Apricot Melitopol and its popular species: characteristics and features of growing

Apricot variety Melitopol is rather old, and therefore tested. The successful combination of the forces of growth, large-fruited, early ripening and sweetness in himself allows him to remain one of the leaders in the south of Ukraine and Russia for several decades.

Description of apricot variety Melitopol and its popular species

Apricot variety Melitopol and its species were created in Ukraine, in the Research Institute of Irrigated Gardening.

Melitopol early

Early Melitopol received more than 60 years ago, in 1947. In the same year, one of the parents of the early Melitopol - apricot Krasnoshcheky was also included in the State Register. Melitopol early appeared in the State Register of Ukraine in 1980. The second parent is the Uzbek variety Akhrori, which has exceptional early ripeness. Its fruits ripen at home in early June. This quality was also transferred to the early Melitopol, whose berries ripen on the 20th of June, 12-16 days earlier than that of Krasnoshchekoy. Self-fertility, high productivity, large berry size and extended fruit ripening period also came from the latter.

The tree of this variety is medium-sized with a pyramidal crown, medium thickened. Blossoms and bears fruit on annual shoots and spurs. Early maturity, the first berries appear on the 5-6th year. Self-fertility is high. Resistance to bacterial bone cancer is high, to moniliosis - medium.

Melitopol early has good winter hardiness of wood and fruit buds, and the winter hardiness of generative buds is superior to the Krasnoshchekiy apricot.

The blooming apricot flowers of the Melitopol early variety are able to withstand short-term frosts

The fruits are large, larger in size than Akhrori, but smaller than the Red-cheeked berry. The average weight of the apricot is 35-45 g, sometimes reaching 50-60 g. The color is yellow-orange, with a faint raspberry red blush. The fruits have a wide oval, somewhat laterally compressed shape. The surface is slightly pubescent, velvety, thin skin.

Apricot berries color Melitopol early yellow-orange, with a faint raspberry red blush

The taste is wine-sweet, pleasant. The pulp is juicy, medium density, orange. Medium-sized bone does not separate very well. This property came from an Uzbek parent. The core of the bone is sweet, edible. The variety is dessert, but preparations from it also turn out to be quite good. Fruits have excellent transportability and keeping quality.

Video: Apricot variety Melitopol early

Melitopol late

When creating the late Melitopol, the experience of obtaining the previous variety was repeated - the Krasnoshcheky and Central Asian Khurmai were crossed. Information about the latter is very scarce. The variety turned out in many ways similar to the early Melitopol. Similarities and differences of varieties:

• the strength of growth and the shape of the crown are similar, only in the later Melitopol it is thickened more;
• Late Melitopol enters the time of fruiting earlier than the "brother" - in the 4th year;
• fruits of the late variety ripen in late July - early August (later than in early Melitopol);
• the shape and color of the fruits are similar, only in the later they are of greater mass - 45-70 g;
• the bone separates well.

In general, the variety is less common and in demand than the early one.

Melitopol Radiant

Melitopol Radiant was obtained in 1959, in 1980 it was included in the State Register of Ukraine for the steppe regions. The tree is undersized, fast-growing, with a broad-oval crown. Thickness is medium. Early maturity is good - the beginning of fruiting is in the 4th-5th year. The variety is self-pollinated. Productivity is high, regular. Winter hardiness of wood and generative buds is high. Flower buds withstand short return frosts well. Fungal disease immunity is moderate.

Berries weighing 40-50 g, with a moderate yield - up to 55 g. The skin color is golden-orange, on the sunny side there is a rather dense blush. The velvety surface of the fetus is slightly pubescent. Orange juicy pulp has a harmonious sweet and sour taste and apricot aroma. The stone is medium in size, with a sweet core, detaches easily. Ripening early in early July. The purpose of the fruit is universal, they are also suitable for drying, they have excellent presentation and transportability.

Apricot berries Radiant Melitopol covered with a thick blush

Apricot planting

Planting apricot Melitopol is not difficult for an experienced gardener and is quite accessible to a beginner. First of all, they are determined with the choice of place. Apricot loves warmth, good illumination, loose, drained soil. The composition of the soil is not capricious. Culture categorically does not accept wetlands and close occurrence of groundwater, does not like stagnation of air - it needs airing of the crown.

Apricot grows well on the slopes, especially on the south and southwest.

In the southern latitudes, apricot can be planted both in spring and autumn. It is only important that there is no sap flow at this time. The sapling is always planted asleep - it wakes up already in a new place. In areas with a cold climate, only spring planting of apricot is possible, since, planted in the fall, it may not have time to root and get stronger before winter.

