Plum President is the most popular foreign variety grown for more than a century both in private plots and in industrial gardening. The variety feels good in temperate climates, the tree abundantly bears fruit with delicious fruits, does not impose special requirements for growing conditions.
Grade description
Plum President appeared in England at the very beginning of the twentieth century, the variety is considered the result of amateur selection. Widely distributed in Western Europe, is popular in our country.
Plant characteristics
Plum The president grows quickly, in the first years the tree adds up to half a meter per season, but is not considered a giant, growth stops at an altitude of about 3-3.5 meters. At first, the young tree has a pyramidal crown, but over the years it turns into a spherical, prone to thickening. The bark is gray-green, with almost no roughness. Since the shoot-forming ability is above average, the variety requires systematic pruning. The leaves are shiny, large, dark green in color, without pubescence. The stalks are easily separated from the twigs; they are medium in size.
Plum President is characterized by high frost resistance, trees withstood even extreme temperatures up to -35 ... -40 ° C. Drought tolerance is another significant advantage of the variety. The disease resistance is above average: the variety is often affected only by moniliosis, other diseases are very rare. Like other plum varieties, the President suffers from attacks by pests such as the moth and aphid. Cameo-detection is very rare.
Flowering occurs in mid-May, large white flowers are collected in small inflorescences. To obtain a normal crop, the President does not need pollinators, but if nearby there are simultaneously flowering Skorospelka red, Renklod Altana, Blufri or Kabardinskaya early, the yield increases markedly, reaching 40-60 kg per tree, which is about 20-25% higher than for a lonely tree.
The variety begins to bear fruit 5 years after planting an annual seedling. The fruits ripen late, even in the case of a warm summer not earlier than mid-September, and often only towards the end of the month. There is no periodicity in fruiting; there may be only slight drops in yield depending on the weather. Fruits in a state of removable maturity hold well on branches; only despised fruits fall off.
Fruit Description
The plum fruits of this variety are above average, almost round, have an average weight of about 50 g, but on young trees they can be larger. Since in an adult tree, during the period of abundant fruiting, the main branches are already taking a horizontal position, they hold the crop well, without breaking off. At the same time, under the most loaded branches it is better to substitute backwater in time. The color of the fruit is from purple to purple, with a thick bluish coating of wax. All over the surface are scattered subtle small integumentary points. The skin is smooth, medium thickness.
Plums The president is quite large and even, in a state of normal maturity their color is difficult to determine in one word
The pulp is elastic, juicy, yellowish or greenish in color, but the juice is almost colorless. The taste is good, the fruits are sweet, sugar content up to 8.5%. Tasting assessment of fresh fruits from 4.0 to 4.5. The bone is elongated, it is easily separated from the pulp.
Fruits are well transported and stored, especially if harvested several days before full ripening. So, if you harvest a crop 5-6 days before full ripeness, when they have already acquired a characteristic color, but have not become soft and do not come off the branches very easily, they can be stored in a cool place for up to two weeks. However, the taste of unripe fruits is much worse, so you should not collect the plums ahead of time. The purpose of the harvest is universal: plums are consumed fresh, they are made from jam, compote, pastille, and they are also suitable for winemaking. But the fruits are not suitable for drying to obtain prunes: being juicy, they do not meet the requirements for plums used for this purpose: insufficient sugar content (at least 12% is required) and too high acidity (2.5% when the criterion is not more than 1%).
Video: Plum President in the Garden
Planting plum varieties President
The President is not unusual in planting a plum, you just need to choose the right place and prepare the landing pit on time. If several trees are planted at once, a distance of 3 meters is sufficient between them: this is exactly the scheme that gardening specialists propose, despite the fact that in the adult state the spherical crowns of neighboring trees can partially come into contact. In the neighborhood, the absence of tall trees is desirable so that as much sunlight as possible falls on the plum.
Landing dates, site preparation
Like other fruit trees, President plum seedlings with an open root system are planted in spring and autumn, but in most places autumn planting is extremely undesirable, despite the high frost resistance of trees of this variety. In warm regions, autumn planting occurs in September - October, but in the middle lane, and even more so in cold climates, seedlings purchased in the fall are recommended to be dug in the area until spring, and in the fall to prepare a planting pit. Landing itself is carried out from mid-April and, tentatively, until the beginning of the second decade of May.
