Apricot Triumph North

For a long time, apricots were the property of southern gardens. Modern breeders have been able to breed varieties that have taken root in Siberia, the Urals, in central Russia. These varieties include the late-ripening Triumph Severny apricot, which was bred by the Soviet scientist A.N. Venyaminov. He crossed the famous southern hybrid Krasnoschekiy and Severny early, growing in Transbaikalia.

Characteristics of the variety

About apricot Northern Triumph in the description of the variety it is indicated that this is a self-fertile hybrid, belongs to the best cultivated varieties for cultivation in northern latitudes. The popularity of the variety is growing every year. The northerners and the Urals began to grow apricot trees on their backyards. The advantages of this apricot variety were also appreciated in the Leningrad and Moscow regions. Good winter hardiness. The wood can withstand frosts down to -40 ° C, flower buds are most vulnerable during periods of recurrent frosts.

The height of the tree reaches 3-4, and sometimes 5 meters. The tree is powerful, spreading. By pruning, you can keep the shape of the tree compact. Has a life expectancy of 25 years, with good care, cases of longevity are known - 35-40 years. Fruiting time begins about 3-4 years from the moment of planting, and by 10 years old the tree gives good yields, on average - from 25 to 50 kilograms of sweet aromatic fruits.

Triumph of the North apricot

Triumph of the North apricot, the description of the variety of which characterizes it as a rather large fruit, with good agricultural technology reaches a weight of 60-70 grams. The skin is pubescent. The pulp is bright orange, tender, juicy. The bone is free lagging. The kernels are large, edible, with the smell of almonds. Ripening period - July-August.

Agrotechnics

Saplings and planting site

The apricot is planted with seedlings that need to be bought at fairs or specialized nurseries. Usually these are annuals - sticks, 50-60 cm long, or two-year-olds that already have 2 lateral shoots. Be sure to check the roots of the tree. They must be closed and packed so that during transportation the seedlings are not damaged or dry out. In appearance, the bark of the seedling should not have any flaws in the form of spots, wrinkles and all kinds of roughness.

Spring planting of an apricot seedling, called the beauty of the north, is presumably in April-May. If you plan to plant in the fall, then the most suitable time is October. The place where the apricot will grow must be protected from the wind. The best place to grow apricots is in a protected area from the northwest. It should be the warmest, not shaded, on the contrary, the most sunlit space.

The soil should be light, loose, accessible to both water and air. The tree does not tolerate acidic soil, acidity should be 6-7 pH. Groundwater should not be higher than two meters from the soil level. On fatty, chernozemic soils, apricot begins to bear fruit much later, and the yield is low.

Landing pit preparation and planting

A hole 70 x 70 cm is dug under the tree, and a fertile mixture is poured, consisting of sand, peat and earth in equal parts. A mound is made in the middle of the hole, on which the seedling is installed. To plant a tree correctly, a shovel is placed on the hole to determine the level of the soil. The root collar of the tree should not be buried when planting. It should rise 3-5 centimeters above the ground level. The roots should not bend up, it is better to make a small hole around the mound and put the roots there. You can start filling the hole with a fertile mixture. The tree needs to be shaken slightly so that the earth is evenly distributed between the roots. The tree must be level. A small mound is made around the neck, around the tree a small moat with sides, where water will flow.

Planting pit preparation

After completing the planting, the seedling is watered. Try not to pour on the root collar, a mound was made for this. You need a lot of water - 2-3 buckets per seedling. It fills in all the voids that are formed during planting. When all the water is absorbed, the trunk circle is sprinkled with the remains of the earth.

The last stage of planting is mulching the trunk circle. It can be peat, dry grass, fallen leaves. If there is an edged spruce branch from coniferous shrubs, this is a good mulching tool.

Apricot is a stone fruit crop, it is recommended to plant it before the age of 5 years, at a later age it does not take root well. The distance to neighboring trees should be 4 to 5 meters. In general, it is desirable to have more than one tree on the site, even if it is self-pollinated and does not need a pollinator. Experienced gardeners believe that it is still desirable that trees of other varieties of apricot grow on the site for mass pollination and increase yields.

Pruning

Like all trees, apricots require annual pruning. All dry, diseased and damaged branches are cut off. All branches growing upward are removed. It is advisable to grow a tree up to 3 meters high. When a vertical shoot is cut, side branches begin to grow, on which fruiting passes, and the fruits become large, juicy, the tree is less sick.

