Why does the apricot not wake up. Apricot seedling does not open buds. Spraying apricot blossoms

Apricot for high yields and high-quality fruits, requires some attention from the gardener. Having noticed a disease or the appearance of a pest in time, you can quickly intervene and eliminate the problem. What are the diseases in apricot, what are their causes. What pests can attack it, how to prevent it and how to deal with it - these are topical issues when growing apricots.

Diseases of apricot trees and their treatment

Apricot is a heat-loving and demanding plant, at first glance. Often exposed to various fungal and infectious diseases that can affect all parts of the plant - bark, leaves, flowers, fruits. It is necessary to know the enemy in person in order to fight him effectively, and even better, not even let him near the apricot trees. By applying timely and competently preventive measures, it is possible (and necessary), in general, to avoid the manifestation of diseases and not lead to treatment.

Apricot bark diseases and their control

On the bark of an apricot and under it can settle various fungi causing diseases such as cytosporosis (stem rot), gum disease, cracking of the bark. And also mosses and lichens can settle on the bark.

Why does the bark crack on the apricot

Sometimes cracks appear on the apricot bark. This may be the following reasons:

Regardless of the reasons why cracks appeared on the bark (with the exception of fungal and cancerous diseases), the treatment method is the same.

The site of damage is carefully cleaned with a knife and a steel brush, removing all damaged bark until healthy, green tissues appear. The same applies to wood. This operation can be carried out at any time of the year, except for the period of active sap flow (spring).
Leave the wound alone for a while to dry.
Disinfect the wound with a 1% solution of Bordeaux mixture or copper sulphate. Other antifungal drugs may also be used.
Treat the prepared place with special healing putties.
- Garden pitch based on wood resin or natural wax. Avoid formulations with refined products (gasoline, kerosene, tar, coal tar, etc.), they can do more harm than good.
- Garden putty BlagoSad based on lanolin (fat obtained from sheared sheep's wool).
- Self-made putty from equal parts of clay and mullein. Such a putty cannot be used in a hot, dry season, because after drying, the clay will begin to absorb moisture from the bark.

Cleaning the crack, do not be afraid to cut off part of the healthy tissue. They will grow. But the rotten and dead remains of the bark and (or) wood, accidentally left in the wound, will be the source of infection and the focus of a new round of disease development.

White spots appeared on the trunk of an apricot

It's most likely a lichen. Lichens usually grow on old trees, although they can also appear on relatively young ones. The bark of a tree for these organisms is only a platform for living, they receive moisture and minerals for development from the atmosphere with rain, fog and dust.

Lichen often settles on old trees

There are two opposing views on whether lichens should be removed.

One group of gardeners and specialists of various qualifications claims that lichens do not do any harm to trees, and also testify to the purity of the environment in the place of growth. And by scraping them off the tree, the bark is inevitably damaged and harm is done. Therefore, they should not be removed.
Another group, no less numerous, expresses the exact opposite opinion. Lichens growing on the bark prevent the penetration of air into the interior, create foci high humidity and conditions for the emergence and development of fungal and viral diseases. And also scale insects and other pests can hide under them. And so lichens need to be removed.

For those who decide to remove the lichen that has appeared, it is recommended to do this as carefully as possible, using a sharp knife and nylon brushes. After removal, the surface of the bark should be washed with a 5% solution iron sulphate or other antiseptic. Whitewashing trunks in autumn lime mortar significantly reduces the likelihood of lichens and mosses.

But it is not at all necessary that the white coating that appears on the bark is a lichen. Perhaps this is the appearance of a fungal disease. A distinctive feature will be the fact that the fungus usually affects different parts of the plant at the same time - leaves, flowers, ovaries, fruits, shoots. Not all at the same time, but different. And if any fungus has been diagnosed, timely treatment with modern methods and drugs usually brings positive results.

Fungal diseases of apricot

Many plants are susceptible to fungal diseases and apricot, unfortunately, is no exception.

The list of the main types of this class of diseases:

Clasterosporiasis (perforated spotting).
Moniliosis.
Cytosporosis.
Leaf curl.
Verticillosis.
Fusarium.
Parsha and others.

Methods of combating various fungal diseases, preventive actions and the drugs used are very similar.

The fight against clasterosporiasis

Clasterosporiasis is a fungal disease that affects all stone fruits. Apricots and peaches are especially heavily and frequently affected by this disease. Another name for the disease is perforated spotting. The causative agent hibernates in fallen leaves, the upper layer of the soil, in the bark.

The disease begins and proceeds as follows:

Small dark dots appear on the leaves of the apricot.
Developing, the dots turn into rather large, round spots of red-brown, brown color.
In two weeks inner part spots dry up and fall out, holes are formed.
Affected leaves turn yellow and fall off.

In addition to leaves, buds and shoots are also affected. Affected kidneys do not open and fall off. Lesions on the bark of the shoots look the same as on the leaves - growing spots, the formation of holes in the bark, causing the release of gum. In advanced cases, the tree may die.

Photo gallery: clasterosporiasis

The fight against this disease primarily begins with prevention.

Fallen leaves are collected and burned.
Sick shoots are cut out (not forgetting to lubricate the places of cuts with garden pitch or putty) and also burned.
In late autumn, trunk circles are dug up.
In late autumn and (or) early spring, during the absence of sap flow, they are treated with a 3% solution of Bordeaux liquid or copper sulfate.
They try to use varieties that are relatively resistant to fungal diseases (Red-cheeked, Pineapple, Hungarian best, etc.).
During the season, it is advisable to spray the trees with biofungicides (biological fungicides). Quadris and Horus have proven themselves well. They can process trees even during the fruiting period (by Quadris 5 days, by Horus 7 days before picking berries). Due to the addiction of the fungus to drugs, treatments lead no more three times each season. The interval is two weeks.

Table: organic preparations to combat clasterosporiasis and other diseases

Apricot moniliosis, how to save a tree

Moniliosis or monilial burn is a fungal disease that affects leaves, flowers, tree shoots. Spores of the fungus hibernate in fallen leaves, shoots, on the bark. Primary infection usually occurs in spring, during flowering. Spores with the wind, and more often with the help of bees, fall on a blossoming flower, through the pistil they get inside and further into the leaves and shoots. The flowers curl and die first, then the leaves and shoots. The ends of the branches turn black, as well as the leaves turn black and hang. Externally, the plant looks as if burnt.

In spring infection with moniliosis, flowers are first affected, then leaves and shoots of apricot

An inexperienced gardener may mistake spring symptoms of moniliosis infection for frostbite or excessive spring treatment with drugs.

The second form of damage appears in the summer, in the form of gray rot, affecting fruits, leaves and bark. The difference from other similar diseases is the chaotic arrangement of black dots on the surface of the fruit.

Preventive and curative measures:

Removal and destruction of fallen leaves, as well as affected fruits.
Late autumn loosening of trunk circles.
Cutting out affected shoots with a part of healthy wood 15–20 cm long or “under the ring”.
Late autumn and early spring treatment with a 3% solution of copper sulphate or Bordeaux mixture.
Before swelling of the kidneys, a single treatment with DNOC or Nitrafen.
Regular treatment during the season with biofungicides (Horus, Quadris).
Do not allow waterlogging, dampness.
Avoidance of dense plantings and crowns.

Video: moniliosis

Apricot protection from pests

Apricots like others fruit plants, can be attacked by various insects - codling moths, leafworms, aphids, mites. In addition to insects, rodents - mice, hares - bring great harm to plants.

How to save an apricot if mice have eaten the bark

First you need to determine the scale of damage, and then choose the option of action, which is very small.

If the bark is completely and deeply gnawed, then, most likely, nothing can be done. You can try to cut the trunk almost to the ground. With luck, a new shoot will grow from the root, which will become a new tree.
If the bark is nibbled in a circle to a small height, there are two ways:
- Bridge vaccination.
- Bark transplant.
If you are lucky and the cambial layer of the mouse was not touched, then you just need to wrap the damaged part of the trunk with electrical tape, stretch film or bandage, placing sorrel leaves. Remove the bandage in autumn.

Cambium is a layer between the bark and wood, which is a conductor of juice.
What is cambium is easier to show than to tell

How to graft with a bridge

Step-by-step instruction.