Seedlings with a closed root system (in containers) can be planted almost any time the weather allows.
The best soils for planting plums are fertile neutral loams, which are by no means swampy. The site is dug up in advance, carefully removing weeds and fertilizing, and if necessary, if the soil is too acidic (sorrel, horsetail, sour acid are found), deoxidizers (hydrated lime or chalk, up to 1 kg / m2) Usually, when digging a site, only humus is introduced (1 m bucket2), but if the soil is poor, you can add a handful of superphosphate and potassium sulfate.
Particularly important is the continuous digging of the site where the soil was poorly looked after before, where there are many weeds
The main fertilizer is laid in a planting pit, which is prepared for autumn planting 2-3 weeks before planting, and for spring - in the fall. The dimensions of the pit are 70-80 cm in length and width, about half a meter in depth. It is important that groundwater is not located close to the surface. If they pass at a depth of 1.5-2 m, it is better to choose another site or build an artificial mound. When preparing the pit, the lower soil layer is removed, and the upper one is thoroughly mixed with fertilizers (2 buckets of compost, 0.5 kg of ash and 300 g of superphosphate) and returned to the pit. A planting stake up to the first skeletal branch of a seedling (if any) or 70-80 cm when planting a twig-year-old can be driven right away, or you can wait until planting.
Planting a seedling in spring
When buying a seedling, it is important to examine it whole and abandon the option with exfoliating bark or with dried roots. No matter how old the seedling is (1 or 2 years, older is not necessary), the roots must be well developed and elastic. The buds during spring planting may be swollen, but in no case blooming. Upon arrival at the site with a seedling, proceed as follows.
- They put the sapling in the water for several hours (or at least soak its roots), and before planting, lower them for a minute in a talker made from equal amounts of clay and mullein and the required amount of water (if there is no mullein, then at least clay and water )
Clay chatter, settled on the roots, helps them to quickly settle in the landing pit
- The required amount of the soil mixture is removed from the pit and a seedling is placed in it so that the roots are freely located on the soil without bending unnaturally. In this case, the root neck should be 2-3 cm above the ground.
With the seedling in the pit, you need to give its roots the opportunity to settle freely
- The roots are poured out with the removed soil mixture, periodically compacting it with the help of the hand, and then the legs, without ceasing to monitor the location of the root neck. Having fallen asleep almost completely, they tie the seedling to the stake with a strong soft ribbon.
The G8 allows you to tie seedlings freely so that the ropes do not dig into the bark
- After pouring 2-3 buckets of water into the pit, fill the pit with soil to the top and form sides along its edges so that during subsequent watering the water does not flow.
It is important to arrange the trunk circle so that the irrigation water is slowly absorbed into the soil and does not disappear in vain
- Lightly mulch the near-stem circle with any loose material (humus, peat chips, chopped straw).
In spring, a thick layer of mulch is not needed, it is especially important that it does not cover the base of the stem
The plum on the day of planting is not cut, unless there are damaged branches: this crop generally responds painfully to excess pruning, and in an unplanted seedling it can cause gum disease. If creases or significant damage to the bark are found at the tips of the branches, it is better to cut them to a healthy place, and cover the wounds with garden var. Formative pruning begins in a year. In the first year the seedling is watered frequently (at least 2 times a month), preventing the soil around it from drying out; after the seedling has taken root, that is, after 2-3 months, watering can be reduced.
Growing Features
A feature of growing President plums compared to many other varieties is that you can pay less attention to watering. Of course, with sufficient soil moisture, the yield will be greater, but temporary drying out will not lead to a fatal outcome. It is especially important to keep the soil in the near-stem circle moist during flowering and a little later, at the beginning of fruit growth. But in the second half of summer, you don’t need to give a lot of water, so as not to cause the growth of the shoots to continue instead of preparing for the winter, as well as cracking the fruits.