Step-by-step instructions for planting apricot in the spring

Subject to simple rules, success is guaranteed:

1. The plant is acquired in the fall, choosing an annual or biennial seedling with a developed root system.
2. They dig it in the garden until spring, after dipping the roots in a mash of red clay and mullein:
   1. They dig a shallow hole for this - 30-40 cm.
   2. The seedling is placed obliquely, almost horizontally.
   3. The roots are covered with sand, spilled with water.
   4. They fill the hole with earth, leaving only the top of the seedling on the surface.
      

      From the storage location, the seedling is removed immediately before planting.

3. They also prepare a landing pit in the fall. For this:
   1. At a chosen place, they dig a hole with a depth of 70-80 cm. The diameter can be the same or somewhat larger.
      

      The diameter of the landing pit must be at least 80 cm

   2. A drainage layer with a thickness of 10-15 cm is laid at the bottom (crushed stone, expanded clay, broken brick, etc. can be used).
   3. Fill the pit with a nutrient mixture consisting of equal parts:
      • sand;
      • chernozem;
      • peat;
      • humus or compost.
   4. Add 2-3 liters of wood ash (you can also half a bucket, if any) and 300-400 g of superphosphate.
   5. Cover with improvised waterproof material (roofing material, film, slate, etc.).
4. In the spring, starting to plant, they are convinced that the seedling has successfully wintered. Inspect the root system, if damaged roots are found, they are cut off.
5. A small mound is formed at the bottom of the landing pit.
6. They put a seedling and spread their roots on the slopes of the mound.
   

   The root neck of the seedling is placed on top, spreading the roots around the mound

7. The roots are covered with earth, ramming them in layers.
8. They make sure that the root neck after shrinkage of the soil is at the level of the soil.
9. Around the seedling form a near-trunk circle.
10. Abundantly watered and mulched.
11. The plant is shortened to 60-80 cm, twigs - by one third.

Growing Features

Varieties of Melitopol apricot are unpretentious to care for.

Watering

The principle of irrigation of apricots is rare, but plentiful. Watering dates:

1. Flowering period.
2. The growth period of shoots and fruits.
3. After picking the fruit.
4. Late autumn.

If necessary, in accordance with weather conditions, the number of irrigations can be reduced or increased. Trees are watered to moisten the soil of the trunk circle to a depth of 30-40 cm. The next day, the soil must be loosened and mulched using loose soil, dry humus or compost.

Top dressing

In the first 3-4 years of life, apricots do not need top dressing, so when planting, a sufficient amount of nutrients was laid. After this time, fertilizers begin to be applied regularly.

Organic fertilizer

Humus, compost or grassroots peat is introduced in the fall or spring, closing up the trunk circle in the soil during digging. Consumption rate - one bucket per 2 m². In May - June, when there is rapid growth of shoots and fruits, you can add liquid fertilizers to the diet. Prepare them as follows:

1. One of the ingredients is added to one bucket of water:
   • Mullein - 2 kg;
   • bird droppings - 1 kg;
   • freshly cut grass - 5 kg.
2. They are kept warm for 5-10 days.
3. Dilute 1 liter of the finished infusion with one bucket of water (this is enough for 1 m²) and water the tree.

Such top dressing can be carried out several times with an interval of 2-3 weeks.

Mineral fertilizers

To maintain vital functions, the tree should receive in balanced amounts the main elements - nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, as well as trace elements.

Table: norms and terms for making mineral fertilizers

Trimming

Timely pruning is important for any fruit tree.

Crown formation

The formation of the crown is carried out in the first years after planting. For all types of Melitopol apricot, the shape of the crown in the form of a bowl is most acceptable.

For all types of Melitopol apricot, the shape of the crown in the form of a bowl is most acceptable.

Sanitary and regulatory trim

Sanitary pruning is carried out in late autumn, after the cessation of sap flow, removing diseased, dry and damaged branches. In the case of thickening of the tree, part of the shoots, which are directed inside the crown, are also removed.

Summer chasing

Summer chasing is a shortening of 10-15 cm of annual shoots. Such pruning stimulates the growth of new shoots, on which flower buds will appear next year.

Diseases and Pests

In order for the tree to grow strong and healthy, and harmful insects bypassed it, it is necessary to regularly and fully carry out sanitary and preventive work.