Preparation of cuttings. Of course, it is better to prepare them in the fall, but then it was not yet known about the attack of rodents. Therefore, most likely, they will have to be cut in the spring, as soon as it became known about the trouble, before the start of sap flow. The variety of the donor tree does not matter. The length of the cuttings should be 10–15 cm longer than the length of the damaged area, the number of buds is also not important, they will still need to be removed. The larger the diameter of the trunk, the more cuttings need to be grafted.
T-shaped incisions are made on the bark of a tree on one and the other side of the wound with a sharp knife.
Oblique cuts are made on the cuttings on both sides and inserted into the cuts so that the layers of the cambium are aligned with each other. The cuttings should be slightly arched.
The grafting sites are lubricated with garden pitch or putty and tightly wrapped with electrical tape, fum-tape, etc.
The crown is cut by 30%.

In this way, you can save a tree gnawed by mice

How the bark is transplanted

Quite an exotic way, but sometimes used. For him, you need a donor tree (it should be an apricot, you can wild), which is not a pity to donate.

From suitable material(thin cardboard, film, etc.) cut out the template according to the size of the damage.
According to the template, a patch is cut out from the bark of the donor tree, which is carefully removed and quickly applied to the wound.
The patch is firmly fixed with tape, you can use small carnations.
The operation area is coated with garden pitch or putty, wrapped with twine and roofing material.
The crown is cut.

Apricot Root Pests

Not very many insects prefer to feed on the roots of trees, but still, sometimes such lovers are found. Most often, the roots of young seedlings can suffer from pests, which the larvae of beetles and weevils eat with pleasure, wintering in the upper soil layers of the tree trunks. If you dig up the soil under the trees in late autumn, turning the layers over, the larvae will be on the surface and die from the cold.

Fighting Khrushchev

There are a lot of varieties of crackers. This is a flying beetle ranging in size from 8–12 mm (April beetle) to 35–38 mm (marble beetle). The most famous and well-known to everyone is the May beetle. Beetles are omnivorous and, if left unchecked, can cause great damage to many plants in the garden.

Beetles feed on plant roots

Fighting methods:

Early spring preventive treatment with insecticides ( chemicals for insect control) - decis, nitrafen, etc.
Diazinon and preparations based on it are introduced into the soil for digging at the end of May-June, when the larvae are still in the upper soil layer. 10–20 g of Bazudin or 5–10 g of 10% Diazonin are consumed per 1 m 2. The drug acts for 20 days, does not accumulate in plants.
The drug Marshall is very effective, having a prolonged action (up to 17 months). But, due to its high toxicity, it should be used carefully and only in critical situations.
You can place a small, warm, moist pile of humus or compost next to the tree. The larvae will settle there with pleasure - it remains only in time to collect and destroy them.

Fight against weevils

Weevils are small (4–6 mm) beetles with an elongated proboscis.

Weevil in early spring eats young leaves, buds, ovaries

There are many varieties of this insect. They can overwinter in the bark, fallen leaves, upper layers of the soil. In spring they feed on young leaves, buds, flowers, fruits. In early and mid-summer, eggs are laid in fruits, from which larvae hatch. Some species of weevils lay their eggs in the soil and hatched larvae actively feed on young roots.

Weevil larvae hatched in the soil feed on young roots.

How to fight:

In early spring, when the weevils came out of their hiding places and settled in the crown of the apricot, you can collect them by hand. To do this, in the morning, when the air temperature has not risen above + 5–7 ° C and the beetles are sleeping, a cloth or film is spread under the tree, on which the insects are gently shaken off. Then they are destroyed.
Before the buds swell, the tree is treated with insecticides.
After flowering, if necessary, it can be treated with such preparations as Fufanon, Actellik, etc. 20 days before harvesting, the treatments are stopped.
During the laying of eggs, soil preparations based on diazonin can be used.
In autumn, fallen leaves are removed and destroyed, damaged bark is cleaned, and with the onset of cold weather, they dig up the soil.

Treatment of apricot from diseases and pests

To prevent the occurrence of various diseases and pest attacks, apricot preventive treatments are carried out. As a rule, the first treatment is carried out in late winter or early spring, before bud break.

At this time, the tree is treated with one of the following drugs:

DNOC is a complex, potent drug for fighting fungi, mites and insects. They process a tree once every three years. Apply a 1% solution at a temperature of 5 ° C, but not higher than 13 ° C.
Nitrafen is a drug close to DNOC in its action. 200-300 g of the drug is added to 10 liters of water. One time processing.
Decis is a broad spectrum insecticide. Dissolve 50 g in 5 liters of water. Consumption from 2 to 5 liters per tree. If necessary, re-processing is possible.
And others similar.

In spring and summer, especially after rains, it is advisable to treat with antifungal agents - Horus, Quadris, Fufanon, etc.

If, despite the prevention, the apricot has been subjected to any disease or attack by pests, they act on the basis of the situation in accordance with the recommendations for the specific case.

Frequently Asked Questions by Gardeners

In the process of growing apricots, the gardener often faces various problems and issues, most of which are presented below.

Why doesn't the apricot bloom?

This is a fairly common problem that occurs due to several reasons.

Features of the variety. Some varieties of apricots begin to bloom 5-7 years after planting. Under unfavorable conditions, these periods may be extended. It may not be time for flowering yet.
Wrong choice of landing site. A tree growing in the shade will begin to bloom and bear fruit only when its crown rises to the sun. And it will bloom precisely on those branches that are lit by the sun.
Unsuitable soil. Apricot will not bloom in acidic soils, it needs a slightly alkaline or neutral environment.
Flooding by groundwater, even short-term, harms fruiting. With constant flooding, the tree will die.
Freezing of fruit buds, which can occur during prolonged winter thaws or spring frosts.

Why do flowers fall from a blossoming apricot

Either diseased or unfertilized flowers fall.

During spring infection with moniliosis, as noted above, flowers are first affected and die.

If the apricot variety is not self-fertile, then the reason for the flowers to fall may be:

Absence in sufficient proximity (up to 100 m) of a pollinating tree.
There is a pollinator tree, but for some reason it does not bloom.
Unfavorable weather (low temperature, strong wind), which reduces the activity of bees and other insects.

Why do apricots rot on a tree

This can occur from improper care and from diseases.

Why doesn't the apricot grow?

We planted an apricot, but it does not grow. Possible reasons:

Inconsistency of the selected variety with the region of cultivation. Perhaps a seedling for the southern regions was planted in a more northern one.
Late or fall planting. It is necessary to plant a seedling at rest, before the buds swell.
Sapling of inadequate quality:
- Age over two years.
- Grown with supersaturation of nitrogen fertilizers.
- Bad root system.
Close occurrence of groundwater and flooding.
Insufficient pruning at planting, due to which there was a weak increase. A weakened plant goes into the winter, which it will not survive.

The ends of apricot branches turned black in spring

This phenomenon has two reasons:

The branches are dead. Trim to healthy wood and treat with garden pitch or putty.
Infection with moniliosis. Cut branches into 15–20 cm of healthy wood or “under the ring”. Treatment of the disease is described above.

On apricot branches dry after flowering

Most likely, this is still the same moniliosis.

Why do flowers rust on an apricot tree

If brown spots (rust) appear on the flowers, this can be caused by several reasons:

The onset of a fungal disease, usually moniliosis.
Insect attack, primarily weevil.
Frost.
Burn from an overdose of certain chemicals when spraying (for example, copper sulphate).

Why apricot does not bear fruit

Apricot fruiting does not occur in such cases:

Apricot does not bloom. Considered above.
It blooms, but the ovaries are not formed and the flowers crumble. Considered above.
Blooms, ovaries form, but they crumble.
- On an unpollinated tree, fruits were formed (this is possible). But such fruits are inferior, the seed germ does not develop in them, and without it, the fruit does not develop, which as a result crumbles.
- An abnormally warm January contributed to the awakening of the kidneys. As a result, the pistils were damaged, which caused the fruits to shed.
- The tree gave a bountiful harvest in the previous year, exhausted its strength, but did not receive enough nutrition to restore vitality.

Apricot is not the most capricious representative of horticultural crops. With proper agricultural technology, carrying out preventive and sanitary measures in due time, the gardener rarely has to deal with the treatment of diseases. Caring for an apricot does not require much effort and is quite accessible to both an experienced and novice gardener. And modern, low-toxic preparations will get rid of the invasion of pests and will allow you to get a decent harvest of sweet and healthy berries.

