Features and scheme of apple crown formationwhich even after so many years are loved and demanded by gardeners. The apple tree of Medunitsa appeared in 1935 thanks to the efforts of the famous scientist S.I.Isaev, who chose the Welsey variety for breeding, of Canadian origin, and the originally Russian Cinnamon striped. Medunitsa not only absorbed the best qualities of parent plants, but also for a long time became the leader among the summer Russian varieties.
Description and photo of an apple tree Lunaria
At the time of fruiting the apple Medunitsa begin at 4–7 years, depending on the region and growing conditions. And although at one time the variety bred on plantations VNIIS them. Michurin near Tambov, was not zoned for other regions of the country, the uniform fruiting of trees planted in the Moscow region, the Kuban and even in Siberia, up to Krasnoyarsk, is noted by many generations of gardeners.
Culture has outstanding winter hardiness and yield of up to 180 kg of fresh fruit from a tree per season. Young apple trees of Medunitsa produce crops annually, but as they mature, abundant fruiting expects to wait only in a year. At the same time, trees and fruits are rarely affected by one of the most common diseases of fruit trees - scab, the variety is resistant to rot and is not too sensitive to the height of groundwater.
In Medunits Russia, apples in Medunitsa ripen by mid-August and can be transported and stored for about a month without loss of presentation and quality. When cooled, fruits can remain intact for 4–5 months.
The fruits themselves, according to the description and photo of the apple Medunitsa, are medium-sized and weigh from 100 to 150 grams on average. In experts, the taste of light or creamy juicy pulp of apples of Medunitsy has earned a rating of 4.3 points. And due to the high, up to 14%, sugar content and an extremely small amount of acids in the fruit, often immature fruits are often consumed.
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But only with full maturity you can enjoy a truly honeyed, even slightly spicy aroma and sweetness of flat-yellowish-green apples with a rich red striped or speckled blush.
Planting and caring for Medunitsa apple trees
Like most fruit trees, Medunitsa requires a well-lit area with a neutral or slightly acidic loose soil capable of ensuring the growth and fruiting of this tall variety.
If trees can be compensated for lack of moisture and modest soil fertility by caring for apple trees, artificial irrigation and top dressing, then the number of fruits, the decrease in their quality and lower sugar content react to the lack of sunlight. For the apple tree Medunitsa, it is important to find a place where the tree will not suffer from stagnant water in the ground. The most suitable soils for growing apples can be considered loose loams, sandy loams, floodplain soil, and also chernozems of the forest-steppe zone. On sandy ground, apple trees require more than usual fertilizer and regular watering.
The technology of planting the pit and planting the apple seedling Medunitsa in the ground does not have any special features. Before planting a tree, you can:
- remove most of the foliage, leaving only a few leaves on the tips of the shoots;
- to carry out the first formative pruning;
- when sinking an apple tree seedling in a hole, spread all the roots.
This will positively affect the rate of rooting of the plant and the beginning of its active growth. The main thing is that the root neck of the plant should not be buried, but after filling with soil mixture it should remain above ground level. Caring for an apple tree begins from the moment of planting. Since, in the first year after planting, the Medunitsa apple tree has not yet recovered from acclimatization and is weak for fruiting, it is best to remove all the flower buds that have been formed. So, apple seedling will take root better and faster.
In the next few years, the harvest should be normalized, partially cutting off the ovary, which reached the size of a five-ruble coin. The remaining fruits will not only be larger and sweeter, their small amount will help the tree to better prepare for the winter period.
In adult apple trees of Medunitsa, normalization allows leveling off several times the yield drop for the next year after abundant fruiting.
To protect the stem of a newly planted tree from frost, when the snow cover has not yet been established, the tree trunk is densely covered with mulch from humus, needles, sawdust or foliage. The shtab itself is also warmed and protected from pests using materials that can survive the cold and are well breathable.
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Watering and feeding apples in the summer and spring
For abundant fruiting and growing an apple, different nutrients and moisture are required. Vigorous species, including Medunitsa, receive food from an area of 20 to 25 square meters, and apple and dwarf varieties only from 9 to 10. In any case, regular fertilization is necessary.
- The first dressing is carried out in the spring.30–40 grams of ammonium nitrate and the same amount of nitroammofosca are added to the soil.
- At a time when ovaries begin to form on the apples of Medunitsa, plants should receive 120–145 grams of superphosphate, from 8 to 10 kg of humus, rotted compost and about 45–55 grams of potassium chloride per tree.
Supplementing apple trees in the summer consists of twice or three-fold application of 2-3 buckets of liquid nitrogen-containing fertilizers, such as water infusion of humus, chicken manure or manure.
Good fruit trees react to irrigation of tree trunks with infusion of nettle, celandine and other plants, as well as making a couple of handfuls of wood ash. It should only be remembered that by the middle of summer nitrogen-containing feedings are stopped, in order not to provoke the growth of new shoots that do not have time to get stronger and mature in winter.
During the entire growing season, the soil under the crowns of the Medunitsa apple trees should remain loose, for which both soil loosening and a 5-cm layer of mulch are used, which allows air to pass through but retards the evaporation of moisture. The program of care for the apple tree of Medunitsa includes weekly watering of trees at the rate of 10–18 liters per tree. It is especially important that the plant does not need moisture during fruit loading, starting from July until the completion of fruiting. During this period, not only honey apples ripen, but also the planting of flower buds of the following year takes place.
In August, watering is restricted and regulated depending on the weather, making sure that the soil under the crown does not dry out.
Features and scheme of apple crown formation
Rather tall apple trees of the Medunica are distinguished by a wide pyramidal crown shape. At the same time there is not a lot of shoots, and the main fruiting is on the branches of two years and older. Most of the ovary of Medunitsa is formed on the coils, and only a small number of apples give fruit rods. Therefore, according to the scheme, the formation of the crown of an apple tree that continues until the age of 12 years involves both thinning of excess branches and shortening of shoots.
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At this time, it is important that the apple has an actively growing conductor and subordinate skeletal branches. Upon reaching the apple tree of Medunitsa height from 2.5 to 3 meters, vertical growth is limited, cutting off the upper part of the conductor above the strong side branch. From this point on, the main task of pruning is:
- prevention of excessive crown density;
- removal of tops;
- maintaining the sanitary state of the tree.
When yields begin to fall in an adult tree, the ovaries are concentrated mainly in the upper part of the crown, and the growth of annual shoots is limited to 20–30 cm, you need to think about the rejuvenating pruning of the Medunitsa apple tree.
In early spring, before the buds wake up over the side branch, naked skeletal branches are cut off, the place of the saw is carefully treated with pitch. This technique causes the influx of nutrients and the awakening of sleeping buds.
As a result, in the same season, the crown section produces several new shoots, of which no more than 4 of the most powerful ones should be left. On their basis, the formation of both apple crowns and side branches will be conducted again according to the scheme. As shoots of replacement, you can use the tops, often formed just on the branches that lose their power and ability to bear fruit. And so that pruning does not weaken the tree, it is better to remove large branches not in one season, but in two years.
Apple Tree Medunitsa variety - video
