Vologda Apricot - Varieties, Features Of Reproduction And Cultivation Of Apricots

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

Answers to questions about the Vologda apricot

More than a year ago (№12, 2008) my article "Northern Apricot" was published in the magazine "Flora Price". Unexpectedly, it caused a large number of responses and questions from readers. I will try to give answers to some of them now.

Vologda apricot is not a fiction, not an idle joke. For eight years now, two bushes of this hybrid apricot form have been growing from seeds in my garden. Last spring they bloomed for the first time, although they did not set fruit. I received their seeds from the former editor of the Vologda magazine "Garden Tips" S. P. Bagrova.

The history of this apricot dates back to 1953, when and. about. director of the Darwin reserve in the Kalinin region, Alexei Mikhailovich Leontiev managed to cross the common and Manchurian apricots, and sow the resulting seeds. From one of them the mother tree grew. But it was still not quite a Vologda apricot, but only its closest ancestor. When the tree began to bear fruit, Leontyev began to send the seeds obtained from it to scientific institutions and amateur gardeners throughout the Northwest. Unfortunately, after his death, the original tree died without proper care. However, the reserve has preserved its root growth. Seedlings from most of the seeds distributed by Leontiev were also lost by gardeners. Only Viktor Vasilyevich Osokin, who lived near Vologda,from the seeds obtained in 1961, the seedlings not only survived, but eventually turned into fruit-bearing apricot trees. But this, as I have already noted, was not the Leontief hybrid itself, but only its direct descendant, although in general it retains its parental inclinations. Osokin, like Leontyev, also began to widely distribute seeds from the fruits he grew. In 2006 V. V. Osokin died, but his trees survived. And by that time he had distributed thousands of seeds (including S. P. Bagrov) widely spread throughout the North-West and turned into many hundreds of fruit-bearing trees of a new fruit crop. I hope she is no longer in danger of extinction now. Now this apricot is widely grown by both specialists and amateur gardeners of the Vologda, Leningrad, Kostroma, Yaroslavl,Nizhny Novgorod and other regions of the North-West and central regions of our country. Of course, most of these trees grow in the Vologda region - in the vicinity of Cherepovets, Kharovsk, Kadnikov, in particular, in the village of Stegikha, which is 100 km north of Vologda, and in the village of Krivoye, as well as in some other settlements.

Vologda apricot is a bush, less often - a low tree, similar in shape to a plum. Its crown is also most advisable to form like a plum, at about a trunk height of 50–70 cm. When pruning, first of all, you should remove broken and diseased branches.

Until now, mainly the Vologda apricot is propagated by seeds; but when its culture becomes widespread, undoubtedly, as was the case with other fruits, local varieties will appear, which will already propagate vegetatively. With seed reproduction, this apricot begins to bear fruit at 5–8 years. During shipment and storage, seeds should be kept in a humid environment (in wet sand or sphagnum), since they usually lose their germination when dried. Sow them on the ridges as late as possible, placing them according to the scheme 20x20 cm to a depth of 2-3 cm. It is advisable to pour a layer of mulch of 1-2 cm on top. After a year, the seedlings can already be planted in a permanent place. They easily tolerate a transplant.

The fruits of the Vologda apricot are, of course, somewhat smaller than those of the common apricot varieties. They are characterized by a variety of shapes and colors. Even raw they are quite tasty, sweet, nutritious and aromatic; and even in processed products (in preserves, jams, marmalades, etc.), perhaps, they are indistinguishable from the fruits of one of the parents - common apricot. His bone is small - no more than 10% of the weight of the fruit.

Plants of the Vologda apricot have not only high fruit, but also decorative value, they not only bloom very beautifully, but also look wonderful at the end of summer, covered with a mass of yellow-orange fruits. You should not rush to harvest the crop, since the fruits are poured and increase in size until the very last day before they start to fall, already ripe. Fruiting in the Vologda apricot is not always regular, since its flowers, like the flowers of apple, pear and other fruit trees, can be beaten by spring frosts. But since apricot plants are usually not large, especially in youth, they can be protected by covering them at night with the threat of freezing with sheets of lutrasil or spunbond.

Ripening of fruits of the Vologda apricot is not simultaneous, it lasts 20-25 days. In a productive year, one adult plant is capable of producing several buckets of fruit. Different plants of this apricot can be both self-fertile and self-fertile, i.e. to require pollination with pollen from a plant of another generative origin; therefore, it is desirable to have 2-3 specimens of different genetic origin (different forms or varieties) on the site. When growing seedlings from seeds, such a selection of plants occurs automatically. At the same time, seedlings are underdeveloped, freezing and prickly - they are rejected as having negative indicators.