When to open roses after winter, every grower should know - only in this case you can count on abundant and lush flowering of the bushes, however, it is important to know how to properly open the roses in the spring, at what temperature it is optimal to do this, the differences in the procedure in different regions - in Siberia and in the Urals, in the Moscow region, in the Leningrad region ...

When to open roses after winter - the enemies of the flower in spring

Not knowing when to open roses after winter often leads to the death of even properly prepared plants for wintering. Those who have been breeding these plants for a long time know for sure that aging and return spring frosts for a rose, it is much more dangerous than a winter cold, so you need to treat the procedure for smoothly introducing the queen of flowers into the new flowering season with special zeal.

If you open roses after winter, when the soil has not yet warmed up deeply enough, and the weather still surprises in the form of snow and night frosts, with a 99.9% probability they will freeze and will not be able to please the impatient owner with lush flowering. This happens because the buds of the plant wake up a little earlier than the roots - having started to grow, they will die at the first drop in temperature to -7 ° С ... -10 ° С.

No less detrimental to rose bushes is the long wait for sustained heat - the roots are still sleeping, and above-ground part the flower actively evaporates moisture, and water droplets, being in a confined space, cause excessive dampness of the rose shoots. Due to the lack of air and ultraviolet under the shelter, pathogenic fungi, including molds, begin to actively multiply.

Experienced flower growers advise starting the awakening of the queen of the flower garden when the snow begins to actively melt even in the shade, but it is advisable to do this in stages, with an eye on the local climate - it is important to remember that there is no single date when to open roses after winter.

How to open roses correctly so as not to destroy

It is recommended to start preparing roses for shelter removal in early March, when the sun is just starting to warm up - at this time there is a possibility of shelters being exposed. The box, as well as multi-layered blankets made of nonwovens, spruce branches and sawdust, begin to show the world their frost-bitten sides, and in order to prevent the air from warming up inside the flower winter houses, you need to:

Throw more snow on the shelters from above - if the snow slides too actively, you will have to pour a thick layer of sawdust on top or install shading screens made of plywood or cardboard;

Trample snow around shelters - the denser it is, the longer it will melt. In this way, one more misfortune can be avoided - the invasion of mice on the rose garden;

Take care of withdrawal melt water from the area where roses grow - for this, the gaps between the bushes can be sprinkled with ash so that the snow melts there earlier, then make deep grooves into which melt water will drain.

airing roses after winter - in the photo

Low-growing standard roses, climbing and ground-covering varieties, highly hilled with soil, peat and spruce branches, also need airing - in the warmest time of the day, you need to open them and carefully loosen the soil that has compacted during the winter, then the shelter should be returned to its place. At the ends you need to leave small vents, through which moisture will evaporate.

Adaptation of overwintered rose bushes

Immediately after winter dormancy, rose bushes do not have a well-established gas exchange and fluid exchange with the environment, so the bushes need competent adaptation - without it, there is a chance that individual shoots will dry out or the buds will die. Roses can be damaged by direct sunlight and wind - they dry out ground part plants, and initially healthy shoots may dry out later. To prevent fresh air and life-giving light from turning into a catastrophe for the rosary, you need:

Remove the shelter gradually over a period of at least 3 days, each time opening it more than yesterday;
Shade the flower plantings with spruce branches - it will be enough to put the conifers directly on top of the bushes, or stick them on the south side;
Move the soil from the stems with which they are piled up so that the bush does not start to rot.

Particular attention should be paid to sanitary pruning - at this stage, you need to remove all rotten and dry stems. Leaving them in the hope that they will recover does not make sense - they represent a gateway for infections of roses and other garden perennials.

Protecting roses from diseases, pests and negative environmental conditions

In order to finally protect rose bushes from possible diseases, it is recommended to process them a maximum of a week after the optimal time for opening roses after winter - this will avoid the spread of fungal and other infections. It is recommended to use a 1% solution of copper sulfate or bright pink potassium permanganate.

Please note that you need to process the entire bush, including the grafting site, and if particles of soil remain on the stems, they must be removed with a cloth or an elastic brush, and then the bushes should be sprayed.
A day after treatment, it is recommended to inspect the bush for mold, freezers and infectious burns. The easiest way to get rid of mold is to destroy it by stripping and spraying the bush with a copper-soap solution.

Frost and infectious burns require drastic measures - if they are located at the base of the bush, the shoot will have to be cut out completely, but if they are located closer to the top of the shoot and have small size, you can try to cure it. To do this, the damaged tissues are cut off with a sterile knife (with a scalpel, if the diameter of the stem is small), the surface of the wood is treated with garlic or plantain gruel, and an insulating bandage consisting of a film and electrical tape is applied on top.

Now that the roses have finally woken up and put in order, you can start awakening the suction roots - the bushes are watered with warm water without fertilizers and dressings. After a few days, the procedure is repeated, but a half dose of nitrogen fertilizers is added to the water.

In harsh northern regions where else you can grow apricot, it needs to be well covered for the winter. Without shelter, you can lose fruit tree or future harvest. In winter, with prolonged and severe frosts, young branches and fruit buds very often freeze over. Therefore, in spring, the apricot will not bloom and most of the branches will dry up. But this is not the worst thing that can happen to this fruit tree if it is not covered at all for the winter. Therefore, it is necessary to cover the apricot for the winter every year in the fall, at least partially.

Rules for sheltering apricots for the winter

Since the apricot has been grown in cold regions for a long time, many original ways have been invented during this time to shelter it for the winter. Some shelters are not very effective, but not expensive, some are effective and allow you to get a harvest of stone fruits every year. The basic rules for sheltering an apricot for the winter include:

First of all, you need to save the root of the tree, for this you need to dig a tree within a radius of 1-2 meters and sketch out peat and humus, leaves. For good insulation, it is advisable to sketch from 10 to 20 centimeters. Upstairs you can sketch fallen leaves, straw, corn stalks, reeds.
In winter, the basal neck most often suffers in apricots. From constant temperature changes, it often gets warm and this negatively affects the winter hardiness of the tree. To prevent this, it is necessary to wrap the root neck and tree trunk well with burlap, preferably in several layers. It can also be done with other materials, the main thing is that the tree can breathe freely.
If you want the apricot to bloom in spring, despite even the most cold winter, then you will need to cover the entire tree. To do this, around the tree you need to hammer 4-6 pegs. Their height should be slightly less than the trunk of the tree, towards the place where the lower branches begin to grow. After that, you need to stretch the film over the tree and wrap the tree well with it. When the ends of the film are tied to pegs and the branches do not look from under the shelter, you need to sketch the soil around the perimeter, thus creating a protective shaft and dry leaves or other insulating material. It is necessary to sketch so much that the shaft reaches the film. Thus, a cap will be created over the apricot, protecting the tree from prickly winds and severe frosts.
Some gardeners wrap the tree with roofing material. In this case, the upper hole, which is formed during the creation of such a protective cylinder, is covered with a metal mesh and then again with roofing felt. In such a shelter, even the most severe winters are not afraid of an apricot, provided that the first 2 points have been met.

The apricot is a tree that can bear fruit every year if well protected from harsh winters. Therefore, it is very important to approach this issue with maximum responsibility. Of course, there are winter-hardy varieties that can withstand severe frosts, but at the same time they are completely powerless against sudden changes in temperature, so you always need to protect the root neck and roots. In the case of winter-hardy varieties of apricot, in the fall, when the first snow fell, it must be thrown away from the tree so that the ground freezes well. Thus, the basal neck will not swell. This is especially true for young seedlings.

Apricot after winter

Uzbek apricot (apricot). Dried apricots

richest gifts of Uzbekistan- these are juicy and sweet fruits, berries and vegetables that delight the eye and the insatiable belly from early spring to late autumn. One of the first fruit trees to bloom dried apricots. What is an apricot? Mmm, this is a very tasty, sweet and sunny fruit!

Dried apricots(uzb. urik) is essentially the same apricot, but its Central Asian varieties have some species and taste differences. In Uzbekistan, apricots are called smaller varieties, and apricots are large and beautiful fruits. Some people think that dried apricots suitable only for drying, but this is far from the truth, because. Apricot is, first of all, enjoying the bright taste, aroma and juiciness of a hot summer.

Early apricot varieties they begin to bloom in March, at the same time snow may fall - a striking picture of the struggle between winter and spring is obtained: blooming apricot and snowflakes, which, however, will melt in a couple of days. Cities and suburbs fill with divine scents flowering apricots, they are replaced by cherry and plum trees, cherry plum, apple trees, quince and much more.

