How to delay the flowering of trees in spring. How to save peach, apricot and cherry from recurrent frosts. Verticillosis - vertical leaf wilt

Apricot is found in almost every amateur and professional garden. It is impossible not to admire the seemingly unpretentious tree. It impresses with its spring splendor and delicious, very beneficial fruits. Apricot, like any garden tree, has features in care and will respond to gardener's mistakes with low yields. Only a competent approach to growing apricots will avoid specific diseases and an abnormal lack of flowering and fruiting.

Why doesn't an apricot bear fruit?

There are several reasons for the absence of fruits on apricots, and in each case there are different ways to solve the problem.

Apricot - delicious, beautiful and healthy fruit

Variety features

Apricot has long ceased to be the privilege of only the southern regions. Zoned varieties allow you to enjoy healthy and sweet fruits from your own tree, even for residents of the Urals (for example, Orenburg) and Primorye. The gardener, having decided to plant a whimsical seedling, is looking forward to the appearance of the first delicate flowers and, of course, fragrant fruits. But, if when planting an apricot were not taken into account temperature conditions region and the tree is not adapted to survive in such conditions, it is useless to expect abundant flowering from it. Tender buds of southern varieties do not tolerate severe frosts and they die.

There is also a high probability of the complete death of an apricot planted without taking into account the adaptability of the variety to the growing area.

If an apricot is damaged by frost every winter, and also " sunburn”, fruiting is delayed. The sprout directs its forces to the restoration of damaged parts, and flower buds are not laid.

Varietal seedlings begin to bloom in the third year

The age of the tree should also be taken into account. The flowering time for varietal zoned seedlings obtained by grafting is 3–4 years. In trees grown from seed, the first flowering occurs at best 5–6 years after planting in the garden.

growing conditions

Apricot is a rather demanding tree for the conditions in which it is grown.

1. Only fertile and well-drained soils provide abundant fruiting. When planting a tree in clay soil, and also with a fairly close location of groundwater, fruiting will be absent.
2. Doesn't like apricot strong wind. Therefore avoid areas with strong drafts for growing.
3. Lack of sunlight causes the branches to stretch. In this case, the apricot expends additional forces, which leads to the absence of flowering. You can not plant trees in shady places and allow thick plantings.

Mistakes related to caring for sprouts

Apricot requires careful and competent care. With a lack of attention, it is pointless to expect abundant harvests. Even an adult, long-bearing tree with adverse conditions ceases to impress with the presence of fruits.

Timely top dressing will provide the plant with deficient trace elements. For young trees, organic matter is used as a fertilizer. Under adults make a complex composition of 850 gr. superphosphate, 250 gr. potassium chloride and 350 gr. saltpeter.

However, an excess of both organic and mineral fertilizers may adversely affect yields. A tree oversaturated with top dressing "fattens". It impresses with its size and growth of shoots, reaching up to 1 meter or more per season. Significant growth due to the high availability of nutrients occurs to the detriment of fruiting.

Apricot loves light soil and sun.

Excessive care turns into a lack of harvest. Let the tree "rest" during the season. next spring it will please with abundant flowering.

Apricot is also sensitive to moisture. And if the excess leads to cracking of the fruit, then the lack leads to their absence altogether.

A tree needs four main waterings during the season:

• at the time of awakening, at the beginning of spring growth (April);
• with active growth (May);
• before full ripening of fruits, two to three weeks before (July, August);
• pre-winter watering (October, November).

If the apricot watering time coincided with active rains, add excess moisture not worth it. Nature itself will do the necessary work.

Competent pruning (processing) is not in last place to ensure the fruiting of the apricot. The tree tolerates any removal of branches well. But in order to enhance the ability to produce flower buds, double pruning is carried out.

Spring pruning speeds up the emergence of young shoots

The first stage occurs in March before the start of sap flow. Shoots are completely removed, the direction of growth of which falls inside the crown or horizontally upwards. Skeletal branches are not subject to pruning. And growing from them side branches shorten when reaching 50 cm. After such pruning, the growth of shoots increases with the formation of flower buds.

In June, repeated work is carried out, during which only the tops of young branches succeed. This procedure provides additional growth of new side shoots, which will give flower buds for the next season.

For old, poorly fruiting trees, anti-aging pruning is used. In addition to removing improperly growing shoots, skeletal branches are also significantly thinned out.

Don't feel sorry for the old branches. New shoots on an apricot will provide him with a second youth and yield.