This hybrid is very frost-hardy; during deep dormancy it can withstand temperatures below -48 ° C. But he does not like strong withering winter north, north-east and north-west winds. Therefore, it should be planted in places protected from their effects. February and March heating of the crust by the sun can damage it by sunburn. True, as a rule, they do not cause significant harm to plants, and burn wounds quickly heal due to the high regenerative capacity of tissues. Nevertheless, it is preferable (in October) to protect young trunks and skeletal branches with spruce legs, newspapers, lutrasil, spunbond (but not polyethylene). Then they must be removed no later than the beginning of May. In addition, the shelter will protect young plants - a delicious winter food for hares and mice - from damage,or even from their complete destruction.

Vologda apricot is resistant to root collar podoprevaniya even in the presence of deep snow cover - the main obstacle to the spread of common apricot in Central Russia and the Northwest. However, it should not be planted in places where the wind regularly sweeps large snowdrifts. Spring frosts, as already mentioned, can have a detrimental effect on flower buds, buds and flowers. This apricot does not like the long-term garter to stakes and the tying of various tags - this leads to the appearance of stem rot.

When growing Vologda apricot, lime or chalk must be added every 3-4 years - 400-500 g per 1 m? with obligatory incorporation into the soil. Preparations containing copper for chemical treatments against fungal diseases on this form of apricot should be used with caution, since, for example, the standard and harmless concentration of copper sulfate (1%) for other fruit crops causes leaf burn in these plants. The exact safe concentration has not yet been determined. Therefore, it is more advisable to process the Vologda apricot with such preparations in a leafless state in the spring, before blooming. Forms adapted to the local climate and soils can be propagated vegetatively, by root shoots, layering, cuttings, grafting. But only in the conditions familiar to them. A hybrid can adapt much more easily to a different climate and soils when propagated by seeds.

However, the Vologda apricot in the Central zone and in the north of our country is no longer the only one. You can also try to grow seedlings from the seeds of varieties bred by the outstanding Siberian breeder - Ivan Leonidovich Baikalov. The most promising seeds for acclimatization are the seeds of the following Siberian varieties: Sayanskiy, Gorny Abakan, Sibiryak Baikalova, East Siberian. It will probably be difficult to acclimatize these varieties (seedlings), although you can try, but getting seedlings from their seeds, especially if you sow several dozen of them, is quite possible. In addition, this technique will make it possible to select the most winter-hardy and fruitful plants with tasty fruits. It is better to sow them in autumn, or be sure to stratify, then spring sowing is also possible. As a guide to the choice of varieties and the method of growing seedlings, we can recommend the excellent album-reference book "Gardeners of Siberia", compiled by I. L. Baikalov and published by the publishing house "Literary Abakan" in 2002, which describes in great detail the technology of growing apricots in Khakassia.

In addition, there are successful hybrid apricot varieties in the Far East; they grow successfully in Khabarovsk, Birobidzhan, Bir, Blagoveshchensk, Vladivostok, and even in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Of these, the best Khabarovsk varieties are Amur, Serafim, Khabarovsky, Akademik, Petr Komarov, and the seaside ones are Artem, Podarok miner, BAM. In addition, in recent years, Academician G. T. Kazmin together with V. A. Marusich in Khabarovsk bred two more tasty and winter-hardy varieties: Gift to BAM and Amur early. Just like Abakan, Far Eastern apricots are best acclimated by sowing seeds, and not by planting seedlings or rooting cuttings. The chances will be much higher, although this does not mean that a significant part of the seedlings will not die. But from the adapted seedlings in the future it will be possible to choose the best ones, which, perhaps,will be worthy of becoming local varieties.

Finally, I remind you once again: until local varieties have been bred, try to acquire not seedlings and seedlings of this fruit species (Vologda and other northern forms of apricot), but seeds. In a new place, and, consequently, in a new climate, the cultivation of planting material more adapted to local conditions from them is always more likely, since an adult apricot is conservative and does not get used to new conditions well. A different matter is seedlings and seedlings that have grown on the spot and have adapted to these specific conditions. In the future, it is already quite possible to harvest cuttings from such plants, and also to replicate their most interesting forms by grafting on the most winter-hardy plum varieties, as well as on winter-hardy low- and small-fruited apricots grown from seeds of the parental hybrid form.

As you can see, hybrid apricots actually made progress in fruit growing in the northern regions of our country. But there is no such movement of peaches into the gardening of the North-West and even the Central regions of the country yet. Some addresses where you can try to order cold-resistant apricot seeds can be found in the editorial office by phone or e-mail (replies are not sent in postal envelopes).