Uryuk begins to ripen already in the spring, or rather, he tries to keep up, as the children cut him off while still green, unripe - a green delicacy of noisy children of all times. Since demand creates supply, such an unripe product can even be found on sale. Markets often sell small apricot with "freckles" (brown small dots), they should not confuse you, it is just as tasty and harmless.

Favorable natural conditions allow to grow in Uzbekistan various varieties of apricots - from early spring varieties to late autumn ones (Sentyabrsky, Namagansky), as well as to dry it in nature - in the shade under the wings of a warm breeze. There are mainly apricot orchards in the Ferghana Green Valley, Tashkent, Surkhandarya and Zarafshan regions.

There are many varieties of apricots, differing in shape, color and taste. Apricots can be large and very small (smaller than a walnut), bright orange and whitish, with or without a red blush, a little hairy and “bald”.

Separate apricot varieties great for drying. These are varieties such as Isfarak, Mirsanjali, while other varieties are table and are used for food and compotes. Apricot, which is used for drying, is very fleshy, has a dense pulp, and therefore, when dried, the fruit is preserved almost entirely. There are varieties of apricots that are easily divided into two halves, and their bone quickly separates from the pulp, while in others the bone is tightly immersed in the pulp - such apricots are dried along with the bone. There are some main types of dried apricots(apricot): without removing from the tree until they are completely dry (apricot fruits are dried along with the bone); in natural conditions in nature (in the shade or in the sun) - it turns out kaisa- peeled and dried whole apricots without pits; halves of apricots are fumigated with sulfur - it turns out soft and juicy dried apricots.

golden orange dried apricots And dried apricots very beneficial for health. Thanks to special processing, this type of dried fruit is preserved for a long time and does not lose its presentation during long-term transportation. Before using dried apricots, it is better to rinse in boiling water. To make dried apricots soft, you can soak them in hot water for a longer time, and the resulting infusion is also very tasty and healthy.

Dried fruits is a concentrate of vitamins. Moisture evaporates from the fruit, and only the most relish remains. Therefore, it is useful to eat dried fruits in winter, replacing artificial pharmacy vitamins with natural ones. Dried fruits are eaten in their pure form, used in baking, or they are used to make delicious compote. If you want to weld dried fruits compote, we recommend adding sugar after the compote is cooked and filtered. Although for those who do not like the sugary taste, you can not add sugar at all - there is enough sweetness in dried fruits.

dried apricots and generally speaking dried fruits it is better to store in a rag bag so that they "breathe". A little moisture remains in dried fruits, so they can quickly become moldy in plastic bags.

Table varieties of apricot contain more juice, so they are not subject to drying - even if such fruits are dried, only a hard, inedible skin will remain of them. Therefore, if you tried to dry apricots (apricots) in your garden plots and you didn’t succeed, don’t be disappointed - it just requires certain Central Asian varieties.

Uryuk contains a large amount useful substances : organic acids, vitamins, minerals, alimentary fiber, vegetable protein And complex carbohydrates. Despite the fact that apricot is very sweet, it is a natural “fat burner”, and the complex carbohydrates that make up its composition are easily digested and do not turn into fat.

Apricots are eaten raw, they make a drink out of it - urik sharbati(apricot juice), dried (turshak, kaisa, dried apricots), cook (jams, preserves, compotes), prepare marshmallows. I often use apricot jams in sweet samsas, pancakes and pies. Uryuk is good to eat with something bread, for example, with hot Uzbek flatbread.

Used and apricot bones, of which they make shurdanak- incomparable yummy of Central Asia - these are unpeeled salted apricot kernels grayish (white) color, slightly split along the seam. They acquire this color during cooking - salted apricot kernels baked in ash. It is almost impossible to break away from eating such bones! In addition, the bazaars sell peeled apricot bones and various oriental sweets of them.

It is very sad to watch how the apricot dries up.

For a year, or maybe more, the tree pleased with ripe fruits, and then suddenly began to wither before our eyes.

The death of an apricot must not be allowed; early diagnosis will help in the treatment.

Apricot tree whimsical to weather conditions can be grown from seed or rootstock.

Spring is the best time to plant. Trees are planted from the south or southeast side, in places protected from the north winds.

Apricots are plucked when they reach harvest maturity, as the fruits do not ripen once they have been picked from the branch. When harvesting fruits, they move from the periphery to the center, from the bottom up, to avoid accidentally knocking down apricots.

Why does the apricot dry up?

There are several reasons for the drying of apricot trees. These are temperature changes, and accidental damage to the trunk, and fungal diseases, and much more.

Most often, young trees are susceptible to drying. Particular attention should be paid to sheets that dry out or change color. A change in color can be the first herald of problems, in turn, early diagnosis will help save trees.

Apricot dries up due to weather conditions.

With sudden changes in temperature, there is a high probability of disease of apricot trees with apoplexy. Fluctuations near zero are especially dangerous, since at negative temperatures water freezes, which already begins to circulate in the roots of the tree.

Apoplexy is caused by a metabolic disorder.

Symptoms are leaves and twigs that suddenly wither. The wood dries up on the affected part of the tree. Apoplexy is the cause of the tree's vulnerability to other diseases.

For landing, be sure to choose a suitable place: warm with well-drained soil. Covering young trees for the winter is a prerequisite for caring for young apricots.

Treatment of apoplexy: cutting off affected branches. The cut sites are treated with a solution of copper sulfate (1 tsp per 1 liter) and smeared with garden pitch.

In sunny weather at the end of October, it is necessary to whitewash the trunk and spray the tree with a solution of 2% Bordeaux liquid. Repeat spraying in early spring.

Pests and diseases of the apricot tree: the reason for the drying of the apricot

Moniliosis- a fungal disease, spread by wind and insects. Increased likelihood of disease when apricot blossoms in cloudy weather predominantly.

Symptoms this disease: flowers turn brown, with the passage of time the leaves begin to fade, young branches dry up, the bark on thick branches cracks.

For the treatment of monoliosis, the affected branches of the fruit are removed, with the cutting sites treated with garden pitch. The tree is sprayed with a 1% solution of Bordeaux mixture.

Verticillosis- a fungal disease that appears from the decomposition of plant fallen leaves, branches and fruits. Infection occurs through damaged roots or the lower part of the trunk.

Symptoms are yellowing and dropping lower leaves crowns. At the same time, the trunk and the upper part of the crown remain outwardly healthy.

Treatment is relevant only in the very initial stages. The tree is sprayed with a 0.2% solution of foundationazole, topsin-M or similar liquids.

Infectious desiccation is a fungal or bacterial disease that affects trees growing in unsuitable conditions, both in terms of soil and temperature differences, leading to a violation of the integrity of the bark. Most often, apricots are susceptible to infectious drying at the age of 3 to 12 years.

Symptoms are flowers and leaves that wither but do not fall off. At the same time, the leaves themselves are smaller than usual, the set apricots are small, almost uncolored and bitter. The bark on the trunk cracks and peels off.

Prevention and treatment - cutting shrunken branches and leaves. You should cover young trees for the winter, do not forget about whitewashing the trunk. Treating trees with Bordeaux liquid in autumn and spring will reduce the chance that the apricot will dry out.

leaf curl- a fungal disease that occurs in fallen leaves, while the spores of the fungus can remain in the cracks of the bark during the winter.

Symptoms - thickening between the nodes and shortening the distance between them. The leaves of the tree change shape, become light green and thicken, covered with a bloom of fungal spores. Affected shoots dry up.

As a treatment and prevention, treatment with copper sulphate 2% for young kidneys is carried out with a repetition after about 3 days.

Pests

The most harmful insects for trees are the comma-shaped scale insect, glass-glass and fruit striped moth. If nothing is done in time, the consequences can be sad - the apricot dries up.

comma-shaped scab- looks like a small growth in the form of a comma on a tree trunk. If the entire branch is covered with a shield, then it dies off very quickly, and the tree itself gradually loses its strength, since it is exhausted by almost imperceptible “commas”.

Prevention - planting only healthy trees. Upon detection of the dominance of scale insects, remove and burn the affected branches.

Glassware- a butterfly, the larvae of which harm normal sap flow due to the fact that in the process of life they make moves under the bark of a tree. Caterpillars are white-yellow with a red tinge and a brown head.

