Description and appearance of Berkutovskoe apple trees, cultivation and care
Many varieties of apples, bred in the last century, remain popular among gardeners today. These include the Berkutovskoye apple tree, named after one of the creators, breeders of the Saratov Experimental Station. Obtained by crossing Antonovka, Anis golden-striped and Kortland, she received recognition for her high qualities.
Description of the variety
Not only the appearance of the tree is remarkable in the plant, but also the fruits. No wonder the variety was awarded a gold medal at one of the All-Russian exhibitions in 1991.
Wood appearance
The stem of the tree is covered with smooth gray bark. Shoots of red-brown color are slightly pubescent and form a pyramidal crown. The branches are medium-sized and sparsely located, perpendicular to the trunk.
Barrel height
Trees reach a height of 3 meters with an average thickening of the crown. In areas with cold winters, it is better to choose an apple tree 2 meters tall.
Foliage appearance
The leaves are elliptical in shape with a pointed tip and serrated edges. The foliage is dark green.
Apples
The tree blooms in May, covered with a white-pink cloud of flowers. The fruits of the variety are medium-sized, rounded. The average weight of apples reaches 150 grams. The skin color is bright, with red streaks over the entire surface, turning into a solid blush. There are subcutaneous points, there are few of them, and they are almost invisible. Fruits with a deep funnel, slightly rusty. The seeds are in open chambers, they are large, conical in shape. Apples hang on stalks of medium length and thickness.
Root
The apple tree root system consists of skeletal, fibrous roots. Skeletal are thicker and more durable, they make up the skeleton of the root system. On the skeletal ones there are fibrous roots, which are highly branched. The root system lies at a depth of 25-30 centimeters.
Subspecies
If the Berkutovskoe apple tree is grafted onto the rootstocks, the taste of the fruit will not change, but the structure of the tree will change.You can change the crown by grafting, its compactness, the timing of fruit ripening.
On a dwarf rootstock
If you choose a dwarf rootstock, you get a tree that takes up little space in the garden. This is convenient for summer residents with a small plot area. And taking care of the apple tree will be much easier.
Late
Late apple varieties are suitable for growing in harsh conditions. And the taste of apples does not change, but becomes better. After harvest, it can be stored for a long time, until spring.
Apple tree characteristics
To cultivate a fruit crop on your site, to properly care for it, you need to know the main characteristics of the tree. These include the growth of the crown, how the plant blooms and pollinates. Only with properly organized care, based on the characteristics of the plant, Berkutovka will bring rich apple harvests.
Crown formation
The crown of an apple tree can have a rounded shape, wider at the base. Towards the top, the dimensions decrease. The crown is formed from the average size of the first and second order branches. The branches are straight. The crown is not thickened, so it is easy to prune.
Pollination and flowering
For high-quality fruit setting, the Berkutovskoye variety requires cross-pollination. Nearby, the Sinap North apple tree should be planted, which is most suitable as a pollinator.
Flowering begins in May, when small-sized inflorescences of a white-pink tone with flat petals appear on the shoots.
Description of fruits
The diameter of apples reaches 7 centimeters, and their weight ranges from 100 to 150, less often 200 grams. The surface of the fruit is greenish-yellowish with bright red shading, covered with small tubercles. The pulp under the smooth skin is juicy, fine-grained, creamy. If the funnel of the fruit is deep, then the calyx is closed. The apple saucer has a slight ribbing, and a large onion-shaped heart.
Yield
Fruiting begins in the Berkutovskoye variety from the 3-4th year of life. Up to 70 kilograms of fruit are harvested from one tree, leveled in size.
Low temperature resistance
The apple tree tolerates frosts firmly, but within 25-30 degrees below zero. Resistance to lower temperatures is average. After freezing, the tree quickly recovers.
Disease and pest resistance
The variety has an average immunity to scab, but it is susceptible to other fungal infections, especially powdery mildew. Pests can be found moth caterpillars on the apple tree, leaf rollers. It affects trees and aphids.
Tasting qualities
Apple fruits are highly rated for their taste, not less than 4.8 points. Apples are classified as non-allergenic varieties. Therefore, the apple harvest Berkutovskoe is used for the preparation of baby food.
Cultivation of apple trees Berkutovskoe
The growth of fruit trees, their durability depends on the laying of the garden. Everything is important in these activities: the composition of the soil, and the place for the site, and the occurrence of groundwater. A larger percentage of the garden's land is allocated for apple trees. Landings must be protected from cold winds.
Disembarkation
Before the start of the activities for planting apple trees, they break up a plot, dig holes. Compliance with the correct planting dates will lead to the tree and its root system being strong. And you can quickly wait for the fruits from such apple trees.
Selection of seedlings
Seedlings of fruit crops are picked up from the 1st or 2nd year of life. Before planting, the seedlings are kept in moist soil. If they are transported, then the roots need to be dipped in an earthen chatterbox so that they do not dry out.
How to choose a landing site
For an apple tree Berkutovskoye you need a sunny open place. If the groundwater is close to the soil surface in the garden, then trees are planted on the hills. On the pits, the pits need to be made deeper, placing a layer of humus on the bottom. It will prevent salts from penetrating the roots of the apple tree.
Distances between seedlings
The gap between seedlings is 2-3 meters.And between the rows 1 meter recedes. You can fill the land with plantings of greenery, vegetables. Do not plant corn and sunflowers next to the apple tree.
The right time to board
Gardeners believe that it is best to plant an apple tree in the spring. As soon as the snow melts, the buds have not yet begun to wake up, you can start planting fruit crops. Autumn planting is also possible. But you can't pull with her. If the apple trees are not planted in time before the frost, then you need to dig them into the ground and leave them until spring.
