Content
The most famous and popular apple tree in Russia is Antonovka. An old variety of apples is also found in Siberia. The tree is valued for its productivity, unpretentiousness, and the fruits - for their characteristic captivating smell and versatility. The Antonovka variety is very plastic, there are a large number of varieties with closely related traits.
Description
One of the most vigorous in the garden will be the Antonovka apple tree. The height of the tree reaches 5-6 meters. Young trees have a conical crown, but with age it becomes wider, resembling a flattened sphere in outline. Sometimes it reaches 10 m in diameter. The skeletal branches of the Antonovka sapling go up, eventually take a horizontal direction and bush. There are many branched ringlets on them, where fruits ripen on wood 3-4, at least two years.
Bright green leaves with large stipules, oblong-ovoid, wrinkled, serrated. Short petioles are located perpendicular to the shoot. Large flowers are white, with a pink tint of oblong petals.
The fruits of the Antonovka ordinary apple tree, as they say about them in the descriptions and gardeners reviews, weigh from 120 to 180 g. Apples slightly ribbed, rounded, and also with a flattened shape, depending on their location on the fruit shoot. Many Antonovka apples taper towards the top. Near the stalks and above them, rustiness often spreads along the skin of apples. The fruits of the Antonovka apple tree are ordinary with a smooth surface, barely noticeable matte bloom, mostly without blush, greenish during harvest, later turn yellow.
White-yellow pulp is dense, grainy, juicy, with a characteristic acidity and characteristic sort of apples Antonovka with a great smell. The sugar content is 9.2%, one hundred grams contains 17 mg of ascorbic acid and 14% of pectin substances. The taste was rated by the tasters in the range from 3.8 to 4.1 points.
Characteristic
The result of folk selection of the 19th century on the territory of the Kursk province is the famous Antonovka. An apple tree that has posed many mysteries, not only in its origin, but also in the abundance of varieties. I.V. Michurin emphasized that only 5 varieties can really be called Antonovka. Ripening terms fruits are also different. They also differ in the duration of storage. In trees growing north of Bryansk, Orel, Lipetsk, early winter fruits ripen by mid-September. Apple trees bearing fruit south of this conditional border produce autumn apples in early September.
The Antonovka vulgaris apple variety is known for high yields - up to 200 kg. Individual trees yield 500 kg. A record harvest of over a ton was recorded. The peculiarity of the tree is to preserve the harvest until harvest; very little fruit falls off. Antonovka remains the main variety of industrial and amateur gardens in the center of the country and in the north of the black earth zone. The apple tree is a real long-liver, it is guaranteed to bear fruit for 30-40 years or more, it has been growing for over a hundred years.
The first fruits of the Antonovka ordinary apple tree, according to gardeners' descriptions, are tried 7-8 years after vaccination. Truly bears fruit from the age of 10, before that the yield is low, no more than 15 kg. At first, the variety blooms and produces a harvest annually, and with age, there comes a periodicity in fruiting.
The apple tree owes its durability and productivity to the features of a compact root system. The main, very dense mass, is concentrated within 1-1.2 m.This underground tree center is shallow, only 50-70 cm from the surface of the earth. The roots spread deeper and further, but with less density.
Pollination
Like most horticultural crops, the Antonovka apple tree is among the self-fertile ones. The best pollinators of the variety are
- Anise;
- Pippin;
- Welsey;
- Calvil is snowy;
- Autumn striped.
Gardeners believe that the apple tree can normally be pollinated by any other varieties. Apple-tree Antonovka, according to the description, the average flowering period.
Fruit quality
The commercial indicators of the variety are high: 15% of the fruits of one apple belong to the highest grade, 40% to the first. Antonovka apples tolerate long-distance transportation, they lie for 3 months, treated with antioxidants - four. The taste and smell become more intense during storage. Sometimes during storage, apples suffer from the "tan" disease - the color of the skin changes, and brown spots appear. The facts apply to apples of the winter variety. Those that are harvested in the fall, growing south of Bryansk, lie quite a bit. They need to be processed in time.
The Antonovka apple variety is famous for its beneficial properties. Fruits contain many vitamins and minerals necessary for humans, in particular, a large percentage of iron. Apples are eaten fresh, baked, soaked. An old delicacy is made - marshmallow, as well as marmalade, jelly, jams. The apple tree is a favorite of private gardens. Only its fruits are the most delicious for economical preparations: soaking in barrels.
Tree properties
The Antonovka apple tree was bred in the region with unstable, cold winters and summer heat. The tree is inherent in frost resistance, it tolerates a short drought. It is characterized by relative resistance to scab, powdery mildew, fruit rot. In those years when there is a large spread of these diseases, Antonovka also succumbs to them.