Why does an apricot bloom but not bear fruit?

Flowering under favorable conditions ends with the appearance of the ovary. But there are situations when even the presence of flowers does not guarantee an appropriate yield. This anomaly is quite common, but it can be dealt with.

Returning spring frosts

The tree, entering the time of flowering, becomes defenseless. But no one is immune from the return of frost. And amazed low temperatures flowers die and fall off. Of course, the ovary will not appear this season. But this process can also be prevented:

1. If there is a threat of night frosts, use the “smoke” method by planting small fires in the garden during a frosty night.
2. Delay the tree's flowering period to ensure that flowering does not coincide with a return frost. To do this, since autumn, the apricot has been watered abundantly, and winter snow is tightly packed around the trunk. Spring whitewashing with a cool solution of lime will not hurt either.

Application special preparations Auxin-type spray helps delay flowering by at least 10 days.

Poor pollination conditions, what to do?

Most varietal zoned apricots are self-fertile and do not require additional conditions for the emergence of an ovary. But if a same-sex tree is planted, the ovary, even with abundant flowering will not appear without re-pollination. Therefore, in the gardens they try to plant several plants. At the same time, the distance between them should not exceed 100 m, and the flowering time should coincide. There are several ways to influence the pollination process:

• plant a self-fertile apricot near;
• vaccinate for existing tree by taking material from a varietal plant;
• replace it with a self fertile one.

Rain and fog prevent insects from doing their duty

Pollination and weather influence. If the flowering coincides with a period of rain, drizzle or heavy fog, insects are not able to transfer pollen.

Pests and diseases affecting the formation of the ovary

During flowering, the apricot infects the fungal disease "burn" molinia. At the same time, the flowers, and subsequently the leaves turn brown, dry up. To avoid fungal disease can. To do this, for preventive purposes and for treatment, the tree is sprayed with solutions containing copper (copper oxychloride, cuproxate, Bordeaux liquid). Spraying is carried out in the autumn period after the complete fall of the foliage and in the spring before bud break.

A disease that is difficult to diagnose is confused with a monilial burn, in which the rudiments of flowers (pistils) are damaged even inside the kidneys. At the same time, flowers bloom on the tree, but the ovary does not form.

Remember! The young ovary is destroyed by the plum codling moth. With rapid reproduction, the pest is able to destroy the crop during the appearance of the ovary.

Other diseases of the apricot tree (photo)

There are a number of diseases and pests that can spoil the health of an apricot and reduce its yield.

Gray rot (moniliosis)

Fungal disease. Activated with the advent of heat in a humid environment. It affects young shoots and leaves that wither and turn brown. Infected fruits become covered with dark spots and begin to rot. The missing fruits do not fall from the tree and, remaining on the apricot until spring, become breeding grounds for infection.

Moniliosis affects both foliage and fruits

The fungus enters the gardens with the wind, it is carried by birds and insects. Infection is actively spreading in the garden. Without appropriate measures, moniliosis spores overwinter well in fallen leaves and infected fruits and branches.

What to do? Fighting moniliosis is difficult, but possible:

• during the formation of "green buds" 3% Bordeaux liquid is used for spraying;
• after flowering, you can use Horus by taking 3 gr. on a bucket of water;
• before harvesting, but at least 15 days before, spray the tree with Switch or Teldor.

When processing apricot from moniliosis, do not forget about other trees. Even if they do not show clear signs of infection, they are subject to preventive treatment.

Be sure to remove and destroy the affected parts of the plant and fruits. Autumn work with apricots provide for the collection of foliage and fruits that are disposed of, whitewashing the trunks with a solution of blue vitriol.

Gum therapy and its treatment

Apricot gum is quite common. Why is this happening?

The tree "weeps" in response to damage

The release of gum is associated with the reaction of the tree to mechanical damage, for injuries caused by frost or temperature changes, for excessive or incorrect pruning. Enhance the appearance of sticky formations caught in wounds of infection such as moliniosis, clasterosporiasis. Influxes of gum are also observed on trunks, branches, and even foliage.

Affected areas must be removed to healthy wood. The surface is treated with a composition with copper sulphate. The top is smeared with garden pitch.

Brown spots appear on apricot leaves affected by perforated spotting. In their place, holes form in two weeks, and subsequently premature leaf fall is also possible.

