Aquarius - apricot for all zodiac signs

The beginning of the twenty-first century coincided with the development of several successful northern apricot varieties at once. Mid-season Aquarius is one of these lucky ones.

Grade description

The apricot's advancement to the north was facilitated by the use of vaccinations on sustainable local plums. The main problem for the southern varieties was the bark reheating, although the apricots themselves are quite winter-hardy under natural conditions. Apricot Aquarius, like other new resistant varieties, was bred in the Main Botanical Garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Obtained from Lel apricot seedlings by free pollination. It has been included in the State Register since 2004 and is recommended for cultivation in the Central region.

Apricot Aquarius does not skimp on the crop

The variety is mid-ripe unlike the parent early apricot Lel. Trees are tall, grow fast. Straight, smooth, dark red shoots extend at an angle of 45-50^about from the trunk and form a raised, spreading, not very thick crown.

Apricot bloom occurs before the vegetative buds open, giving the whole garden an elegant look. And the faint honey aroma emitted by the flowers complements the impression. The flowers are white, small, have five petals and sepals, sit tightly on the shoots or short stalk.

A flowering apricot tree is beautiful in itself, but also promises a sea of ​​fragrant fruits

The leaves are large, widely rounded with a pointed tip, dark green, smooth.

Fruits are yellow-orange, with a slight pubescence. Unlike earlier varieties, the fruits of the apricot Aquarius are larger, the average weight reaches 25 g. The pulp is orange, rich in sweet and sour taste, delicate in texture and very juicy. Estimated by tasters at a maximum of 5 points. Apricot fruits Aquarius are universal, they are used fresh and are used in billets for the production of fruit compotes, preserves, jams, pastille.

Unripe apricots contain succinic acid

It is worth mentioning that immature apricot fruits contain a natural antioxidant - succinic acid. And if the children, not waiting for the full ripening of the fruits, begin to pick more green apricots, do not drive them much. The benefit is obvious: children strengthen the immune system, are saturated with organic acids, while removing some of the unripe fruits, form a crop, allowing the remaining ones to fully fill.

Trees bear fruit early. Starting from the third year after planting, Aquarius is pleased with the harvest. The variety is winter hardy. Moderately resistant to klyasterosporioz and practically not affected by aphids.

Of particular note is the productivity of the apricot variety Aquarius. After entering fruiting, an average of 133 c / ha is harvested. Harvest annual.

Video about growing apricots in central Russia

Planting apricot varieties Aquarius

To obtain a stable large crop, it is worth planting several trees on a plot, it is better to choose different varieties. Given the preferences of apricot, choose the most lighted areas protected from the cold wind. In places where apricots will grow water should not stagnate or accumulate snow in order to avoid the threat of bark heating.

For planting an apricot orchard, use scheme 6/5. Five meters are left between the trees in a row, and six between the rows. Aquarius stretches up, so you should think about limiting the growth of trees from the moment the garden is laid.

If containerized trees are purchased, it does not matter when they are planted, since when planting, the lump of land is not damaged and the plants are not stressed. Saplings with an open root system are planted in spring or early fall.

The preparation of the planting pit comes down to separating the fertile soil layer from the turf and clay. The sod will come in handy later, but the clay is removed from the site. Material for drainage is also prepared in advance. For this purpose, beaten brick or limestone gravel is used, which is also good because it makes up for the apricot's need for calcium ions.

Apricot planting:

1. Dig a hole 60-70 cm deep, with a diameter of 90-100 cm.
2. Drainage is poured into the bottom.
3. On top of the drain, spread its own turf with its roots up, contributing to the rapid spread of earthworms in the pit. In addition, decomposition of turf produces organic matter and heat, which is useful for seedlings.
4. A layer of fertile soil is poured over the turf and trampled.
5. When planting a seedling with an open root system, a mound is formed from the fertile layer, on which the seedling is placed, spreading the roots, and the soil is tilled from all sides, tamping. so as not to leave voids. If the seedling is containerized, just planted with a lump of land.
6. In any case, the seedling should rise above the ground level by at least 6-7 cm.
7. The soil around the seedling is mulched, but the irrigation hole is not formed to avoid stagnation of water.

The location of the root neck of the seedling when planting

Immediately after planting, apricot is pruned. For this, a powerful central conductor and three to four lateral skeletal branches are distinguished. All shoots are shortened to the outer bud so that the side shoots are approximately the same length, and the central conductor rises above them by about a third.

Growing Features

Apricots are cut off by Aquarius in the spring, forming, and then supporting a cup-shaped and V-shaped crown. Since the fruits of apricots, unlike other trees, are tied not only on horizontal, but also on vertical branches, when pruning, upward shoots are not harvested.

