Plum "Skoroplodnaya": characteristics of the variety, cultivation and care
Fruit trees are a real decoration of the garden plot. At the time of flowering, the buds shower their dense green crowns, spreading a delicate aroma around. In addition, the fruits that gardeners are generously endowed with fruit crops are very healthy and tasty. Plum is one of the most popular and at the same time relatively unpretentious types of fruit trees. The article will focus on the popular variety "Skoroplodnaya".
Description
This type of plum is a sub-variety of "Chinese". "Skoroplodnaya" was bred at the end of the 50s of the last century by crossing two varieties of plums: "Ussuri Red" and "Climax". The authors of a new type of plums at that time were employees of the All-Russian Selection and Technological Institute of Horticulture and Nursery Enikkev Kh.K. and Satarova S.N. In 1960, the Skoroplodnaya plum was put up for a state quality test and successfully passed it.
The introduction of the variety into agriculture and horticulture began actively in 1965. Plum was zoned on the territory of the Moscow region, the Central Black Earth region and in the Primorsky Territory.
At the moment, this plum variety is successfully cultivated in almost all regions of our country, not excluding the territory of Siberia. The fruit culture of the "Skoroplodnaya" variety fully justifies its name with very early and plentiful harvests of excellent plums.
A young seedling usually takes root successfully and is able to produce the first crop already in the third year after planting in a permanent place.On average, the life span and active fruiting of a tree is 20–25 years.
For fruiting plums of this species need pollinators.
The crop yield is about 9 kg of fruit from one mature tree. Fruiting is periodic. Plum "rests" every 2-3 years, without bearing fruit.
The plum variety "Skoroplodnaya" has a high frost resistance. The culture tolerates a drop in temperature down to -40 ° C. Drought tolerance is above average.
The variety has good immunity to diseases and pests. In particular, it is not susceptible to damage by perforated leaf spot (clasterosporium). Fruit rot can affect weakened trees. Of the pests, aphids and codling moths can attack the plum.
Diploid plum "Apricot" has very similar characteristics.
Before acquiring any fruit shrub, including the "Skoroplodnaya" variety, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with its features.
- The shoots of the culture have a red-brown color, smooth and shiny soft skin. Kidneys develop deviated from the main shoot.
- Mature trees are usually low: the maximum height is about 2–2.5 meters. The crown has a rounded shape, very sprawling. Leaves of medium density.
- The leaves are small, light green. They have a shape that is very similar to the foliage of a peach tree. The leaf blade is oblong and wavy along the edges, smooth on both sides, without hairs and pubescence.
- Flowers of white color are collected in small inflorescences and are located on bouquet branches. Up to 3 flowers develop from one bud. The petals are closed, there are many stamens on the buds.
- Flowering is quite early: most often it occurs already in the first days of May.Usually on the site, this variety, under favorable conditions, blooms buds before all other fruit trees. In the case of early and warm spring, the flowers may bloom at the same time as the leaves or even a little earlier.
Similarly, before buying, you need to find out the characteristics of the fruits of the tree that you want to plant on your site, so that later you will not be disappointed in the grown berries.
- Plums growing on the same tree may have a different color. Pale peach color is typical for fruits of medium maturity. The most ripe plums turn bright orange and red. Harvest ripening occurs at the beginning of August.
- The fruits are medium in size and round in shape. There is no pubescence on the skin of plums. Fruit weight 20-30 grams. The ventral suture, characteristic of plums, is weakly expressed in this variety.
- The skin of the fruit is thick and elastic. It has a layer of thin wax coating.
- The flesh is bright yellow, very juicy and fleshy.
- The bones are quite large, weighing 0.5-0.7 grams. They are separated from the pulp with difficulty. But the stem comes off very easily.
- Plums are highly appreciated by tasters from tasters. It is equal to 4.5 points. The fruits emit a pleasant and rich plum aroma, have a sweet and sour taste. At the same time, the sugar content in fruits is low. The variety is considered to be dessert.
- Chemicals contained in fruits: free acids (2.21%), sugars (8.8%), ascorbic acid (10 mg per 100 grams of plums). The total dry matter content is 13.5%.
- The crop has an average level of transportability. It is extremely non-transportable in late ripening.
Advantages of the "Skorospelaya" variety:
- high and early yield;
- excellent taste qualities of fruits;
- attractive marketable appearance and good transportability of the crop;
- at low temperatures, the fruits tolerate long-term storage without loss of quality;
- cold hardiness and drought tolerance.
Weaknesses and disadvantages:
- with abundant flowering and a large number of ovaries, the fruits can significantly lose in size and mass, in other words, plums can be crushed;
- the bark can be affected by direct sunlight;
- yield cyclicity: the crop does not bear fruit for one season every 2–3 years, after which fruiting resumes.
How to get a good harvest?
For planting a seedling, it is advisable to choose a sunny place in the garden plot: the culture does not develop well in lowlands and shaded places. It is also a good condition to provide protection from the wind from the north side (for example, a fence or any building).
Clay soils are undesirable for planting a plum tree. Also, the culture does not tolerate oversaturated lands with groundwater and soils with stagnant moisture in the upper layers.
Planting can be done both in autumn and spring. In the case of spring planting, the hole for the plant is prepared in the fall. To do this, the soil is mixed with organic matter and mineral supplements.
The hole for the young tree must be made large enough. It should hold up to 10 liters of soil mixed with fertilizers.
After planting, the root zone of the soil around the seedling should be watered abundantly. Then you can sprinkle the area around the tree with peat, dry hay or sawdust: this will reduce the evaporation of moisture from the upper layers of the soil.
Plum "Skoroplodnaya" as a whole is not particularly whimsical to care for. This is evidenced by the reviews of gardeners who have chosen this variety for growing on the site.
In the early years, the seedling needs regular watering.A strong young tree is able to tolerate short periods of drought. But in the absence of precipitation for a long time and significant drying of the soil, you should still water the plum additionally.
As a top dressing, plum well accepts fertilizers with nitrogen. Nutrients can be applied 2-3 times a year. The first time top dressing is done before flowering. The second fertilization should be done after the appearance of fruits on the branches. To strengthen the immunity of the plant before winter after harvesting, you can carry out the last autumn dressing of plums.
Like most crops, plum loves regular loosening of the soil.
In early spring, thinning pruning should be carried out to form a crown. At the same time, damaged, weakened and broken branches are removed.
Diseases and pests
Plum can be affected by moniliosis. Especially weakly resistant to it are young and not yet strong or weakened trees. To prevent such a misfortune, it is necessary to spray the crown and trunk with a 3% solution of Bordeaux mixture before the first buds bloom.
An effective tool for the destruction of the codling moth are pheramon traps. It is also permissible to spray the tree with chemical compounds.
For an overview of this and other popular varieties of plums, see the following video.