The fungus is manifested by damage to the foliage

Fruits with perforated spot marks, while still green, are covered with red-brown spots, and by the time of ripening they are completely deformed.

To combat the disease, cut off all infected twigs and leaves. For prevention purposes, spraying with 4% Bordeaux liquid or 1% copper sulphate is provided. Work is carried out in late autumn and spring.

Verticillosis - vertical leaf wilt

An insidious fungus, having entered the conductive channels of wood through wounds, affects young shoots and leaves. As a result, the foliage on the lower branches turns yellow, withers and begins to fall off. Gradually, the process spreads up the tree. Young trees are more susceptible to the disease.

Avoid flooding

To prevent the disease, avoid excessive moisture, and even more so flooding. When digging the soil around the apricot, they try not to injure the roots, and the cut branches are disposed of in time. Wood processing is carried out with solutions of preparations of fundazol, previkur, vitaros.

Cytosporosis

Cytosporosis fungus settles between wood and bark. Under its influence, the leaves at the top begin to fade, and brown-brown spots and dark streaks appear on the bark. Over time, the fungus spreads throughout the tree: the leaves wither, the branches dry, and the plant dies.

Cytosporosis can kill a tree

To prevent the spread of infection, dry branches and affected areas are carefully removed to healthy wood. Infected material must be disposed of.

Without attaching importance to unusual spots on the bark and dried branches, you can completely lose the whole tree.

Viral infections of apricot and their control

Viruses are harder to deal with. On apricots, viral infections can be observed in the form of:

1. Plum "pox", which manifests itself as sunken spots and stripes on the fruit Brown color. Such apricots ripen prematurely and have an unpleasant taste.
2. Ring "pox", which can be found in the form of characteristic red swellings and spots on the fruit. The harvest falls ahead of schedule maturation.
3. Viral wilt. It appears as light green spots on the foliage. The sheet has seals and curls. And the fruits have brown flesh around the stone.
4. Ribbon mosaic. The yellow veins on the leaves develop into a lacy pattern over time, and the foliage dies off.

To prevent infection of trees and the spread of viruses will help:

• careful selection of healthy material for planting and grafting;
• treatment of tools and hands with disinfectants when working in the garden;
• increasing the resistance of the tree due to timely top dressing and watering;
• obligatory processing and sealing of places of cuts and damages on trees;
• whitewashing trunks with solutions of lime with copper sulphate.

Video. Why doesn't an apricot bear fruit?

Make a plan for your apricot orchard, strictly adhere to maintenance recommendations, water and fertilize the trees, create barriers against the development of infections and the spread of pests, and impressive yields will no longer be just a dream.

Apricot is very thermophilic fruit tree. The plant often begins to bloom when all the frosts have not yet passed. Consequently, the buds freeze, and if they bloom, then the bees do not pollinate them, since they do not yet fly.

The harvest in this case can no longer be saved. It is important to know that flowering can be delayed by applying one of the existing techniques. They are used by many experienced gardeners.

There are several effective ways to stop unwanted flowering:

1. Vaccination on a culture of late ripening

If a soon-blooming apricot variety is planted, it can be protected from frost by grafting.

It needs to be found late flowering plant(such crops are rare) and graft them already growing, which blooms early.

2. Pruning as a method of protection

keep away from spring frosts will help summer pruning tree, it should be carried out in May or early June. This method delays the growth of secondary shoots and the laying of new flower shoots.

Just like peaches, apricots are distinguished by high bud arousal - almost all formed sprouts start to grow. The tree harvest ripens on fruit formations and branches of the last year of growth (bouquet twigs, spurs).

Their life expectancy often does not exceed three years. That is why it is important to prune old bare branches. Thus, pruning of trees is based on the characteristics of fruiting and growth.

3. Mulching with sawdust

The most effective and interesting is the method with snow and sawdust.
To do this, it is necessary to mulch the near-stem soil with peat and manure. Mulching is the act of covering the soil with dry grass, manure, or sawdust to retain moisture.

So that the earth does not freeze very much, it is necessary to sprinkle it with snow, which is compacted up to 30 cm high. And only then sprinkle this snow with sawdust, on which again pour snow. As a result, sawdust freezes in a single layer.

With spring warming, the layer of snow above the sawdust melts, and the snow that is under the sawdust remains. The tree feels cold, thereby pushing back the period of awakening of the root system, and therefore flowering too.

Only when steady comes warm weather, the tree comes to life and blooms. Thus, the risk of flowering buds freezing during return frosts is eliminated, resulting in future harvest will not be lost.

