Apricot (Prunus armeniaca) is a fruit tree of the stone type with very he althy and tasty fruits. One glass of apricot juice will ensure the daily requirement of vitamin C. It is used in the kitchen, cosmetology and pharmacology, it must not be missing on your plot! Find out what thecultivation of apricots should look like , what its proper pruning looks like and what diseases can threaten it. Choose the bestapricot varieties with usfor your garden!
Apricot - Prunus armeniaca
Apricot - varieties
Apricotis characterized by very tasty fruits. Among thevarieties of apricotswe can find those that bear fruit early, already in July, and those that are late, fruitful in the third decade of August. The early varieties include: Early Orange, Harcot, Wczesna z Morden, and the later varieties Somo. Find out what features characterize eachapricot varieties
Apricot Early Orange- this early apricot variety bears fruit in the third decade of VII, giving fruit of medium size 40 g spherical or oval. Yellow-orange in color with a fairly large, vivid red, blurred blush. Early Orange flesh is juicy, has a strong acidic sweetness and goes well with the stone. This variety is resistant to sharka.
Harcot apricot- is another early apricot variety that produces fruit only in the presence of a pollinator. Fruits appear at the turn of July and August, are large, up to 60 g, with oval or spherical ovoid shape. The flesh is tasty and firm, it comes off the stone well.
Early Apricot with Morden- self-pollinating variety with medium-sized fruit, egg-shaped, orange peel with a delicate blush. The flesh is very juicy, tasty, it goes well with the stone. Early from Morden is an apricot variety resistant to low temperatures.
Apricot Somo- a late apricot variety that produces profusely fruit without a pollinator. Its fruits appear in the second decade of August, they are small, spherical, orange in color. The flesh is very tasty, juicy and sweet, and it detaches well from the stone.
Apricot - cultivation
Apricotis one of the first fruit trees to bloom, already in mid-April. Apricot trees are sufficiently frost resistant and can survive periodic temperature drops down to -30 ° C, while spring frosts damaging the flowers are a problem. For this reason,growing apricotsis best suited for warm positions, sheltered from cold winds.Apricots grow best in deep and warm soils with good physical properties, the pH of the earth should be slightly acidic or close to neutral. Ingrowing apricots , it is worth remembering to fertilize it at the beginning of the growing season with organic fertilizers such as manure or compost, or with multi-component mineral fertilizers.
Apricot - cut
Apricots can be led as a single specimen with a conical crown or as fan-shaped rows. Like a plum tree, it blooms and bears fruit on short, side shoots, so cutting apricot fruit trees is done similarly. Apricot grows stronger than peach or nectarine.
Cutting the apricotsis to spare the long shoots, as they produce side shoots that bloom and bear fruit. Due to the poor branching of the tree, you can stimulate it to branch better by shortening the long shoots or breaking the top bud.Cutting the young apricotinvolves removing the shoots up to 50 cm high.Then we select three - four side shoots and shorten them on one level. We also cut the conductor above the level of the side shoots. We form the apricot crown for the first four years. The plant reacts to the cut with the development of strong long shoots. From them, we remove those that grow inside the crown. If the shoots are raised, you can bend them with weights, which will give you short shoots with flower buds.
For olderapricot trees,annual pruning is not necessary. However, it is worth renewing the tree regularly, constantly maintaining the right amount of long shoots.
Apricot - diseases
When protecting apricot against diseases such as brown rot, shark or moniliosis, it is worth remembering about preventive spring spraying of fruit trees. Learn how to recognizeapricot diseasesand how to fight them!
Brown rot of stone trees
Brown rot of stone trees, otherwise known as moniliosis, is a fungal disease that affects apricots and other stone fruit trees. Its development is favored by a rainy and warm spring. It attacks flowers that dry up but do not fall off the tree first. In extreme cases, they become covered with a gray bloom. Subsequently, the disease spreads to shoots that turn brown and die. As a preventive measure, before flowering, to avoid this dangerousapricot disease , apply Topsin M 500 SC, if symptoms appear on the tree, remove infected plant organs.
Leaf perforation
As a result of infection with thisdisease, small spots, usually brown in color, appear on the leaves of apricots . In places of stains, the tissue may die and crumble, and when severely infected, entire leaves may die. To prevent this disease, apricots should be sprayed with copper fungicides, e.g.Miedzian 50 WP.
Apricot scab
Apple scab or pear scab are much better known, but as it turns out, apricot or peach can also show symptoms of this disease. On infected apricots, small olive spots appear, darkening and enlarging with time, covered with a velvety coating. Then, in these places, the peel of the fruit becomes corky and cracks. These fruits rot as a result of secondary rot fungus contamination.Symptoms of apricot scabare also visible on non-lignified shoots, on which oval, brown, later brown-black spots are observed. The bark is cracked at this point and scabby wounds form. Infected leaves have round, small, light olive-colored spots on the underside. In the event of thisapricot disease , the affected shoots should be cut and sprayed during periods of chronic rainfall during flowering and after flowering. Topsin M 500 SC is used for spraying.
Bacterial cancer of fruit trees
Bacterial cancer of fruit trees is a very dangerous and, unfortunately, quite common bacterial disease. Symptoms ofapricot bacterial cancercan be seen on flowers, shoots and fruits. Apricot flowers turn brown and die, spots appear on shoots and leaves. The apricot bark is cracking and a jelly-like substance is leaking from it. Cut the dead bark out of infected trunks and boughs until the wood is he althy. Then, cover the wound with a garden ointment, eg Funaben Plus 03 PA. In the fight against thisapricot diseasepreventively, during the period of bud swelling, flowering and leaf fall, we use copper agents, e.g. Miedzian 50 WP.
Szarka
Sharka is a viral disease that most often attacks plum trees, also known as plum tree shark or pox. However, this virus can also infect peaches and apricots. Unfortunately, infected trees should be removed from the orchard. You can recognize them by discoloration on leaves and fruits. As they ripen, the spots on the fruit darken, and furrows form in them successively.Fruits fall prematurely from trees.
MSc Eng. Joanna Białowąs
