Rowan Pomegranate - Michurinskaya

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

From time immemorial, rowan grew in our forests. People collected it, used it for food and as a medicine, but they were in no hurry to introduce it into the culture, unlike currants, gooseberries, other berry bushes and fruit trees.

Only in the 19th century, the inhabitants of the village of Nevezhino, Vladimir Region, selected three natural sweet-fruited forms of mountain ash in nature, which became its first varieties of national selection. They were named after their location: Nevezhinskaya red, Nevezhinskaya yellow and Nevezhinskaya kubovaya. The well-known manufacturer of alcoholic beverages Smirnov bought the fruits of these varieties and, on their basis, produced his famous rowan liqueur. And to confuse competitors, he called it Nezhinskaya. The latter sounds better. Hence the confusion - Nezhinskaya - Nevezhinskaya.

Of the breeders, the first who paid attention to mountain ash and engaged in its hybridization was I. V. Michurin. In 1925, he pollinated the flowers of Siberian hawthorn, a synonym - blood-red hawthorn (Crataegus sanguinea), with the pollen of the common mountain ash (Sorbus aucuparia) and received viable seeds. The hybrid received the scientific name Krategosorbus Michurin (hawthorn Michurin) - Crataegosorbus miczurinii Pojark.

The best of the hybrid plants, which gave large faceted fruits of a dark red pomegranate color in the fifth year of its life (for which it received its name - Pomegranate mountain ash), was recognized as a variety. Sometimes it is also called Michurinskaya garnet. Abroad, he is known as Ivan's Belle.

Externally, the Pomegranate mountain ash is a medium-sized tree up to 3-4 m in height, very similar to the common mountain ash. It is short-lived, usually only lives up to 20-25 years. Winter hardiness. Shoots ripen well and are usually not damaged by sunburn, frost, or frost. Photophilous, although it tolerates some shading, but in the latter case, the yield is low. The root system is developed, fibrous. Fruit buds are mixed. The flowers of the Pomegranate mountain ash are similar to those of the common mountain ash - small, white, collected in large corymbose inflorescences of 50-100 pcs. Although this variety begins the growing season early, it blooms late, so the flowers are almost never damaged by recurrent frosts, they are very melliferous, pollinated for the most part by bees. Fruits are spherical, burgundy-pomegranate, faceted, sweet and sour, with a slight pleasant astringency,without bitterness, weighing 1-1.6 g. The pulp is yellow, juicy.

Rowan Pomegranate is a multivitamin plant. Its fruits contain 5-8% sugars, up to 30% vitamin C, 12.7% carotene, as well as vitamins B2, B9, K, P, E, pectins, macro- and microelements. They go mainly for processing. They make excellent jam, great wine, tinctures, jelly, jam, compote, syrup, juice and other products. The variety is high-yielding, regularly yields 15-20 kg of fruit per tree. The harvest in youth is mainly concentrated on fruit twigs, in adulthood - on ringlets, which usually live for 4-7 years. Although the mountain ash is self-fertile, with cross-pollination its yield is much higher. Best suited for this: Dessert mountain ash, which has the most delicious fruits of all I. V. Michurin varieties of mountain ash, as well as new varieties - Vefed, Sorbinka and others. It is possible to plant wild forms of mountain ash for this purpose, but it is inappropriate, because from them less valuable fruits will be obtained.

The leaves of the Pomegranate rowan are alternate, odd-pinnate, up to 13 cm long and 7 cm wide, consist of 9-11 leaves. The latter are oblong-elliptical, up to 3 cm long and 1.5 cm wide; much wider than that of the common mountain ash, often unequal, coarsely toothed, dark green, shiny, very unusual and decorative; fall early.

Rowan Pomegranate is propagated, like any other fruit variety, only vegetatively - by grafting (more often by budding) on rowan seedlings, root suckers (only rooted specimens), arcuate layering and green cuttings. Budding is carried out in late July and early August. In March-April next year, the grafted seedlings are cut, preferably on a thorn, because plants trimmed for a bud have to be huddled several times in order to avoid breakages and curvature of the stems. It is possible in the spring to refine with cuttings of Pomegranate mountain ash and ordinary rowan trees of various ages, if there is one on the site. Vaccination techniques are standard: copulation, in the butt, in the cleft, behind the bark, in the lateral incision, etc. Blons are small at the site of inoculation, the degree of fusion is good. The technique of propagation by arcuate layering is also standard. The lower branches of the tree, removing the bark in a ring 3-5 mm wide, or pulling it tightly with a wire in the right place, bend it down to the ground, dig in (the soil should be fertile and loose), bend the end of the branch up and fix it with hooks and pegs. After two to three years, the layers are separated. You can also propagate Rowan Pomegranate by air layers, although this method is rarely used in practice. Green cuttings are carried out during flowering. When using growth substances (heteroauxin or root), greenhouses and with proper care, the rooting rate can be more than 60%. You can also propagate mountain ash Pomegranate by air layers, although this method is rarely used in practice. Green cuttings are carried out during flowering. When using growth substances (heteroauxin or root), greenhouses and with proper care, the rooting rate can be over 60%. You can also propagate Rowan Pomegranate by air layers, although this method is rarely used in practice. Green cuttings are carried out during flowering. When using growth substances (heteroauxin or root), greenhouses and with proper care, the rooting rate can be over 60%.