4. Barrel whitewashing

Another effective way to delay flowering. It will take slaked lime, as well as clay or manure, so that the whitewash adheres well to the tree.

The white color reflects sunlight, thereby preventing the wood from getting warm.

5. Drug treatment

You can delay the flowering period using special preparations:

• auxins - will delay flowering by 10 days;
• before flowering, spray the trees with a steep brine(600-700 grams per bucket of water). This will delay bud bloom by 7-14 days.

6. Water, more water!

The essence of this method lies in the fact that in the fall, before frosts, the soil is abundantly poured with water so that it freezes well in winter and thaws for a long time in spring.
In the spring, before flowering, you can also water the tree. cold water, as a result, it will hibernate for some time.

We invite you to watch a video on how you can delay the flowering of apricots in spring:

Apricot trees are almost the first to bloom in spring, with the exception of almonds. During the flowering period, apricot orchards are enveloped in an amazingly beautiful pink haze of large fragrant flowers. Blooming trees cause both admiration and excitement because early flowering can be ruined by cruel spring frosts. How to resist this? How to save tender apricot flowers? This will also be discussed in the article.

How does an apricot bloom?

Apricot blossoms are one of the signs of the coming spring. bloom apricot trees before the leaves open. First, swollen pink buds appear on the trees, which then turn into pink or white fragrant flowers with pink veins.

Video: apricot blossom

What color is apricot

Apricot flowers are solitary, with five petals, large, 25–30 mm in diameter, white or pale pink. Calyx small size, fused, with five dark red recurved sepals. She falls along with the stamens and pistil after fertilization occurs. From 20 to 30 stamens are placed inside the flower in several rows.

Apricot flowers are white with pink streaks or pink

How many days does an apricot bloom

The beauty of flowering apricot trees can last up to 10 days.

At what temperature does apricot blossom

Friendly flowering of apricots begins at temperatures above +10C

The awakening of flower buds occurs already when the temperature rises to +5 0 C. If it occurs for a short time, then the buds freeze again. If the temperature is maintained for a long time, flowering begins. Sum effective temperatures exceeding the threshold of +5 0 С, for the beginning of apricot flowering should be equal to 300 0 С.

For the flowering of apricot trees, temperatures above +10 0 C are needed. Ideally, it should be a temperature of +17, +19 0 С in calm weather without strong wind. Such conditions are optimal for the fertilization process, and then the bees are most active. In reality, the temperature spread occurs from +7 to +28 0 С. And as a result of this, the fruit harvest will be unstable.

When the apricot blossoms

In the south, flowering occurs already in the first half of April, in other areas a little later. Early flowering is dangerous with consequences, as the threat of spring frosts is likely. BUT early development flower buds leads to their death by return frosts.

Apricot flowering time depending on the growing area

The table contains information about the approximate timing of flowering of apricots, depending on the region of growth.

Table: apricot flowering time depending on the region

Effect of frost on apricot blossom

Problems early flowering apricots are associated with the possibility of the return of spring frosts.

How many degrees of frost can an apricot withstand

Decreasing the temperature to -1 0 С closed buds can withstand without consequences. During the flowering period, lowering the temperature to -1, -2 0 С can lead to the complete death of the crop.

Spring frosts are detrimental to flowering apricots

Extending the dormant period of an apricot is a real way to increase the regularity of its fruiting. There are quite a few ways to do this. Experts believe that it is best to combine several of them at once:

1. Grafting on a culture with more late deadline maturation;
2. Summer pruning (the process is described in more detail below, in gardening tips);
3. Mulching with sawdust: first trunk circle sprinkled with snow, then with sawdust, and then again with snow, ramming each layer. Such a “pie” freezes in a single layer and does not melt for a long time, holding back the onset of flowering;
4. Barrel whitewash: White color reflects Sun rays and prevents the barrel from heating;
5. Spraying with brine: before flowering, spray the crown with a steep brine solution (400g/10 l of water). Flowering will shift by 7-10 days;
6. Sprinkling with water: in the fall, just before frost, water the tree abundantly with water so that it freezes well in winter.

Video: how to slow down the flowering of apricots

There is only one way to delay flowering, but not by mulching or compacting snow, that's for sure. It is necessary during the summer sap flow, in our Lower Volga, this is the end of July - the beginning of August, to make a small pruning of the tree. At this time, fruit buds are laid on next year. By cutting out diseased and at the same time dry branches, you transfer this formation ten days later (until the tree gets sick). Accordingly, flowering the next year occurs later.