Top dressing of the tree begins in the third year after planting. Every year in early spring, high-speed nitrogen fertilizer is scattered around the tree. It is better to take urea, but ammonium nitrate is also possible, about 20 g / m2. Before flowering, shallowly dig in compost or humus, as well as superphosphate and any potash fertilizer. At the same time, organic matter (5-6 kg / m2) You can make mineral fertilizers not annually, but (50 g of superphosphate and 20-30 g of potassium salt per 1 m2) - Every year.
Starting from the second year and until the beginning of normal fruiting, the President forms a plum. Any pruning of plums in the middle lane is carried out in early spring, before sap flow, with the obligatory coating of wounds with garden var. In the first 2-3 years, they try to give the tree the desired shape: as a rule, at the plum, the President creates 2 tiers of skeletal branches of 3-4 branches, directed evenly in different directions. They do not touch the conductor for a long time, and only after 3-5 years, if they do not want to allow further growth of the tree up, it is cut out. Skeletal branches are shortened by 15-20 cm when forming pruning.
Pruning pruning is a very delicate procedure: stone fruits, unlike apple trees, do not forgive mistakes, are ill from incorrect pruning
After entering into fruiting, the President cut the plum slightly. Perform sanitary pruning (cutting sick and damaged branches), and if necessary - if the thickening of the crown is excessive - and brightening.
Old plums, which already have almost no young growth of shoots, are either replaced with new ones or rejuvenated by shortening the main branches, but for more than 20 years it makes no sense to keep the tree on the site.
Before the onset of winter, the trunks and bases of skeletal branches are sure to whiten, protecting them from early spring frost pits. If you add foul-smelling substances to the whitewash, you can protect trees from hares in this way. But it’s better to tie young plums with coniferous spruce branches or nylon tights, and the hare will not touch the old trees anymore. Protection against frost as such is discharged by the President usually not required.
Video: prune pruning President
Diseases and pests, the fight against them
In the case of a plum, the President relatively often has to meet only with moniliosis - a disease that begins with the defeat of shoots and then passes on to the fruits.
Moniliosis not only deprives the gardener of the crop, without treatment, he can deprive him of the tree
In the case of proper agricultural technology (timely cleaning around the trees, healing of wounds, etc.), the disease is unlikely, but if this happens, it is treated with Bordeaux fluid. 1% liquid can be used at any time, except for the fruit ripening period (otherwise they should not be eaten).
If in the early spring to carry out preventive spraying with 3% Bordeaux fluid, then other fungal diseases (kleasterosporiosis, rust, plum pockets) are practically not threatened by the President variety. Cameo-detection occurs only in the case of barbaric pruning, when large wounds are not treated and not covered. If gum has appeared, it is necessary to remove it, clean the wounds with a sharp knife, treat with 1% solution of copper sulfate and cover with garden var.
One of the most dangerous pests sucking juices from young shoots and leaves is plum aphid. Especially often, it settles in poorly maintained areas. Among the pests that destroy the fruit, there are a plum sawfly and a codling moth. Sawfly larvae destroy the fruit already at the ovary stage, and codling moth caterpillars prefer the pulp of ripening plums.
Sawfly is a seemingly harmless fly, but its faces cause great harm
Aphids, while there are not very many of them, are well destroyed by folk remedies (infusions of herbs, onion husks, ashes, just a soap solution). But with a massive invasion of it, like other pests, it is necessary to poison with chemical insecticides: Fufanon, Karbofos, Iskra, etc. It is important to choose not very dangerous for the gardener and use it strictly according to the instructions on the package.
Grade Reviews
There are some features when growing this variety. Do not rush to eat. Long stored in the refrigerator. Under adverse conditions (summer drought, cold September) and premature picking, the pulp often remains coarse, hard with excess acid, with a mediocre taste. The best variety for culinary purposes. In the presence of irrigation or in regions with sufficient humidity, cultivation for industrial purposes is possible. Market value is high.
Ilyich 1952
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In the Moscow Region, the fruits of the plum of the President variety are not completely ripened every year. If the summer is warm, they ripen in the middle, or even the end of September. The variety is good, tasty, high frost resistance.
Anona
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Plum President - a representative of old varieties, has a late ripening period, good harvest, good taste and unpretentiousness to growing conditions. Despite the achievements of breeders, she still finds her place in amateur gardens.
