.
Plum Ozark Premier bears fruit abundantly and constantly. From one plant, whose age is from 9 years, it is possible to remove up to 60 kilograms of fruit.
Specifications
Among other hybrids, the Ozark plum variety is distinguished by a whole set of distinctive features, which determine the demand among gardening lovers.
Drought and frost resistance
When growing plum Otsark Premier, it is not recommended to allow either an excess of moisture in the soil, or its lack. Although the plant has a sufficient level of drought resistance, it is worth doing 3 irrigation procedures per season. Resistance to subzero temperatures is also high, but it is better to wrap up young trees additionally.
What diseases are dangerous to culture
The following common ailments can endanger not only the future harvest, but the plant itself.
Clasterosporium disease
The disease manifests itself on the Ozark Premier plum in the form of brown lesions with a dark border on the surface of the bark. Through holes appear on the leaf plates, and white bloom on the unaffected part. The methods of struggle are:
- removal of infected parts of the crown;
- treatment of the wound surface with a garden varnish;
- spraying a tree with a solution of Bordeaux mixture 1% or a working liquid based on copper oxychloride (40 grams of product per 10 liters of water).
Rust
You can determine the ailment by the following signs:
- the formation of rapidly spreading convex spots of a red color on the outside of the leaf;
- the oppressed state of the tree;
- premature falling of leaf plates.
It is necessary to start taking measures against rust at the first symptoms. Otsark plum is treated with a working solution based on copper oxychloride, prepared at the rate of 40 g of the drug per 5 liters of water. The consumption of liquid for one garden planting is 3 liters of solution. At the end of the harvest, it is recommended to carry out another treatment with copper sulfate or copper sulfate.
Fruit rot
The obvious symptoms of this disease are:
- foci of brown color on fruits, which rapidly increase in size in conditions of warmth and high humidity;
- the presence of spore pads on gray plums.
The insidiousness of the disease lies in the rapid spread of spores, which are easily carried by gusts of wind. You can save the Ozark Premier plum by removing the infected fruits and processing with Bordeaux mixture.
Sooty fungus
The disease is recognized by a black bloom on the leaf mass and lateral branches. It blocks the access of oxygen and light to the cells of the garden planting, completely disrupting the process of photosynthesis. The source of the disease is high humidity and stagnant water in the soil.
To get rid of the disease, you must first exclude the causes of the appearance of the sooty fungus. The crown is sprayed with a working solution based on crushed laundry soap (150 grams), copper sulfate (5 grams) and water (10 liters).
Pollinator varieties
Since the Ozark Premier plum belongs to self-fertile plants, it needs additional pollination. Best of all, varieties such as Shiro, Santa Rosa, Satsuma, Starking Delicious, Friar are suitable for these purposes.
Flowering and fruiting of the Ozark plum
The hybrid belongs to early ripening plants, the period of fruit ripening is early - at the end of July. Under favorable growing conditions, the productivity indicators of the Ozark plum only increase every year.
Harvesting and using the crop
Plum Otsark Premier is not in vain referred to as commercial varieties; its fruits have a high degree of transportability and keeping quality. The harvest can be used for the preparation of various desserts, jams, compotes, as well as consumed fresh. The commercial and taste qualities of the fruits are at a high level.
How to grow a tree on the site
The Ozark Premier plum has an intensive growth and development rate, which implies a proper approach to planting and care.In order for a tree to have increased immunity to major diseases and pests, as well as to give a bountiful harvest, it is necessary to plant seedlings at a suitable time and observe the basic rules of agricultural technology.
Optimal planting time
It is recommended to plant the Otsark Premier plum in the spring, having prepared a place for planting in the fall. But you can determine the seedlings for a permanent place in the fall, pulling out and fertilizing the pit two weeks before the day of planting.
Seat selection
It is advisable to choose a site for planting seedlings in clearings well-lit and protected from through winds. In order to avoid further problems with the fruit crop, it is not worth preparing a place for planting Otsark plums in wetlands, and places with a close occurrence of groundwater are also not suitable.
Soil and seedling preparation
For the Ozark Premier plum, it is preferable to choose areas with light and well-drained soil. The plant will not grow and bear fruit on acidified soil.
To normalize the acidity level, it is necessary to use slaked lime, crushed chalk or dolomite flour.
The highest yields were seen on well-fertilized soils. In autumn, during preparatory work, rotted manure (3 kilograms), wood ash (100 grams), potash salt (40 grams) must be added to the pit. All components are designed for 1 kg of garden soil. If the planting is carried out in the spring, then rotted manure (5 kilograms), wood ash (400 grams) and potassium salt (80 grams) are used to increase the nutritional value of the soil by 1 square meter.
Landing technology
It is best to choose annual or biennial plants with a closed root system for creating an orchard. The size of the pit directly depends on the size of the underground part of the seedling, it is optimal to pull out a pit, the depth and width of which is 60 centimeters. To tie the plum, a wooden peg is installed in the center of the pit, after which a young tree is placed, its roots are straightened and sprinkled with fertile soil. The main thing is to leave the root collar of the Ozark plum 5 centimeters higher from ground level.
The soil around the seedling is compacted, abundantly moistened, using 10 liters of water per plant. To retain moisture, the soil is mulched with peat or rotted sawdust.
We care for the culture
Competent care of the Ozark Premier plum is a guarantee of a rich and tasty harvest.
Fertilization and watering
The fruit crop responds with gratitude to the introduction of nutrients, they are added to the soil in the third year after planting. In the process of spring and autumn digging, the plum should be fed with organic matter (compost, mature manure). Mineral complexes for Ozark plum are used three times per season: before flowering, 14 days after its completion and at the stage of fruit pouring.
Irrigation is carried out regularly, during the entire growing season of the plum. In early spring, at the flowering stage and 2 weeks after it, 5 buckets of water are used per planting. But at the stage of pouring the fruits, the rate should be increased to 7 buckets of water. A month before the arrival of frost, up to 15 buckets of water are poured under each tree, and mulch is laid on top.
Pruning stone fruit
Given the active build-up of vegetative mass in the first years after planting, the Ozark Premier plum needs to be pruned annually. All incapacitated shoots, branches that have already gone beyond the formed crown are subject to removal. The trimming also applies to the central conductor, it is shortened to 1.5 meters.
Loosening and care of the trunk circle
To improve the moisture and air permeability of the soil, the soil is loosened regularly. The manipulation is performed a couple of days after irrigation.It is possible to avoid the development of various ailments and the invasion of parasites by removing weeds from the trunk circle.
Diseases and the fight against them
To protect garden plantings from dangerous diseases, it is necessary to process with Bordeaux liquid or a working solution based on copper sulfate, which is diluted according to the manufacturer's instructions. The first procedure is carried out in early spring before bud break, the second - 2 weeks before the flowering phase, the third - after the foliage falls.
Preparing for winter
In addition to water-charging irrigation, before the onset of cold weather, the soil in the near-trunk circle should be mulched. The Ozark plum trunk needs to be whitewashed and wrapped in paper, burlap. Such simple actions will protect the tree from severe frosts.
Plum Otsark Premier is an excellent option for an unpretentious and high-yielding plant. Even novice gardeners can grow it, the main thing is to adhere to the planting algorithm and basic recommendations for care.