Murlathttps://www.asienda.ru/answers/1501/

How to protect flowering apricot from frost

From light frosts (up to -1 0 С) the smoke of landings can be saved, because in this way a smoke cover is created around the trees, which does not allow warm air get up and leave. It must be “layed” before the start of frost and kept until sunrise.

Video: smoke as a way to save apricots from freezing

From freezing at -2 0 С blossoming apricots help save watering and spraying:

• Watering should be plentiful and carried out before frost;
• Spraying will give an effect when the temperature has dropped to minus levels.

The most reliable cover is cover with any material: woven or non-woven.
A simple roof over the plant holds back 3 degrees of frost, shelter to the ground - up to 5 degrees.

And here's another tip for preserving plantings from frost.

Making a smoke bomb

This method of making a smoke bomb - You need ammonium nitrate (ammonium nitrate), which is sold in the fertilizer store, and ordinary newspapers. First you need to prepare a solution of saltpeter, proportion: 1 liter of water and 300g of saltpeter. To put it simply, you need to take a liter plastic bottle fill it up 1/3 ammonium nitrate and completely fill with water, you must wait until the saltpeter is completely dissolved. A foam will appear at the top, which must be carefully drained. After that, you need to insert a spray bottle for flowers into the bottle. Now you need to take the first sheet of newspaper and completely moisten it with a solution from the sprayer (be sure to lay something under the newspapers, all this must be done away from walls, furniture, carpets, etc.) We put the second sheet on top of the soaked first sheet and repeat the procedure. After all the sheets have been soaked with the solution, turn the resulting stack on the reverse side. They should dry completely at room temperature for 3-5 hours while hanging on a rope. 1 liter of the resulting solution is enough for about 35–40 newspaper sheets Newspapers should not be left on a straight sunlight(!) Let's describe how to make a smoke bomb from these newspaper sheets. Gently bend the newspaper sheet soaked in the solution, then bend it again. We do a similar procedure with all sheets. We take one bent sheet, tightly twist it to the middle, put another one into it and twist it further. When we reach the middle again, we put in another sheet, etc. Everything should be very tight (!) After you twist the last one, rewind the resulting product with adhesive tape and tamp it from the ends. The filling of the chimney is ready! Attention! A checker rolled from newspaper sheets may catch fire in the process of emitting smoke (especially if you use it in the wind). To avoid this, it is necessary to make a case. A half-liter aluminum can is ideal for this. It is necessary to cut the lid from the top of it, and then completely cut off the bottom. Insert a twisted flue there (if it dangles, wind it up a little with plain paper) so that it reaches the end. After that, cut off the excess metal so that 1 cm edges remain, carefully bend them. The flue is ready to use! Application - Set it on fire from the side and throw it away, clubs of white smoke will go. Freshly made newspaper smoke bombs burn with fumes a large number smoke, but if they are stored for a very long time, then they may not ignite at all. It is best to store them for no more than 1 month and store them in plastic bags to protect them from moisture. Try it - determine the number of checkers and the smoking time.

Summer resident, Zaporozhyehttp://dacha.wcb.ru/index.php?showtopic=33512&st=20

To enjoy fragrant fruits in summer, you need to save delicate spring flowers.

If spring return frosts won't ruin delicate flowers apricots, then already in the middle of summer it will be possible to enjoy its fragrant juicy fruits.

In the practice of growing apricots, there are often cases when in the spring it either does not bloom at all, or after flowering the ovary does not form, and as a result there are no fruits. fruiting.

What year after planting does an apricot bear fruit?

In the case of cuttings grafted onto a stock, the timing of the first flowering for different varieties vary in the range of 3-4 years. A grafted apricot gives flowering in the second or third year, if one-year-old cuttings that have passed the juvenile (youthful) phase of development, or two-year ones, are grafted.
The seedling of cultivated forms of apricot grown from the stone has a longer juvenile period, and 5-6, sometimes 7 years pass from planting to fruiting.

Reasons for the lack of color on the apricot

The following factors influence the timing of the first flowering and the regularity of apricot fruiting:

• type of culture - grafted onto a stock, own-rooted, grown from a stone;
• the period of entry into fruiting, inherent in a particular variety;
• climatic conditions;
• cultivation agrotechnics;
• diseases and pests;
• self-fertility (self-infertility) of the variety, the presence or absence of pollinators;

Let's consider each of the reasons in more detail.

