Colon-shaped apple varieties are of great interest to amateur gardeners. The tree has a small crown, the only trunk is covered with short fruit shoots. Almost all varieties are fast-growing and already in the second year they give the first and quite abundant harvest.
Colon-shaped apple trees: planting and care
One of the biggest advantages is the compactness of the plant, so you can even grow a plentiful harvest even on a small plot. For successful cultivation, you should carefully follow all stages of care, then there will be no problems. Let's consider the basic recommendations on care of column-shaped apple-trees.
- Planting material. For planting, one-year seedlings of colonial apple trees are best suited. They easily tolerate transplantation and do not get sick, as it happens with more adult planting material. It is very important not to allow drying of the root system during transportation and planting - abundant watering after transplantation is mandatory.
- Colon-shaped apples require a dense planting and careful care. You can plant at a distance of about half a meter. Although the planting material is quite expensive, but in a year you will be able to harvest the first crop, but due to a very dense bark the plant perfectly tolerates loads.
- Top dressing. In the growing season, the colonial apple trees are fed with urea three times. In 10 liters of water, we cultivate 50 g of fertilizer, for each tree there are 2 liters of the finished solution. After the leaves are unfolded, the first top dressing is done, after two weeks repeated, and after two weeks a third top dressing is performed.
- How to crop a column-shaped apple tree. A feature of this type is the lack of the need to trim the tree. The fact is that a healthy plant develops only one major shoot every year. In the case when the apex buds froze during frosts, two or three competing shoots can develop at once. Then choose the strongest of them, and the rest cut out. These cut branches are good for vaccination in the future.
- Often trees planted in the fall begin to bloom in spring, which is a stress for the plant. How to care for the columnar apples in this case? Before planting, properly prepare the soil. In the pit we pour organic fertilizers - compost or humus with the calculation of 3-4 kg per each landing pit. The growth of the root system can be controlled with a solution of heteroauxin.
Colon-shaped apple-trees: varieties
Among the columns are dwarfish, semi-dwarfish and tall varieties of trees. All varieties are conditionally divided into autumn and winter. Here is a list of varieties of colonial apple trees that gardeners have already learned to successfully grow on their plots.
Autumn varieties:
- Arbat. The fruit of the tree is small, have a yellowish-red color. The flesh is slightly sour, but very juicy. The plant has an average winter hardiness, the yield is already in the second year. If the care is wrong, the fruits begin to melt.
- Gin. The size of the fruit varies from medium to large. Apples can be stored until January, they taste very much like Lobo and Melba. Fruiting begins in the second year, and at the 7th year of life, you can get up to 5 kg from the tree.
Has an average winter hardiness.
Winter varieties:
- KB71. Fruits are yellow with blush. The pulp is juicy, has a sweet and sour taste. The tree has a high winter hardiness, yield.
- KB109. Fruits are green with ruddy red stripes. The flesh is dense and has a very pleasant taste. The tree itself is strong.
- KB101. The fruits are bright green, very sweet. But the tree has a low winter hardiness, it is well preserved when grafting into the crown.