From the soil, the Pomegranate mountain ash prefers sod-slightly podzolic loams. It responds well to organic fertilizers. It is moisture-loving, but does not tolerate excess water, especially stagnant water. It is desirable that the groundwater level at the site was no closer than 1.5-2 m from the soil surface. Wetlands are not suitable for its cultivation.

It is better to plant rowan Pomegranate in the fall, or in the spring before bud break. Planting pits are equipped for both plums and cherries. When planting, it is permissible to deepen the root collar by 4-5 cm. The planted mountain ash is watered, after which the trunk circle is mulched. The soil should always be loose and free from weeds. With the correct filling of the planting pit, the plants are fed the first years only with nitrogen (saltpeter, urea), in the spring, 20-25 g. With the beginning of fruiting, usually in the fourth year after planting, nitrogen is given in the spring, and in the fall - phosphorus and potassium (superphosphate and potassium salt - 40-50 g of the first and 20-30 g of the second). In the dry season, the plants are watered, 3-4 buckets of water per 1 m2. Trees are best formed in bushy or sparse-tiered form. The crown should be light, compact, with strong skeletal branches, with an angle of departure of at least 40 °. In fruiting specimens, the crown is regularly reduced so that the height of the tree does not exceed 3 m. When thickening, the crown is thinned out. Root offspring are periodically cut out.

Of the pests, the leaves of the Pomegranate Rowan most often affect aphids, ticks, scale insects, sawfly larvae, butterfly caterpillars. Of the diseases, rust can be found on them, the main host of which is the juniper. Therefore, for prevention purposes, these two trees should not be planted close to each other. And on fruits from diseases, fruit rot (moniliosis) is most often found. Individual berries affected by this disease can be seen in the above photo. In addition, this mountain ash can be affected by powdery mildew, brownish spot, fire blight, wilt, and some viral diseases. Pest and disease control measures are standard. In autumn, the crop is sometimes harmed by birds, especially fieldbirds and starlings.

High-quality mountain ash in backyard gardens, incl. and Pomegranate are becoming more popular. Although, it must be admitted that so far many of them are still clearly not widespread. Gardeners simply underestimate them. In the North and North-West, varietal rowan trees should be much more widespread. Moreover, they are also very beautiful, especially, of course, Pomegranate. This is not only a fruit, but also an excellent ornamental tree - shiny carved foliage, abundant creamy caps of inflorescences, numerous burgundy fruits that can hang almost all winter (until the birds eat them). All this is a wonderful decoration of the site.

The appearance of the Pomegranate mountain ash goes well with conifers, as well as with many types of fruit and ornamental shrubs. It is especially good with viburnum, barberry, magonia. These breeds perfectly complement each other's foliage, flowers and fruits. In addition, from mountain ash, viburnum and barberry, you can get not only aesthetic pleasure from their contemplation, but also purely material benefits in the form of fruits. Rowan Pomegranate also looks great in ordinary plantings along the fence separating neighboring houses. In this case, the distance between trees should be 2-2.5 m. This is not only an elegant decoration of the site, but also its protection from cold winter winds. Especially if rowan trees are planted on the northern, north-western and eastern sides of the estate. And most importantly, they are a wonderful fire barrier.

This property of mountain ash was well known to our ancestors. Therefore, it was she who was planted between the houses. It would be very useful for gardeners to renew this tradition, and at a new, modern level - to use not only the fire-protective properties of mountain ash, but also to receive from them a significant amount of tasty, suitable for processing fruits; decorate the site, as well as fence off prying eyes, without creating noticeable shading for other plants.

Of course, you can plant simple mountain ash for this, but from Pomegranate and other varietal, undoubtedly, there will be much more benefit, and they are more beautiful. And those who already have ordinary mountain ash on the site can be advised to re-graft them with varietal cuttings. As mentioned, this is simple enough.