The tree has not reached fruiting age.

The root cause of the lack of color may be the youth of the tree - perhaps the apricot does not belong to the early-growing variety. As for the gradation by variety, there are early fruiting and slowly developing:

• in 3 years the following varieties bear fruit: Pinsky, Laureate, while annual seedlings of the varieties Kuibyshevsky early, Karlik, Khabarovsky form flower buds already in the 2nd year;
• at the age of 4, color and ovary appear on apricot varieties Sayansky, Gorny Abakan, planted by one-year-olds;
• at the age of 5 they will show friendly fruiting Chelyabinsk early,.
• some varieties set fruit at 5-6 years after planting.

Early entry into fruiting (skorplodnost) will show varieties and hybrids that carry the genes of the Manchurian, Central Asian, Iranian-Transcaucasian groups. The last two groups do not differ in winter hardiness, therefore they are cultivated only in the southern regions.

harsh winter

The reason for the lack of flowering may be climatic factors - severe winters, thaws, return frosts. The culture normally develops and bears fruit at a sum of active temperatures of about 2500 ° C, while flowering and ovary formation occur at t above +10 ... 15 ° C.

With annual frost damage, fruiting becomes irregular, because. the forces of the plant are aimed at restoration - in the coming year we should expect active growth wood to the detriment of fruiting, as a result of which the apricot does not bloom and the ovary does not form.

A decrease in t to +2 ... 1 ° C is detrimental to flowers and leads to irregular fruiting. It helps to understand the reason brief digression in the biology of the apricot.

The laying and differentiation (isolation) of generative buds occurs in July, in the middle or beginning of the month, adjusted for the region. The process continues for about 180 days, and is interrupted for 140 days: from November to March, apricot buds are in a phase of relative rest. The first stage of bookmarking begins on annual bouquet branches approximately from the second half of July, in mid-August - on the shoots of the second wave. In the cold period, apricot buds are in a dormant phase, and spring warming becomes the beginning of further differentiation of organs - the embryo sac and pollen of the flower.

Early complete differentiation due to premature warming is detrimental during March and April warming, followed by cooling down to -5 ... -10 ° C during May frosts.

There is a way to slightly delay the flowering time of the apricot. To do this, one-year-old shoots in the middle of the second decade of July should be pinched. If necessary, reinforced pruning up to 30-40 cm is also used. These actions push back the laying of fruit buds, prolong their differentiation in the cold period, due to which the apricot starts laying buds later, and return frosts will not interrupt flowering.

They also practice sprinkling, the use of fogging installations, watering an apricot before freezing, smoking as options for saving apricot color.
Delays flowering and spraying - treatment of apricot with 3% Bordeaux liquid, protruding and fungicide. Handle the culture in early spring, until warming, at a temperature not lower than +5 ° C, or in autumn.

It will help to solve the problem of planting frost-resistant varieties with a long growing season (if the region of your residence allows it): Triumph North, Snigirek, Hardy, Honey, etc.

Wrong fit

Improper planting can be an indirect reason for the lack of flowering. The most common problems include:

1. Time selection. The climate of a number of regions (from the Moscow region to Siberia) suggests spring planting or . Seedlings planted in autumn or seedlings in northern latitudes show slow development and delayed fruiting.
2. Choice of location. Dry, sunny, high and windless area with neutral pH, ground water no closer than 2 meters, sandy loam, light loam - the best place for apricot. Both poor (same sandy) and excessively enriched soils with organic matter are unacceptable for growing crops. In the first case, the apricot develops slowly, in the second case it "fattens" - the green mass develops to the detriment of fruit formation.
3. The choice of landing height. In the northern latitudes, it is appropriate to plant apricots not in pits, but on mounds (hills of the earth) 0.5-0.7 meters high. A high stock is also important, in which the grafting site will be above the level of the snow cover.