Treatment - maintaining the good condition of the trees, coating the trunk with a mixture of clay and manure, which blocks the flight of butterflies and makes it difficult for the larvae to move.

fruit striped moth- a night butterfly measuring one and a half centimeters. At the beginning of spring, moth larvae eat the cores of young branches, which causes the branches to dry out.

Prevention - timely cutting of damaged shoots.

Treatment - treatment with chlorophos or similar substances for young kidneys.

What to do if the reasons are not established, but the apricot dries up

In the case when the drying of the apricot does not have any symptoms, this may be a sign of premature death of the tree.

There are about 40 different factors that can affect the premature death of a tree. Before others, problems caused by environmental factors are identified. This opens wide gates for the harmful effects of one or more diseases. If nothing is done, the tree will die in a season.

As a preventive measure and to maintain the well-being of the apricot tree, the following methods are used:

1. Only proven seedlings that are not infected with any fungal diseases or pests should be planted.

2. Avoid injury to the roots and trunk of the tree. Damaged areas should be immediately treated and covered with garden pitch.

3. Shrunken and diseased branches should be cut and burned in a timely manner.

4. In spring and autumn, it is necessary to treat trees with a solution of Bordeaux mixture of a two percent concentration.

5. Timely harvesting of fruits.

If a tree is neglected to such an extent that it has to be cut down, it must be borne in mind that after uprooting such an apricot, only seed trees can be planted in its place, for example: apple, pear, quince. The same rule is used in the opposite direction, after the death of the pome tree, a stone fruit culture is planted in its place.

Timely prevention and care of the tree will help save the tree. And you don’t have to see how the apricot dries up before your eyes.

The human body is a reasonable and fairly balanced mechanism.

Among all infectious diseases known to science, infectious mononucleosis has a special place ...

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Apricot seedling does not open buds

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Apricot - planting and care, pruning and grafting

Common apricot (lat. Prunus armeniaca) is a species of fruit tree of the Plum genus of the Pink family. Scientists still do not know exactly where the apricot came from. Some believe that from the Tien Shan region in China, others are sure that Armenia is the birthplace of the plant. In any case, the apricot came to Europe from Armenia: there is a version that Alexander the Great brought it to Greece, and from there the tree came to Italy, but there is no documentary evidence for this. Apricot was brought to the territory of Russia from Western Europe in the 17th century, and it came to Ukraine and the Caucasus from the Middle and Near East. The Persian origin of the apricot is indicated by the name "zherdel", adopted at that time in Ukraine. In Russia, apricot was also sometimes called "zherdel", and also "yellow plum" and "morel".

Apricot is a deciduous fruit tree, reaching a height of 5-8 m. Apricot bark is grayish-brown, cracking on old trunks. Young shoots are glabrous, red-brown, shiny. Apricot leaves are petiolate, alternate, round-ovate, drawn at the top, finely serrated along the edge, sometimes double-toothed, up to 9 cm long. Single sessile white flowers with pink veins 25-30 mm in diameter on short pedicels bloom in March or April, earlier than the leaves appear. Blooming apricot is as beautiful as apple, pear, sweet cherry or cherry. The fruit of the apricot is a juicy yellow- orange color, rounded, elliptical or obovate with a longitudinal groove. The fruit bone is thick-walled, rough or smooth.

Apricot lives up to a hundred years, the fruits begin to form from the age of three, fruiting lasts 30-40 years. Due to the deep penetration of the roots into the soil, the apricot is drought-resistant. Most of the trees are able to withstand cold down to -25 ºC, and the most resistant varieties are not afraid of thirty degrees of frost. Apricot is a relative of such fruit crops as peach, plum, shadberry, mountain ash, chokeberry, quince, medlar, wild rose, apple and pear. In this article, we will tell you about how to grow an apricot: how to plant it correctly, how to care for an apricot, how to shape its crown with pruning, how to feed an apricot, how to propagate it by grafting or in other ways, how to treat an apricot from pests and diseases.

Planting an apricot

When to plant an apricot.

Best time to plant an apricot in a garden in northern latitudes - early spring, from mid to late April, until the buds begin to open on the trees. In the southern area, you can plant an apricot in the fall, in early October, with the expectation that the seedling has time to take root before the onset of winter. In the middle lane, you can plant this crop both in spring and autumn. Since the apricot is the most light and heat-loving of all stone fruit crops, it is advisable to plant it on a hill well lit and protected from strong winds, where there is a runoff of cold air to lower places. Representatives of the Plum genus do not tolerate acidic soils, so such soil will have to be limed before planting. The optimal soil for apricot is light loam.

How to plant an apricot in spring.

Whatever time of year you decide to plant an apricot, you need to dig a hole in the fall. The approximate size of the pit is 80x80x80 cm, although the dimensions depend on the size of the root system of the seedling. A peg of such a height is driven into the bottom of the pit in the center so that it protrudes half a meter above the soil level, then a layer of rubble is poured into the pit as a drainage. Peat or humus, 500 g of superphosphate, 2 kg of ash are added to the soil removed from the pit in a ratio of 2: 1, carefully mix the soil mixture and pour it into the pit so that a hill forms above the surface of the site. In this form, the pit can be left to settle.

The best planting material is one-year-old apricot seedlings. They quickly take root, their crown is easier to form. You need to purchase planting material in well-established nurseries or specialized stores, otherwise you can buy a wild game instead of a varietal seedling. Seedlings of cultivars have thick, annual branches that do not have thorns, and have a spine at the base of the graft. Pay attention to the state of the root system of the seedling: if it is frozen or dried up, the tree is unlikely to take root.

In the spring, dig a hole in the soil of the pit that has settled over the winter, according to the size of the root system of the seedling. Before planting, remove rotten, damaged or dried roots on the seedling, slightly shorten healthy roots and lower them into a clay mash with the addition of mullein, then place the roots of the seedling in the hole so that the root collar is 5-6 cm above the surface level, dig seedling, tamp the soil and pour two or three buckets of water into the trunk circle. When moisture is absorbed, and the root neck, having lowered, is level with the surface of the site, the seedling should be tied to a peg.

Planting an apricot in autumn.

Autumn planting of apricot is carried out in the same way as spring planting. The pit is prepared two to three weeks earlier. And, by the way, the clay talker should be of such density that a layer of clay 3 mm thick remains on the roots without draining. If you are planting not one, but several apricot seedlings, keep in mind that each adult tree will need at least 5 m² in the future.

apricot care

Apricot care in spring.

In early spring, before sap flow begins in the trees, apricots are formed and sanitary pruned - broken, frostbite and diseased branches are removed. Tree stems and bases of skeletal branches are treated with lime solution.

Like any other fruit tree, apricots need fertilizer in the spring. How to feed an apricot so that it does not lack vital elements? The first spring top dressing, which is also the treatment of apricot, can be carried out with a solution of urea - this measure will not only saturate the soil with nitrogen, but also protect the tree from insect pests and pathogens that hibernate in its bark and in the soil of the near-stem circle. However, before treating the apricot with urea, make sure that the buds on the trees have not yet swollen, otherwise you can burn them.

If you did not have time to spray the apricot with urea before the start of sap flow, then in order to prevent diseases and pests, you will have to resort to treating the trees with Agravertin, Iskra-bio, Akarin or Healthy Garden, and apply top dressing in dry form to the near-stem circle at the rate of 70 g of nitrogen fertilizer and 50 g of ammonium nitrate per apricot. A second spring top dressing can be applied with organic matter if you have not fertilized the soil with it for at least two years.

After a snowless winter and a rainless spring, the apricot needs watering.

Apricot care in summer.

Apricot in the summer, especially in dry weather, needs moisture, so be sure to water the apricot in June if you did not do it in May.

In the summer, the growth of new fruit branches begins, so pruning of the apricot may be necessary, otherwise the fruits will not ripen in the thickened crown, and instead of a neat garden tree, you will grow a giant from which it will be difficult to harvest.

If necessary, treat the apricot against seasonal pests and diseases.

Summer is the time for harvesting and processing crops. Do not forget that apricots do not ripen after harvest, so remove them from the tree in time, starting from the lower branches.

After harvesting, the apricot needs watering in August - this will be the last, so to speak, winter watering, which will saturate the soil with moisture and help the tree survive the winter.

Apricot care in autumn.