The valuable genetic properties of the tree did not go unnoticed. There are 25 registered varieties created on its basis. The most famous are Memory to a Warrior, Friendship of Peoples, Bogatyr, Orlovim, March and others. And some researchers have more than 200 species of the original variety. The characteristic features of this apple tree vary slightly depending on the rootstock and soil properties.
Variety type
The most popular are several varieties of Antonovka apple trees. Their common properties are the durability of trees, yield and taste.
Dessert
Created the variety S.I. Isaev. The Antonovka dessert apple tree, according to the breeder's description, is a mid-winter variety, obtained from Antonovka ordinary and Pepin's saffron... The tree is of medium size in crown height and width. The flowers are large, pink in color. The color of the prominent fruits of the Antonovka dessert apple variety is light green, with a creamy tint and a striped blush. The mass is greater than that of Antonovka ordinary - 150-180 g, up to 200 g. The pulp after harvesting is hard, medium-grained, sweet, sourness, in comparison, insignificant. The apples have retained their characteristic fragrant aroma.
The Antonovka dessert apple tree has good productivity. An adult tree gives 40-56 kg, the indicator can reach more than a centner. Apples with excellent keeping quality can be tasted in March. You just need to maintain a cool temperature during storage. The tasters gave the dessert variety Antonovka 4.2 points.
The tree does not test the patience of the owner of the site, it begins to bear fruit already in the 4th or 5th year. The area of its cultivation extends to the central regions, the Volga region. In the northern regions, those areas that are above Bryansk, Orel, Antonovka dessert, according to the description of the variety, will not be able to grow. Its frost resistance does not provide for temperatures below 25 degrees for a long period. The tree also loves space and good lighting.The pollinating neighbors are placed no closer than 6 m away. Having taken frost-resistant stanza-shaped seedlings for rootstocks, the Antonovka dessert apple tree is also planted in the Urals, Siberia and Altai.
Gold
It is also a common and popular mid-early variety. The golden Antonovka apple tree ripens by the end of August. Late-summer apples do not last long, it is better to eat them fresh and make jam from them. The fruits are round with an attractive golden hue. Soft, sweet, with a pleasant taste of Antonov sourness, but have lost some of the aroma of the mother form. Weight from 160 to 260 g.
The tree of the Antonovka golden apple variety is fruitful, winter-hardy, medium-sized, with a spreading crown. The first fruits give in 6-7 years. According to reviews, it is little affected by scab. Demanding for water and air permeability of the soil. Does not tolerate heavy, overloaded stones, waterlogged soils. The groundwater level in the area where the Antonovka golden apple tree will grow should not exceed one and a half meters to the surface.
One and a half pound
The closest variety to the Antonovka ordinary is the Antonovka one and a half pound apple tree. Variety I.V. Michurin in his garden. The tree is frost-resistant, tall, winter fruits. Harvested in September, ready to eat in a week. Ribbed, greenish-creamy apples weigh 600 g, average weight - 240 g. The pulp is fragrant, fine-grained, sweet, with a gentle sourness.
Growing
An old or young Antonovka apple tree grows in almost every garden. Planting is possible in autumn, until October 20, and in spring, at the end of April. Black soil and fertile loam guarantee the harvest.
Landing
The planting pit for the Antonovka apple variety is large: 0.8 x 1 m, it is better to dig it up in six months or at least two weeks.
- The top layer is placed on the bottom with sod, watered, then add earth mixed with compost, humus, 300 g of lime, 1 kg of complex fertilizers, 800 g of wood ash;
- The roots are straightened, the root collar is placed above ground level;
- After watering, the soil is mulched with a layer of up to 10 cm.
Care
Planting and caring for young trees of the Antonovka apple variety requires regular watering. Seedlings are watered abundantly, 10 liters, twice a week. If the spring is dry, pour 15-20 liters at the root.
In the second year after planting, the seedling is pruned: the guide is shortened and the thickening branches are removed. Every year, in autumn and spring, the apple tree is thinned out from diseased and damaged branches. Each gardener, according to his choice and depending on the climate, forms the crown of the tree.
The Antonovka apple tree is fed four times a season, watering abundantly:
- Before flowering, 100 g of urea for seedlings and 500 g for adult trees are scattered in the near-stem circle;
- With the first flowers, dissolve in 50 liters of water, 200 g of potassium sulfate and superphosphate, 100 g of carbamide and 5 liters of mullein;
- Before pouring the fruits, Antonovka is fertilized with 100 g of nitroammofoska per 10 liters of water;
- After picking apples, use 300 g of potassium sulfate and superphosphate.
Protecting trees
Prophylactically, in early spring, the apple tree is treated against pests with 3% Bordeaux liquid, and later with 0.1% karbofos solution. Diseases are prevented by spraying, with crumbling petals, with a 0.4% solution of copper oxychloride or 1% Bordeaux mixture. It is better to spray before sunset, late in the evening.
The tree, although unpretentious, requires minimal attention to itself for excellent yields.