Landing step by step
Landing is carried out sequentially:
- Humus, mineral fertilizers are introduced into the pits prepared in advance. Do this after mixing fertilizers with the ground.
- Having filled the hole 3 quarters, a layer of fertile soil is poured into the middle with a mound.
- The seedling is lowered onto a mound, checking the position of the root system. The tree is placed on the north side of the peg. The trunk is placed 2-3 centimeters from it.
- The root collar is set so that it is at ground level.
- The hole is filled with nutritious soil, shaking the seedling. The soil will then settle between the roots.
- Compact the soil around the trunk with your foot from the edge of the pit to the seedling.
- It remains to make a roller to mark the boundaries of the hole.
- The planted tree is watered abundantly, 30-50 liters per hole.
- Apply a layer of manure or humus mulch.
A competent planting will allow the fruit crop to develop better.
Growing a healthy tree
Each stage of planting is approached carefully. For the first 2 years, the tree needs a peg tie. Depending on the timing of planting, they protect the young crop from diseases and pests. In the spring, the soil is treated with Bordeaux liquid. In the fall, after planting, the stems of the apple tree are covered with non-woven material or brushwood.
Fruiting periods
The Berkutovskoe apple tree begins to bear its first fruits in the 3-4th year of life. Then they are received regularly, every year. And the yield only increases with proper care, comfortable conditions for the development of culture.
Selection
The Berkutovskoe variety is considered an achievement of breeders. The apple tree is approved for cultivation in the Saratov and Volgograd regions, although you can try to cultivate it in areas with more severe climates.
Apple tree care
It is necessary to take care of the apple trees so that the tree acquires a powerful and durable skeleton, correctly located branches in the crown. Do not forget about the condition of the soil in the garden. It requires watering, feeding, loosening.
Crown formation by pruning
You can create a shape for a tree with formative scraps. The crown of this variety can be represented as:
- sparse tiered;
- cupped;
- fusiform;
- bushy.
An operation is performed with a pruner before the start of sap flow in the spring. The variety also requires regular sanitary pruning with the removal of dry, diseased branches.
How to care during flowering
During the flowering period, the apple tree needs protection from frost. If they often return in the spring, then blooming apple trees can be saved by lighting up smoke piles in the garden. The smoke covers the plants and the heat is retained. Blooming trees can be delayed for several days by watering them at the end of April.
During the flowering period, the culture needs additional fertilizing in the form of organic and mineral fertilizers.
Irrigation
Apple trees are watered with furrows, 4-5 procedures per summer are enough. If the summer is dry, then irrigate more often. Especially hydration is needed 3 weeks before picking apples. Between 60 and 100 buckets of water are enough per square meter.
Pest control
Among the pests of the apple tree, the moth in the caterpillar stage does great damage. They hibernate in dense cocoons in cracks in the bark, under lumps of earth. To scare away butterflies, bags of mothballs are used. Protect from pests burlap belts on the lower part of the trunk.
Dangerous for aphid culture. She sucks the juice from the leaves, they dry up and fall off.After detecting aphids, it is necessary to spray with a decoction of tobacco dust or makhorka.
Trees are sprayed with infusion of onion husks when a spider mite appears. It is necessary to carry out 3-fold processing with a break of 10 days.
Fighting disease
The apple tree of the Berkutovskoye variety has a gene for immunity to scab, but is often affected by the fungus of powdery mildew... The disease manifests itself as a whitish bloom on the leaves, fruits, and shoots. After some time, the plaque turns brown, becoming like felt. You can get rid of the infection by pruning damaged branches, burning them.
It is necessary for preventive and therapeutic purposes to spray the trees with a solution of ferrous sulfate, and after blooming the leaves - soda. A solution of manure, which is prepared from 3 parts of water and 1 parts of manure, will also help. Insist on the medicine for 3-4 days. Dilute with water in a ratio of 1: 3 and process in the evening every 7 days after the leaves have bloomed. Do not spray during flowering.
Fertilizing the soil
Every year, the apple tree needs organic and mineral fertilizing. Mullein and bird droppings are first diluted with water in a barrel in a ratio of 1: 3, and then after 5 days they are brought to the desired concentration and the trees are watered. The first time it is needed in mid-May, when buds are blooming, then in June, when the tree has faded.
Mineral fertilizers are used in August. They are replaced with a solution of wood ash, taking 50 grams per bucket of water.
Harvest and related work
In late September - early October, the Berkutovskoe apple harvest is ready for harvest. It is better to shoot on time so that the fruits are preserved until spring.
Harvesting
The important thing in removing apples from the branches is to leave the fruit branches intact. Therefore, they carefully unscrew the fruits, separating them. Pulling and picking apples is not recommended.
Storing apples
For laying apples for the winter, wooden boxes made of slats are used. First, damaged, crumpled fruits are discarded, and then 15-20 kilograms are poured into each container. Fruit boxes are placed in basements with an air temperature of +2 degrees.
Fruit application
In addition to fresh use, apples of the variety are used to prepare blanks for the winter. The juice is tasty. Suitable fruits for jam, jams, marmalades.
To help the gardener
Deciding to plant a new apple variety is always difficult. Often summer residents do not know how to care for a fruit crop, whether it will take root in the region. You need to know about the nuances of caring for an apple tree.
Regions suitable for cultivation of the variety
The best area for growing Berkutovskoe apple trees are areas with a temperate continental climate. These are the areas of the Volga region, Moscow region. Although in the Moscow region, winters are the least suitable for apple trees. The warmer, the better the quality of the fruit from this variety will be. In harsh conditions, the tree may not survive the winter, freeze a little.
Where can I buy seedlings
You can buy Berkutovskoye seedlings in nurseries. Sell two-year-old apple trees with open and closed root systems. It is better not to purchase varietal crops from hands, since they often do not correspond to the declared planting material.