In autumn, your task is to prepare the tree for wintering. What events are coming up for you? Firstly, sanitary pruning of apricot, in which it is necessary to remove branches broken during harvesting, as well as dried and diseased shoots.

After leaf fall, plant residues are removed from the site, and the soil in the trunk circles is dug up. And, finally, in the fall, a preventive treatment of apricots is carried out against pathogens and pests that have settled down for the winter in the bark of the bole or in the soil of the trunk circle.

Apricot processing.

For each disease there is a method of treatment, and for any pest - methods of dealing with it. However, it is better not to wait until the treatment of an apricot from a dangerous disease or from the consequences of the vital activity of harmful insects becomes necessary, but to take, as lawyers say, preventive measures. To do this, it is necessary to carry out spring and autumn preventive treatments of trees with preparations specially designed for this. The first treatment, for sleeping kidneys, is carried out with a solution of 700 g of urea in 10 liters of water. But if the buds on the trees are already swollen, urea cannot be used, so the treatment is carried out with copper sulphate, Bordeaux liquid or the preparations that we listed earlier. Simultaneously with this protective treatment you can spray the trees with a solution of Zircon or Ecoberin, which will increase the resistance of the apricot to weather conditions and diseases.

Before flowering at an air temperature of at least 18 ºC, it is necessary to treat the apricot from ticks, the larvae of which hibernated in the ground, with colloidal sulfur or Neoron, and from weevils and leafworms with Decis or Kinmiks. After flowering, preventive treatment of apricots from moniliosis with Oxyhom or Ridomil is carried out in accordance with the instructions.

During the period of fruit growth, trees are protected with Horus preparations and colloidal sulfur from coccomycosis and powdery mildew, but treatment should be carried out no later than 2 weeks before harvest.

In autumn, after leaf fall, the apricot can again be treated with urea.

Apricot feed.

Apricots are fed several times during the growing season. In spring, the plant needs nitrogen fertilizers, which are mainly applied to the soil. Before the beginning of summer, there can be 2 or 3 such dressings: at the very beginning of spring, before flowering and after it. The most commonly used fertilizers are urea, slurry, chicken manure and saltpeter.

In summer, top dressing is carried out on the leaves. Apricots are treated with nitrogen-containing compounds, as well as solutions of trace elements that trees need at this time. Starting from the second half of summer, they stop applying nitrogen, replacing it with potassium-phosphorus fertilizers.

After harvesting, in late August or September, the apricot is fed with mineral fertilizers containing phosphorus and potassium - both of these elements are found in wood ash. At the same time, it is desirable to add some calcium in the form of chalk to the soil.

We warn you: manure as an organic fertilizer at the rate of 4 kg per m² can be applied once every 2-3 years, not more often. Compost is applied to the soil in the amount of 5-6 kg per m², adding mineral fertilizers to it. chicken manure, which contains both nitrogen and potassium with phosphorus, is applied in the amount of 300 g per m² of plot, after mixing it with compost. Organic fertilizers are applied once every 2-3 years, and if the trees grow under turfing, then they do not need organic matter at all.

Nitrogen fertilizers tend to delay the growth period of shoots, thereby reducing their winter hardiness, therefore, starting from the second half of summer, their application is not advisable. During the first three top dressings (in early spring, before and after flowering), the dosage of nitrogen fertilizers is 30-40 g/m².

The need for potassium arises during fruit ripening, therefore, forty percent potassium salt should be applied several times during the season at one-month intervals, planting it in grooves 20-30 cm deep along the perimeter of the near-stem circle at the rate of 40-60 g / m².

During the period of formation, growth and ripening of fruits, plants also need phosphorus in the form of superphosphate. It must be applied before and after flowering in the amount of 200 g / m².

Elements such as manganese and boron can be used to feed apricot leaves in summer. For example, with a solution of 1 tablespoon of boric acid in 10 liters of water, apricots are treated 2-3 times per season, and trees are sprayed with a 1% solution of manganese sulfate as soon as all the leaves open. After a month and a half, the treatment is repeated.

Winter apricot.

Of all the stone fruit plants, the apricot has the most winter-hardy root system, so winter in the middle lane is not terrible for him. But young plants still need warming for the winter. The stems of one- and two-year-old seedlings are tied with spruce branches, and wrapped on top with lutrasil or spunbond, after which the bottom of the trunk is highly spudded. They take shelter at the end of March.

Apricot pruning

When to prune an apricot.

Growing an apricot involves the formation of its crown, as well as timely sanitary and anti-aging pruning. Pruning is one of the most important points in the care of trees and shrubs, it is carried out annually. How and when to prune an apricot?

Apricot, unlike other fruit trees, does not drop ovaries, so it often suffers from congestion with fruits, as a result of which its branches break off. To maintain a balance between the fruits, branches and leaves of the tree, it is necessary to carry out a regulatory, shaping and sanitary pruning of apricots in mid-October.

In early spring, formative and sanitary pruning is carried out as soon as it gets warmer, but you need to have time to do this before the leaves bloom. As a rule, frozen or broken branches and shoots are removed, and branches and conductors are cut in order to form a crown.

In the summer, in mid-June, sanitary and rejuvenating pruning is carried out once every three years to stimulate the growth of new shoots by 30-50 cm and the laying of productive buds on secondary shoots.

Young seedlings are pruned for the first time a year after planting.

How to cut an apricot.

Apricot bears fruit on fruit branches, they are also fruits, spurs and bouquet branches. Fruits are active for no more than three years, after which they need to be changed. If the apricot is not cut, it will bear fruit irregularly - in a year, or even in two. In addition, trees with a dense crown are prone to coccomycosis.

The apricot crown is formed in different ways: traditionally in the form of a ball, in the form of a cypress, and there is also a form of palmette and a variety of this form of palmette Verrier - the best version of the crown in terms of yield per cubic meter of space. A detailed description of how to form these crowns is the topic of a separate article. Today we’ll talk about how they form the sparse-tiered crown familiar to the trees of our gardens.

In the first year, all the forces of the seedling go to a powerful conductor. At the beginning of autumn, the conductor of a tree planted last autumn is shortened by one quarter. On the next year you need to decide on the skeletal branches: leave the two strongest and shorten them by half, and cut the rest of the branches into a ring. Cut the central conductor so that it is 20-25 cm longer than the skeletal branches. Remove shoots growing at an acute angle from the branches.

In subsequent years, 3-5 more skeletal branches are laid and second-order branches are formed on them, located at a distance of 30-40 cm from each other. Make sure that the upper shoots do not overtake the lower ones in growth. Remove excess shoots. After laying the last, seventh skeletal branch, cut the conductor flush with it next spring - you will not need it anymore. When crown formation is complete, keep it in optimal condition - do not let it thicken. Shoots in varieties with good branching are shortened by a third, and in those varieties that branch poorly, only by half. Strongly growing trees are pruned three times a year: weak shoots are shortened by a quarter, strong ones by half.

When the annual growth in adult trees becomes less than 40 cm, the apricot begins to rejuvenate: skeletal branches are cut into three to four year old wood, making cuts into strong branches growing in right direction.

Pruning apricot in spring.

As a result of the death of the fruits, the skeletal branch of the apricot is exposed. A fruiting apricot is pruned in order to maintain its growth activity so that annual growths are at least 40-50 cm. As soon as growth decreases to 30 cm, it is necessary to mint shoots on two-year-old wood. In addition, thinning of the crown is carried out in the spring: drying out and weak branches are cut out, semi-skeletal and skeletal branches are transferred to lateral and external branches located in free space. Depending on the size and density of the crown of the tree, from two to four blades-openings are cut at a time.

Apricot pruning in summer.

In warm regions, it is advisable to carry out summer pruning of apricots after spring, in which shoots 30-40 cm long are shortened by half. Summer pruning ensures abundant growth even before the end of the current year: the tree has time to restore foliage and lay generative buds on the shoots of the second wave before the end of the growing season. The main condition for successful recovery after summer pruning is the availability of moisture and nutrition for the apricot. If there are objective difficulties with watering, it is better not to carry out summer pruning.

Pruning apricot in autumn.

autumn pruning apricot is carried out in order to prepare trees for winter. Sick, weak and dry branches are removed from young trees, wounds and cracks in the tree are cleaned and treated with garden pitch. To lighten the crown, remove the branches directed inward. Strong shoots, in order to prevent overload during fruiting and bare branches, are cut into two-three-year-old wood.