Prevention

Simple measures will avoid problems:

• Collecting and burning fallen leaves, the gardener simultaneously gets rid of many bugs, pupae, fungal spores, etc. The same applies to weeds, which must be removed regularly during the season.
• In dry and diseased branches, pathogens of various diseases are hiding. Therefore, after sanitary pruning, all cut shoots are burned.
• Tree bark requires special attention. If cracks appear on it, fungi and various harmful insects can settle there. Having found a crack in the crust, you need to quickly clean it. Do not be afraid to cut off part of a healthy bark or wood. This is better than leaving infected. After cleaning, the crack is treated with fungicides or 1% solution of copper sulfate and covered with a layer of garden var.
• In autumn, trunks and skeletal branches are whitened with a solution of slaked lime with the addition of 1% copper sulfate or Bordeaux fluid. This not only gives the garden an elegant look, but also protects the bark of trees in winter from sunburn, and in the spring prevents the movement of insects to the crown.
• The branches, trunks, soil under the trees are treated with a 3% solution of copper sulfate or Bordeaux fluid twice a year - in late autumn and early spring.
• In early spring, before budding, once every 3 years, trees should be treated with DNOC. This versatile drug infects pathogens and destroys insects.
• At the same time, it is advisable to install hunting belts on tree trunks.
• Every year (except for the year in which DNOC treatment was carried out), Nitrafen is treated in early spring.
  

  Attention! Treatment with DNOC and Nitrafen is carried out only in the early spring before budding. They cannot be used at other times.

• After flowering, preventive treatments are carried out with systemic fungicides (Skor, Chorus, Quadris, etc. are suitable). These treatments can be done regularly, with a frequency of 2-3 weeks. Fungi quickly adapt to drugs, so after three treatments their effectiveness decreases sharply. Therefore, funds must be alternated. Before harvesting starts, the treatments are either stopped or drugs with a short waiting period are used. For example, after treatment with Horus, berries can be eaten after 7 days, and after treatment with Quadris, after 3-5 days.

Common Diseases

Melitopol apricot is susceptible to fungal diseases in rainy years, especially if the gardener neglected preventive measures.

Moniliosis

Most often, spores of the causative agent of moniliosis are carried by bees and other insects during the collection of nectar. The first flowers are infected, through them the fungus spreads further, affecting the shoots and leaves of the tree. They become drooping, saggy, then blacken. Externally affected parts of the plant look scorched, which is what caused the second name of the disease - a monilial burn. An attentive gardener, having discovered the first signs of this disease, cuts off the affected shoots, capturing 20-30 cm of healthy wood, and then treats the tree with fungicides.

Apricot shoots and leaves affected by moniliosis look burnt

If the disease appears in the summer, it affects the fruits with gray rot.

Kleasterosporiosis

Apricot kleasterosporiosis may appear later than moniliosis. Usually, the lesion begins with leaves on which the fungus eats holes (hence the second name of the disease - holey spotting). The disease proceeds violently - in wet weather from the moment red-brown dots appear on the leaves to turn them into holes, 1-2 weeks pass. Then the leaves dry and fall. If no action is taken, then in August the tree risks staying naked. In summer, the fungus spreads to shoots and fruits, which are covered with brown-brown spots, and then continuous bark. Timely and regular treatment with fungicides and removal of affected parts of the plant helps to cope with the problem.

In wet weather, one to two weeks pass from the moment red-brown dots appear on the leaves to turn them into holes.

Cytosporosis

If the gardener neglects timely care of the plant bark, spores of the causative agent of cytosporosis fall into its cracks. This leads to damage to the bark, and then to the wood. They collapse, become loose and rotten. The tree, trying to escape, begins to secrete a large amount of gum. If you are late with treatment, the affected branches will have to be removed. To stop the disease, sick sections of bark and wood are cut out, while capturing some of the healthy tissues. After this, fungicide treatment and protection of the wound with garden varieties are necessary.

Cytosporosis "corrodes" the bark of a tree

Possible pests

Pests are easier to manage, and they do not attack as often as diseases.

Weevil beetle

In the garden there can be various types of weevils of different sizes, shapes and colors. Their proboscis unites them. In some beetles it is long, in others it may be shorter. In late summer or early autumn, crawling out of the pupae in the soil, the bugs remain there until spring. In early spring, when the soil begins to warm up, the beetles crawl out and climb a tree. There they start a meal. The first to go are the buds, buds, then the flowers, leaves and young shoots.

Weevil is also called an elephant

The time when weevils just crawled out of the ground and settled on the crown is well suited for manual collection. Since the beetles do not show activity at low temperatures (up to 5 ° C) and sit numb, they can be easily shaken off the branches, after spreading a fabric or film under a tree.