Apricot bears fruit on last year's growth. Therefore, if you are going to do pruning, you should not cut these branches, leaving yourself without a crop.

Pruning apricots

Apricot has a short period of physiological rest. That is, after the new year, the apricot is ready to bloom. This is what happens in the southern regions. Sometimes apricots bloom at the wrong time. During thaws, the apricot wakes up and begins to bloom, but the returned frosts kill these flowers. This can be helped. Over the summer, large shoots grow on the apricot, and if you shorten them in June by 1/3, new shoots will appear in the leaf axils from the awakened buds, and flower buds of the next year will be laid on them. They will bloom two weeks later than the main bloom. If during flowering frost strikes and the main flowers die, then in two weeks the buds formed on the additional shoots will bloom. The second wave of flowering will begin. The probability of their damage will be small.

Sometimes long branches grow on the tree. They can be cut or shortened, but it is better to bend them to a horizontal position. In this case, the branches stop growing in length, and flower buds are laid on them.

Sometimes an apricot has a very large harvest, which depletes the tree so much that the next year there is no harvest. To prevent this from happening, you can normalize the harvest - thin out the ovary, leaving the optimal amount: so that there is a harvest and so that the tree does not overload.

Big harvest of apricots

Top dressing

The tree must be watered regularly during the growing season so that it does not lack moisture, and be sure to fertilize.

You need to do this at the right times. The first watering along with fertilizer should be done before flowering.In the spring, the soil is still full of moisture, but in the event of a dry spring, you need to wet the soil. Fertilizers should be, first of all, nitrogen.

The next watering and fertilization should be two weeks after the end of flowering. No need to water and fertilize during flowering, no fruit tree likes it. In this case, there may be no ovaries. After flowering, you need to properly shed a circle under the tree to a great depth, soak the entire earthen lump. Apricot roots are located at a depth of 1.5-2 meters. Fertilizers are also nitrogen fertilizers.

The third watering and the third fertilization should be done in another month, when the ovary reaches a certain size and ripening begins. At this point, you need to apply nitrogen phosphorus and potassium fertilizers.

The fourth fertilization of the tree and watering is carried out after harvest. Future buds are laid on the apricot, so it is imperative to feed the tree. This happens in the second half of summer, no nitrogen fertilizers can be used, only phosphorus and potassium fertilizers.

Top dressing

If the year is dry, then the tree is watered both in summer and in autumn, the most important thing is always before winter. Winter watering is water-charging.

Pests and diseases

Northern Triumph, or as the northerners call the apricot they liked - Glory of the North, is the most resistant to diseases and pests in comparison with other varieties of trees. But the tree is not immune to diseases such as moniliosis and clotterosporia or "perforated spot". These are fungal diseases.

The causative agent - the fungus with moniliosis hibernates on damaged parts of the tree, and in the spring it forms spores and damages flowers, leaves, shoots, and progresses on fruits in summer. To prevent disease, you need to monitor the cleanliness of the trunk circle and garden. In autumn, fallen leaves and fruits must be removed from under the tree, as they are carriers of diseases and pests.

In case of clotterosporia, fungi destroy the leaves, and cracks form on the shoots, from which a sticky liquid flows out. In this case, spraying with copper sulfate is used. Whitewashing of trunks and lower skeletal branches is also protective. In early spring, there are frequent temperature drops, and in summer it is hot, under the influence of such changes, the crust begins to crack. To prevent this from happening, whitewashing is done in the spring at above-zero temperatures. Copper sulfate is added to the whitewash.

Clasterosporium disease

Of the pests, the most frequent guests are the plum moth, caterpillar, hawthorn butterflies and aphids. In this case, spraying with soapy water with infusion of tobacco or dandelion helps, as well as once every 3 days spraying trees with infusions of wormwood, garlic, tobacco crumbs with the addition of soapy foam. To combat adult caterpillars, Lepidoicide can be used, preparing it according to the instructions for the drug.

Advantages and disadvantages of the variety

Why do gardeners like to grow apricot varieties in the Leningrad region? Planting and caring for other apricot trees is not very different from Northern Triumph. Many varieties grown in this area, such as the Krasnoschekiy apricot, are not self-pollinated, or differ in taste, like Michurinets, which has a sour taste. But the main factor in choosing the Northern Triumph variety is its advantages, which are much more than insignificant, and in some cases completely removable disadvantages.