On mature trees, branches are shortened using branches of the next order. It is impossible to cut branches in the bare part. A heavily thickened crown begins to be thinned out from peripheral branches - semi-skeletal. First you need to cut off the damaged, interfering and shading branches, and then, if this is not enough, 15-20% of the healthy branches are shortened to the lower branch. After that, the overgrown fruitful wood is freed from dry, diseased and damaged branches.

Skeletal branches of the first order are cut out only in case of emergency.

Apricot propagation

How to propagate apricot.

Apricot propagates by seeds and vegetative methods. Due to the fact that many apricot varieties are cross-pollinated, it is problematic to assume what will grow from their seeds. An exception is the Karlik variety, the seeds of which completely inherit the mother plant.

Vegetative methods allow you to get offspring without surprises. Most often in amateur culture, the propagation method is grafting, but if you want to grow an exact copy of the tree you like, you can use the propagation method by shoots or root offspring.

Reproduction by root offspring or shoots.

The growth around the apricot is usually formed as a result of damage to the tree by animals, frost or too much pruning, and root offspring indicate that the apricot root system has been disturbed. Propagating an apricot in this way is easy, but problematic, because healthy tree does not form either shoots or offspring. If they are, dig out a one-year-old shoot growing as far from the mother plant as possible so as not to damage root system tree and plant it. Keep in mind that it makes sense to propagate only self-rooted apricots by shoots, since in grafted trees root shoots are produced not by a varietal scion, but by a stock.

Seed propagation of apricot.

For those who are fond of experiments, we suggest that you get acquainted with the rules of apricot seed propagation. The advantage of a tree grown from the seed of a self-fertile apricot is its resistance to climate.

The bones are washed, filled with water for a day, those that have surfaced are thrown away, and the rest are planted in the ground moist to a depth of 6 cm in early or mid-autumn. With a later planting, the bones can immediately be pulled apart by rodents. From above, the beds are sprinkled with humus and grass and kept moist all the time. You can plant apricot seeds in the middle of spring, but then from autumn they need to be put in a box with sand and placed in the refrigerator for the whole winter. Shoots cover plastic bottles with cut neck. Care for young seedlings includes watering, loosening the soil, weeding and fertilizing. In September, the grown seedlings are transplanted to permanent place.

Apricot graft.

As a rootstock for grafting, seedlings of apricot, domestic plum, peach, bitter almond and cherry plum are used. Before you plant an apricot, you need to decide which tree you want to end up with. Grafting on almonds and peach gives an apricot with low frost resistance, and grafting on rootstocks of apricot, plums and cherry plums allows you to grow trees of medium cold hardiness. As for size, apricots grow tallest on rootstocks of mirabelle, cherry plum and peach, medium-sized - on rootstocks of ungrafted apricot, plum-hungarian and almonds, and grafting on a turn makes it possible to grow semi-dwarf and dwarf trees, which are easy to care for and easy to harvest.

As a stock, two-year-old seedlings with a trunk thickness of at least 8 mm are used. The best time for grafting is April or May, when the sap flow in the apricot is the strongest. by the most in a simple way grafting is copulation - it is used when the scion and stock are of the same thickness. The stock is cut at a height of 7 cm from the surface, then identical oblique cuts are made on the scion and stock, the cuts are applied to each other, covered with garden pitch and wrapped tightly with electrical tape or tape. If the diameters are not much different, the one-sided copulation method is used, and if the stock is much thicker than the scion, the bark grafting method is used.

Apricot diseases

Apricots are affected by diseases such as moniliosis, Vals fungus, verticillium, clasterosporia, smallpox, ribbon mosaic and viral wilt.

Moniliosis first affects the flowers, from which they wither, then the fungus passes to the shoots, leaves, and then to the branches, which, as a result of the development of the disease, become covered with cracks. The apricot dries up.

Ways to fight. In the phase when the buds are still green, treat the tree with a 3% Bordeaux mixture. During the flowering period, use Teldor against moniliosis. After flowering, treat with Horus. During the period of fruit ripening, spray the tree twice with an interval of 10 days with a solution of 5 g of Switch in 10 liters of water, carry out the second treatment two weeks before harvesting.

Klyasterosporiosis, or perforated spotting, forms brown spots on the leaves of the plant, which gradually turn into holes. Spots also appear on the shoots, then cracks form on them, and gum flows from the cracks. The places affected by the disease become ugly.

Ways to fight. In early spring and autumn, after the leaves fall, the apricot is treated with a one percent solution of copper sulphate or a four percent Bordeaux mixture. In rainy summers, apricots will have to be sprayed every two weeks. Instead of these drugs in the phase when the green buds turn pink, Horus can be used.

Vals fungus is an infectious disease that leads to the formation of orange-colored growths-ulcers.

Ways to fight. To avoid infection, do not prune trees during dormancy. Make sure that the soil in the trunk circle is always loose. Wood processing is carried out with a solution of 10 g of Switch in 10 liters of water. The intervals between treatment sessions are 7-10 days, but the last spraying should be carried out no later than two weeks before harvesting. You can use a fungicide spray. And be sure to sterilize your tools before trimming.

Verticillium wilt causes the leaves of the lower part of the tree to turn yellow, while the top remains green. The fungus accumulates in the petioles and veins of the leaves, from which it enters the soil and infects other, usually young plants.

Ways to fight. Avoid waterlogging the soil, and do not grow plants of the Solanaceae family and strawberries near the apricot. As a preventive measure in the spring and after leaf fall, treat the apricot with two percent solutions of Bordeaux mixture, Topsin-M, Previkur, Fundazol or Vitaros.

Smallpox is a viral disease that forms depressed brown stripes and spots on apricot fruits. The flesh around the spots becomes dry. fruits ripen ahead of time, their taste qualities leave much to be desired.

Virus wilting. You can determine it by the fact of the blooming of the leaves of the apricot during its flowering. Light green spots appear on the leaves, the leaf plate thickens and curls. In the resulting fruits, the pulp around the stone darkens and dies. The disease is usually transmitted during vaccination.

Ribbon mosaic is also a viral disease that manifests itself as yellow stripes on the leaves, gradually turning into a lacy pattern. Affected leaves die off.

Ways to fight viral diseases. Viral diseases cannot be cured. Therefore, it is so important not to get sick with them. Planting and caring for apricots must be carried out strictly according to the rules. Plant only healthy planting material, use the top of the shoot as a scion. Keep the area clean and trees healthy. Destroy harmful insects that may be vectors immediately viral diseases. When pruning and grafting, use only sterile instruments. Treat the apricot trunk with lime and copper sulphate.

Apricot pests

It cannot be said that the apricot suffers so much from pests, but we will introduce you to those that most often annoy this culture.

Aphids are a ubiquitous insect that sucks juice from plants, which makes them weak. As a result, a sooty fungus can settle on apricot leaves, feeding on the waste products of aphids. In addition, it is the aphid that is most often the carrier of viruses for which there is no treatment. Aphids are destroyed by treating wood with soapy solutions of tobacco or ash. If your efforts are unsuccessful, you can always resort to Aktellik or Karbofos.

The codling moth is a small butterfly wintering in a cocoon in the upper soil layer or in cracks in the stem. In the first decade of June, codling moths fly out and lay their eggs on leaf petioles and in fruit ovaries. In the second half of summer, the second generation of the pest appears and lays eggs. Good results in the fight against codling moth are given by autumn and spring prophylactic treatment of apricots. In addition, it is necessary to regularly loosen the soil in the near-trunk circle, as well as process the trunk and the base of the skeletal branches with lime with the addition of copper sulfate.

The caterpillar of the hawthorn butterfly damages the leaves and buds of apricots by gnawing holes in them. It is harvested mechanically during the season, and in autumn it is necessary to remove from the trees and destroy the clutches of hawthorn eggs wrapped in twisted leaves.

Leafworm - its caterpillars, waking up after wintering in the bark of a tree or in the upper layer of soil, actively eat the leaves and buds of apricot, then pupate, and in July butterflies appear, laying eggs on the shoots and leaves of the tree. The fight against the leafworm and its caterpillars is carried out by treating the trunk and the base of the skeletal branches with a concentrated solution of Chlorophos after harvesting and in the spring, as soon as the air temperature reaches 15 ºC.