Insecticide treatment will help get rid of uninvited guests.In May, satiated weevils lay their eggs in loose soil under a tree. After 2-4 weeks, larvae of 4-6 mm in size crawl out of the eggs.

Khrushchev

In addition to weevils, May bugs are frequent guests at the site (especially if potatoes or eggplants grow in the garden). The larvae of these beetles have more solid sizes - 20-25 mm, and sometimes up to 40 mm. Once in the soil under the apricot, raspberries eat young roots, causing significant harm to the tree (especially the young). The period of active life of the Khrushchev lasts about a month (end of May - end of June), then they pupate.

To destroy the cartilage or significantly reduce the population, you can use the drug Diazinon, which process the soil of the trunk circle. In the plant and soil, it does not accumulate. The exposure period is 20 days. It is possible to mechanically collect the khrushchas — or pupae, if they were late with the khrushles — digging the soil. It is also advisable to arrange baits for them in the form of a moist, warm mound of humus, covered with a black film or slate. There, most likely, not only khrushchis will be taken, but also slugs (if any). After a while, a bunch of need to rake and collect pests.

Maybug larva can reach a size of 40 mm

Aphid

Aphids are not too common, but settle on apricot leaves. Ants bring insects on the crown of a tree. Having settled on the underside of the leaves, the aphid eats them, while secreting a sweet, sticky liquid that ants love. Treatment with insecticides will give a good result if it is carried out immediately after the appearance of aphids, spraying the leaves from the underside. If the moment is missed and the leaves curl, the effect will be much weaker. Ladybugs present on the site will help get rid of aphids.

First Aphid Enemy - Ladybug

The author can share his own experience in growing apricot Melitopol early. Planting in eastern Ukraine in his country house in 1995, Lugansk Region, two seedlings brought from the exhibition in Melitopol, ten years later he received three buckets from each tree. Not having at that time knowledge of agricultural technology, the author relied on the experience of neighbors. Fortunately, everything worked out well. Three years after planting (by the way, the seedlings were two-year-old) received the first fruits in an amount of about twenty pieces. Berries of excellent taste ripened a little later than stated in the description. Usually this happened no earlier than the first decade of July, and sometimes in mid-July. But this did not diminish the joy of family members from a rich harvest. At that time, the author did not know many details of the cultivation and care of apricots, so sometimes he made mistakes. For example, due to the formation of the crown not carried out in a timely manner, its trees managed to grow up to four meters, and their crowns became quite thickened. This led to the loss of part of the crop. I had to turn to an experienced neighbor for help, who helped, as far as possible, correct the formation of the crown, thin out it. The result was not slow to appear - the very next year - pruning was carried out in early spring and then carried out regularly - the tree responded with an increase in yield and an increase in the size of berries. Fortunately, the author did not neglect the autumn and spring sanitary and preventive measures. Then he didn’t call them that - he just did like everyone else. As a result, over 14 years, trees have never been sick.

Reviews

Melitopol early Variety is excellent, only it has uneven ripening, so if you can keep it to maturity for yourself, and if you need to remove it for sale, it is really ripe for transportability! If you thin the ovary, then the size of the fruit is large, 50-60 grams. We are very pleased with this grade.

lus, Kiev region

//forum.vinograd.info/showthread.php?t=13776

They bought apricot, like early Melitopol, began to bear fruit in the 3rd year after planting in the photo on 06/17/15 (for a child and apricot 4 years old) in the first year, the fruits were relatively smaller than in the second year, but no less tasty and almost a month earlier for other varieties that were planted with us (Kiev region)

Apricot Melitopol early and child - both 4 years old

ira13

//forum.vinograd.info/showthread.php?t=13776

At the beginning of the discussion, reviews were heard on Melitopol early. Unsubscribe from it. He took a 3-year-old seedling in Demeter (of all the Demeter seedlings the most successful purchase). As a "competent" gardener, he buried the vaccine. A couple of years did not bloom. When I dug up bloomed the next year, the next year I gave 2 kg of very large fruits and last year a little less in size, but the harvest was enough for everything. This year seems to be resting. Next to it, an apricot every year is black from moniliosis, in Melitopol only a couple of small twigs fell ill. So I recommend it.

Sashhen

//www.sadiba.com.ua/forum/showthread.php?p=223313

Apricot Melitopol not just lingered in the southern latitudes for more than half a century. The possession of undeniable advantages makes it commercially attractive, despite some disadvantages. The Melitopolsky variety can be safely recommended both for cultivation on personal plots, and in farms.