Apricot crown formation pattern

Apricot pruning video

Fertilizers have been given since spring in the snow. Some gardeners just crush 2-3 tablespoons of Kemira in the snow under each tree, and the fertilizer is gradually absorbed into the soil as the snow melts. From early spring, it is recommended to give nitrogen fertilizers, nitrophosphate or azofoska, then superphosphate and potassium chloride according to the instructions.

For those who prefer organic farming, Galina Kizima recommends laying all the weeds from the site, especially nettles, in a tank with water intended for watering trees. True, overheated plant debris can clog the hose if it is connected to a barrel. To avoid this, weeds fill old tights and only then lower them into a barrel of water. Throughout the summer, weeds decompose safely, providing useful planting micro and macro elements.

Apricots are watered only with warm water, for which they collect water in tanks in advance, and after it warms up, water the trees. It is necessary to provide sufficient watering for trees during flowering and fruit setting.

The last time the apricots are watered after harvesting no later than August, so that the trees are prepared for winter rest.

Despite its southern origin, apricots are winter-hardy trees. Even in the south, apricots calmly tolerate temperatures below 20-30^aboutC. For them, the winter colds themselves are not so terrible as the return spring frosts after the thaw. To prepare trees for frost, you need to whiten them twice a year: in autumn and early spring. To prevent fungal infections, copper sulfate is added to whitewashing. Not only the stambum is bleached, but also the main skeletal branches. With the appearance of frost pits, the affected parts of the trunk are cleaned to a healthy tissue and covered with garden var.

Diseases and Pests

Of the fungal diseases, a great threat to the apricot Aquarius is moniliosis, since Aquarius is quite resistant to clastosporiosis. With moniliosis, the leaves suddenly begin to dry out, the tree seems to be burnt, so another name for the disease is a monilial burn. At the first sign of illness, all affected leaves and branches are removed and destroyed. For the treatment of moniliosis, spraying with copper-containing drugs is used.

Apricot can be affected by brown spotting (gnomoniasis). It manifests itself in the form of small yellow spots on the leaves. Then they darken and can lead to falling leaves and fruits. Upon detection of leaves and fruits affected by brown spotting, all diseased parts of the plant are urgently removed and destroyed, the tree is sprayed with Bordeaux liquid or 1% solution of copper sulfate. The soil under the tree also needs to be processed.

To prevent fungal diseases, it is recommended to remove all litter and not leave leaves under the trees.

Spraying trees with 1% solution of copper sulfate or Bordeaux fluid in early spring will prevent the occurrence of fungal diseases. In any case, if apricots and other stone fruits, especially cherries and cherries, are adjacent in a small area, it is worthwhile to prevent fungal diseases with copper-containing preparations in early spring.

Aphid infestation is less than 1%. If suddenly the parasite is on a tree, spraying with Biotlin will quickly relieve the apricot from adversity.

Photo Gallery: Apricot Diseases

Reviews

Last year I planted 12 apricot varieties in the crown of plums: Tlor Ziran, Alyosha, B-25.10-113, US-7, II-0.5-10, I-0.5-6, Tsarsky, Lel, Aquarius ( two more, vskidku I do not remember). Yesterday examined. There is absolutely no freezing. On some, flower buds appeared. : roll:

Laurel. Suburb of the Mother See

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Lel is better for the Moscow Region: winter hardiness and frost resistance are good. Fruiting on all types of shoots. It comes into bearing for 3-4 years ...

... Aquarius is also hardy and hardy. Also suitable for Moscow apricot Novospassky. All apricots listed by me are self-fertile. I can’t say anything about apricots Zeus, Tsarsky - I’m not familiar with them: aga:

Marina. Address: Voronezh region, Borisoglebsk

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I personally know a person whose apricots grow and bear fruit for more than 10 years. He does not know the variety, seedlings were brought to him from Siberia already in due time! I also want to plant. This year I even looked at the seedlings, but I didn’t like the seedlings, there were some suffocations. I read that Irkutsk winter-hardy, Aquarius, Lel, Monastic are suitable for the Moscow Region. Varieties Aquarius and Monastic were in OBI, but, apparently, the best has already been chosen!

kukundi *

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Strong fast-growing apricot trees Aquarius with a spreading crown, densely hung with fiery fruits, look more like Leo, if you follow the outward resemblance to the signs of the zodiac. But having bitten a fragrant fruit sprinkling with sweet-sour juice, you understand: everything is correct. This name was given to the tree for a reason.