Apple-tree Melba - characteristics of the variety, peculiarities of growing and care

If the site will grow apple Melba, you can expect to get a good harvest of delicious fruit. The characteristics of this variety are amazing. There are certain rules for planting and caring for seedlings, which are important to know and to consider.

Apple Tree Melba - Variety Description

Try the taste of these apples already in mid-August, but if the summer was not warm, then it happens in early autumn. The apple tree Melba is characterized by:

1. Fruits are not too large and on average their weight is 130-150 g, but there are specimens also for 200 g.
2. The shape of the apples is rounded, but it expands slightly to the base, so it looks like a cone.
3. The fruit is dense, but a thin peel, which feels smooth to the touch. Top of the apples are covered with a wax coating.
4. After maturing, the fruits become light green with ruddy stripes.
5. The white flesh of the fruit is juicy and tender. It is crispy and fine-grained. Melba's taste is sweet with sourness and caramel flavor.

Characteristics of apple melba

The variety was obtained in Canada in 1898 due to the pollination of the natural variety. The name is chosen in honor of the famous opera singer - Nelly Melba. The variety has the following characteristics:

1. The trees are medium-sized, so, the height of the Melba apple tree reaches 3 m. The crown is wide, round and not too thick.
2. The brown bark has an orange tinge. Since the crown is formed slowly, then during the first years the tree looks like a column- shaped tree.
3. Light leaves have an oval and elongated shape. On the edge they have small denticles. Flowers are large, with white petals, which have a pink base.

For what year does the apple tree Melba?

If the tree was planted in a suitable place and the nursing is carried out, according to the existing rules, the fruiting begins four years later. At the first stages apple Melba gives fruits regularly, but in 12 years there can be a certain cyclicity, that is, the year of rest will alternate with the year of fruiting. It is important to point out that the variety is self-fertilizing, but it is better to plant the trees next to the apple-tree pollinators. It is worth noting that apple Melba has good yields.

Apple tree Melba - winter hardiness

The value of winter hardiness is at an average level. If the winter is mild, the tree will carry it well, but if the frosts are strong, then burns appear on the trunk and the main branches. Home apple Melba requires preparation for the winter period. The trunk and the main branches must be whitewashed, which will protect against rodents. In addition, you can wrap the barrel burlap. For insulation, you can take a special insulation material. If the winter is snowy, then a drift is recommended around the trunk.

Apple tree Melba - planting and care

It is best to plant a tree in early spring or in mid-September. Choose for this light area, which is closed from the wind. Planting an apple-tree Melba should be carried out in loam. It is important that the soil has a neutral or slightly alkaline acidity. Otherwise, you need to make a dolomite flour or slaked lime, given that for 1 square. m should be 0.5 kg. Between the trees should be a distance of 1.5 to 7 m.

Apple tree Melba - planting in the spring

If you have purchased seedlings of this variety, then planting according to this instruction:

1. The pit should be prepared in half a month. Its depth should be 60-80 cm, and width - 60-100 cm. Mix 30 cm of cut sod land with the same amount of sand, humus and peat. In addition, add ash (1 kg), double superphosphate (0.4 kg) and potassium sulfate (200 g).
2. Fill 20 cm of large river sand or small gravel at the bottom of the pit, which is important to protect the roots from decay.
3. Apple seedlings should be 1-2 years old. Their length should be 45-80 cm. It is important that the tree has a minimum of 2-3 lateral shoots and well-developed roots.
4. For a couple of days before planting, the roots of the tree should be lowered into cool water. Before the procedure, cut off the leaves, and put the roots in a clay chatterbox, which must have a consistency, like sour cream.
5. In the pit, fill the soil mixture to get a hillock 20 cm high. From the north side, drive in the stake, so that it rises above the ground to a level of 70 cm.
6. Seedling is placed on a hill, spreading the roots, and fill them with earth. Shake the tree so that no voids are formed between the roots.
7. Note that the root neck should be at a height of 6-7 cm from the ground. Around the trunk, the ground is stamped, and then form a roller at a distance of 0.5 m, a height of 10 cm.
8. Seed the saplings and pour, using a couple buckets of water. At the end, mulch 10 cm with a layer of dry grass or peat.

Apple tree Melba - care

For proper care, you must follow certain rules:

1. Watering is carried out once a month, from spring to September. Before fruiting, you need to pour two buckets at a time, and after the amount increases to four. Gardeners indicate that before watering around the apples Melba you need to make a roller out of the ground at a distance of 0.5 m. After that, the land is leveled and mulched .
2. Regularly it is recommended to carry out digging up of the earth around a tree. Do this in the spring and autumn.
3. If the planting was carried out in fertile soil, then in the first year it is not necessary to introduce fertilizers. In the following years, nitrogen, humus and peat are used, as well as wood ash, superphosphate and potassium.
4. Pruning Melba should be carried out next year after planting. Do this in the spring before the buds awaken. The central branch should be cut by 1/3, and on the side branches - three kidneys should be left. In the second and third years, the crown is formed, for which the central shoot decreases. Shoots that grow up, leave, and others - crop. After this, every year, sanitary trim is carried out, removing dry and growing branches and branches.