In the video below - helpful tips according to the rules and techniques of growing apricots:

Wrong care

Apricot does not bloom - the question is in leaving. Common maintenance mistakes:

1. Low level of agricultural technology: insufficient watering, lack of timely top dressing. root system apricot is superficial, its roots lie in upper layers soil 10-60 cm from the surface, and only a vertical (tap) root penetrates to a depth of 2 meters. This means that, not abundant frequent feeding.
2. Wrong power supply. Imbalance of the NPK complex, when the nitrogen component dominates and there is a lack of trace elements, in particular, potassium, calcium, iron, etc.
3. Incorrect pruning: excessively short, late, traumatic, provoking gum flow. Short - pushes back the bookmark or deprives the tree of the possibility of bud formation, late - threatens to freeze in winter. The lack of rejuvenating pruning of aging apricot is the reason for the reduction in productivity or the cessation of fruiting.
4. Incorrect preparation for winter: late formative and sanitary pruning at t below +7 ... 8 ° C, when the cuts do not heal well and may freeze slightly, not whitened cuts, lack of shelter for young trees.

Feeding, especially nitrogen-containing and organic matter, is stopped in July. Late application means poor wintering - the wood does not mature, the buds do not enter the dormant phase on time. And the main thing is an early start, earlier awakening of the kidneys.

For a good wintering in August, a mineral complex is introduced with an emphasis on potassium, phosphorus and other trace elements that accelerate the ripening of shoots.

The following agricultural practices will help to make the apricot bloom and bear fruit:

High doses of fertilizers stimulate the laying of fruit buds only until the end of shoot growth. At the end of growth, top dressing does not affect the laying of the kidneys in any concentration.

The methods listed above are united by one principle: an artificial increase in the concentration of the cell sap of a tree in the phase of its intensive development. The essence of the method is to increase the rate of laying fruit buds by increasing the concentration of sugars, enzymes, trace elements and other nutrients.

If there is no threat of underdrying of the bark, in regions with high level snow cover with not critically low winter temperatures practice grafting on a short (dwarf) stock. The method brings apricot flowering and fruiting closer by 1-3 years.

Diseases of various genesis

Diseases leading to the lack of flowering and fruit formation:

insect pests

The apricot has many pest enemies that cause poor flowering or its absence:

To combat apricot lovers, insecticides and acaricides are used - in particular, Horus, Topsin M and others.

There are flowers, but no fruits - causes and solutions

Lack of fruiting after flowering is also a very common problem. Among the reasons are the following:

• self-fertile or poorly pollinating variety;
• lack of insect pollinators;
• weather.

Everything is clear with the last point: drought and heat, like rainy cold summers, adversely affect fruit formation. Rains impede the flight of pollinating insects, and cooling and, conversely, sudden heat, affect the quality of pollen.

Choosing a Self-Infertile Variety

Apricot varieties are divided into pollinated by their own pollen into:

• self-fertile cultivars< (самоопыляющиеся, самофертильные);
• self-infertile (self-sterile), requiring the proximity of a pollinator;
• partially self-fertile.

It is believed that apricot varieties are predominantly self-fertile, self-fertile mostly hybrid forms and few varieties.

stable self-fertile varieties have a high percentage of ovaries - 20-60%, self-infertile 0-10%, partially self-fertile - 10-20%.

To be fair, self-fertile forms also need to be cross-pollinated, and the description often indicates the level of self-fertility - stable, partial, low or high. Moreover, this indicator is not constant. In different years and in different climatic zones A cultivar may exhibit varying levels of self-fertility.

Varieties of the European group have a high percentage of self-fertility. Self-infertile, in need of pollination - varieties of the East Asian, Central Asian group.

Self-infertile varieties definitely need pollination, and often help. So, it is better to plant apricot trees in groups, while it is necessary to breed varieties with similar flowering periods. In the garden, 2-3 or even 4 pollinating varieties are usually planted within 60-100 m from each other.

The second method of solving the problem is to graft a branch of another variety into the crown, which acts as a pollinator. As a rule, the best pollinators are indicated by the originator - or are established by sampling by practicing gardeners.

The following table will help you select a potential pollinator for popular apricot varieties.

Lack of insect pollinators

The problem occurs in rainy, windy weather, when it gets cold or when it's hot - all this affects the years of pollinating insects, on which the presence of the ovary depends.
The way out will be artificial pollination - the transfer of pollen from one or more pollinating plants. It is carried out three times: on the 2-3rd day of flowering, with mass flowering, at its end. It is important to spend it in the morning or in the evening. For artificial pollination in the garden, you can use brushes, fur puffs or the shaking method.

If the apricot is in no hurry to bloom, does not please with fruits - perhaps it's not a tree, but agricultural technology. And the ax is not best method correcting the situation. Reconsider the methods of cultivation, and he will delight you with a good harvest.