Diseases and pests of apricot are not so numerous, but it is better that they do not exist at all. This can be achieved by cleaning the garden every autumn, burning plant residues, digging up the soil in the near-stem circle and not neglecting spring and autumn preventive treatments.

Apricot varieties

Varieties of apricot for the Moscow region.

In Ukraine, apricots grow in every yard, on the streets, along roads and in plantations. They bear fruit every year, although many of them have never known pruning and have not been fed. And in the Moscow region, an apricot tree is not such a frequent occurrence, since in the climatic conditions of the Moscow region, apricot requires constant care, and not every variety of this crop is suitable for growing in this area. What varieties are adapted to the conditions of the Moscow region?

- Red-cheeked - productive, winter-hardy, disease-resistant and self-fertile apricot variety with a rounded spreading crown and large ovoid or rounded flat fruits weighing up to 50 g, golden-orange in color with a bright blush. The skin of the fruit is thin, the pulp is fragrant, light orange, sweet with a slight sourness. The fruits are intended for consumption fresh, as well as for the preparation of compotes, jams and dried fruits.
- Honey - productive, very frost-resistant tall variety with a spreading crown. The fruits of this variety are medium-sized, equilateral, yellow in color with small red dots. Fruit pubescence is weak. The flesh is yellow, firm, fibrous and sweet. The fruits are used for food and homemade preparations.
– Northern Triumph is a high-yielding, disease-resistant variety with large oval fruits weighing up to 55 g, yellow-orange in color with slight greening on the shady side. Peel of medium thickness, with pubescence. Pulp of orange color of a uniform consistence, very pleasant on taste.
– Hardy - frost-resistant, self-fertile, disease-resistant variety with high and stable yields. Wood large size, fruiting occurs 5-6 years after planting. Apricot fruits are medium-sized, round-flat, weighing up to 45 g, golden-orange in color with a bright red blush. Skin with pubescence. The pulp is fragrant, bright orange, very sweet. The bone separates easily.
- Snegirek is the best apricot in terms of winter hardiness, only one and a half meters high. The variety is characterized by high yield, self-fertility, unpretentiousness to the composition of the soil, however, it has such a drawback as instability to leaf spot and moniliosis. The fruits are elastic, with proper storage, able to lie until the middle of winter.

Early varieties of apricot.

Today there are more than fifty varieties of common apricot of domestic and foreign selection. They are divided into three groups according to maturity. The first group - early apricots, ripening in early July - are represented by the following varieties:

- Early Melitopol - disease-resistant winter-hardy variety with a high pyramidal crown and large fruits weighing up to 60 g, oval, slightly flattened, yellow-orange in color. The peel of the fruit is thin, the pulp is fragrant, dense, without fibers, sweet taste;
– Lescore is an early maturing variety of Czech selection with a high reverse pyramidal crown and medium-sized fragrant fruits weighing up to 45 g with a pleasant taste. The only drawback of the variety can be considered susceptibility to the disease moniliosis;
- Alyosha - a productive winter-hardy variety with rounded bright yellow fruits with a red dot. The fruit weight is not more than 20 g. The pulp is orange, sweet and sour;
- Early Voronezh - a hybrid of the Central Asian variety Ahrori and the Michurin variety Comrade. The earliest dessert, partially self-fertile variety of medium winter hardiness with small fruits weighing up to 20 g. The fruits are sweet with a slight sourness, the stone is well behind the pulp;
– Early from Morden is a Canadian frost-resistant variety that begins regular and abundant fruiting from the second year. The fruits of this apricot are of medium size, weighing up to 50 g, with orange pulp that is not very sweet, but easily detached from the stone;

In addition to those described, early ripe varieties include early Sambursky, Tsarsky, Iceberg, June, Alliance, Early Marusich, Chervnevy, Veteran of Sevastopol.

Mid-season varieties.

These apricots ripen by mid or late July. The most popular of the mid-season varieties can be called:

- Large-fruited Polissya - resistant to fungi, productive, winter-hardy early-growing variety with a rounded crown and bright orange with a red blush, fragrant, tender, sweet and sour fruits weighing up to 55 g. Despite the average height of the tree, the crop will have to be harvested with a stepladder;
- Pineapple - a well-known, unpretentious and high-yielding early-ripening variety with a sparse crown and large, tasty, sweet fruits. Sometimes trees of this variety are affected by spotting. The fruits are used both fresh and as preserves, jams and compotes;
– Rattle is a partially self-fertile variety of universal use with round-oval fruits of a greenish-yellow color, slightly squeezed from the sides, without a blush. The flesh is orange-yellow, firm and sweet. The stone is easily separated from the pulp;
- Kuibyshev Yubileiny - fungus-resistant, winter-hardy and drought-resistant variety with medium-sized, slightly flattened orange fruits with a slight blush on the sunny side. The weight of the fruit is not more than 25 g. The skin is thin, the flesh is orange, slightly fibrous, juicy, sour-sweet;
- Dessert - winter-hardy productive variety with a lush crown. Medium-sized fruits weighing up to 30 g, light yellow in color, sour-sweet taste. The skin of the fruit is thin, the pulp is tender.

Mid-season varieties also include Botsadovsky, Zaporozhets, Shalamark, Sardonyks, Sheludko, Dessert, Reliable, Michurinets, Yaltinets, Amur, Aquarius, Monastic, Youth, Aviator, Burevestnik, Phelps, Olympus, Altair.

Late varieties of apricot.

Some varieties of apricot ripen already in August, when summer is running out. Late-ripening apricot varieties include:

– Favorit is a winter-hardy variety with shiny orange round fruits of medium size weighing up to 30 g with dense, juicy orange pulp of the highest palatability. They are consumed fresh and they are prepared for the winter;
– Iskra is a winter-hardy, high-yielding and disease-resistant variety that bears early with asymmetrical orange fruits with red dots and a pink blush. Fruit weight up to 45 g. Pulp of medium density, juicy with a sweet and sour taste;
- Krasen Kyiv - ripening in the second decade of August, a winter-hardy self-fertile variety that requires pollinators, with large wide-oval fruits weighing up to 55 g of intense yellow color and sour-sweet taste. The fruits are eaten fresh, canned and dried;
- Spark - a winter-hardy variety with a spreading crown and flat-rounded orange fruits weighing up to 25 g with a thick bright red blush covering almost the entire fruit. The pulp is dense, sweet, red-orange, the stone is separated easily;
– Success is one of the most winter-hardy hybrids, obtained from the varieties Luize, Comrade and Best Michurinsky with rounded yellow fruits of medium size weighing up to 30 g in reddish dots on the sunny side. The pulp is yellow-amber, sour-sweet, medium juicy. The bone from the pulp departs well. The variety is self-fertile.

Late-ripening varieties also include Sirena, Kostyuzhensky, Special Denisyuka, Kompotny, Gift, Surprise and Joy.

floristics.info

A 5-year-old apricot grown from a stone does not bloom. What is the reason? - answers from 7dach.ru experts

Apricot bacterial blight

This is one of the worst diseases that a fruit tree can be infected with. All over the world, from Russia to the United States, this disease is destroying plants and causing gardeners to suffer great losses.

Attention! Recognizing a bacterial apricot blight is not so difficult. Along with the drying of the branches on the tree, ruptures of the bark are observed with the outflow of a milky-white liquid, blackening of the leaves and buds.

The biggest danger of this disease is that it is almost impossible to cure it. Therefore, the correct prevention of apricot bacterial burn is so important:

Before you buy planting material for the garden, you need to find out if there is a focus of bacterial infection in the place where it was removed.
Young apricots during the growing season should be treated with preparations that contain copper.
When pruning trees for preventive maintenance, clean tools should be used, which should be treated with a formalin solution or alcohol. Sections are smeared with water-based paint with a small admixture of copper sulfate, before they are treated with pitch.

The reason for the drying of the branches of a tree may be improper care.

At 100 m around the garden, wild roses should be removed.

Advice. If a fire blight-infected tree has been found in the garden, it is best to cut it down and burn it to keep the remaining plants in the garden safe. A tree that has not suffered too much can be saved by removing diseased branches.

Other reasons for the drying of apricot branches

Scientists name more than 100 reasons that can lead to drying and death of an apricot. Here are the most common, except for a bacterial burn:

Eating sweet apricots is easy and pleasant. But growing a good tree with high yields in your garden is not so simple. Success in this awaits only those who are not too lazy to look for the necessary information and use it.