How many years does an apricot tree bear fruit? Why apricots don’t bear fruit: what to do. The tree grows in unsuitable conditions

Apricot is a stone fruit tree with juicy and healthy fruits. This heat-loving plant does not require specific care and conditions. If an apricot blooms but does not bear fruit, this means that it is growing in unsuitable conditions or is sick. In this article we will look at the most common mistakes that occur when growing this tree and tell you how to correct them.

How many years after planting does apricot bear fruit?

Many gardeners are interested in how many years it will take to harvest a tree. Most often, apricots begin to bear fruit 3–5 years after planting. With proper care, the harvest will delight you for the next 40 years.

Reasons why an apricot may not bear fruit

Despite the fact that apricot is a heat-loving plant, it is quite unpretentious in care and can easily tolerate cold winters. And if it stops bearing fruit, this may mean that the plant is sick, suffering from an insect attack or from a lack of useful elements.

Wrong apricot variety selected

When choosing apricots, you should pay attention to frost-resistant varieties that feel comfortable in winter.

These include:


Important!When choosing a seedling, pay attention to the root system: it should look healthy and be undamaged.

You can combine several varieties of apricots on your site. Then the trees will delight you with fruits for several weeks or even a month.

It should be remembered that not all varieties are capable of self-pollinating. If you purchased just such a specimen, you should make sure that there are self-fertile species nearby. Moreover, you need to pay attention to the fact that the flowering dates must coincide.

The tree grows in unsuitable conditions

Another reason why the described crop does not yield is the lack of suitable conditions.

Since apricot is a heat-loving plant, it should be planted in a place with sufficient light.. If the tree is in the shade of a house, it will noticeably weaken and stop producing crops. You can fix this by painting the nearest wall or fence in White color: the surface will repel the sun's rays, which will revive the tree.

The soil should be light and loose, loamy and non-acidic, with an groundwater about 2.5–3 m.

Did you know? Apricot comes from China, and was brought to Europe by the Greeks more than two thousand years ago.

Apricots are pruned incorrectly or not at all

Lack of pruning also negatively affects the tree's ability to bear fruit.. Dry and diseased branches not only spoil appearance, but also hinder the development of new ones.

Varieties with late fruit ripening should be pruned in the spring. For early ripening trees, removal of unnecessary branches is carried out in the fall. The main task is to correctly adjust the ratio of leaf and fruiting branches: This will help maintain the amount of harvested crop.

In the case when a young plant bushes, it is necessary to do pruning: this way you will form beautiful tree and remove excess shoots that can be a breeding ground for insects.

Improper watering and fertilization

A heat-loving apricot may stop bearing fruit if there is drought in the summer or if there is an insufficient amount of nutrients in the soil.

In such cases, the tree blooms poorly and looks sickly. This situation can be corrected by adjusting the watering scheme and feeding the plant..

Apricot pests and diseases

Diseases and pests can also be the reason why apricots stop bearing fruit. There is a particular danger to the crop different types fungus and insects.

The most common ones are:


Both diseases and insects can cause irreparable damage to the crop and the tree itself. Prevention, timely treatment and spraying with a suitable solution can cope with them.

What needs to be done for the apricot to start bearing fruit?

To fully enjoy juicy and healthy fruits, you just need to provide the apricot tree with proper care: water it on time, feed it and spray it against diseases and pests.

Did you know?In the 15th century, apricot was used to treat headaches and as a rejuvenating agent.

Pollination

If you planted a self-fertile variety on your plot, then even one apricot will yield quite a lot of harvest. It could be:

  • Lel;
  • Northern Triumph;
  • Tsarsky;
  • Dessert;
  • A pineapple.

Artificial pollination is used for the following varieties:

  • Iceberg;
  • Countess;
  • Kichiginsky;
  • Success;
  • The best Michurinsky.

In this case, 2–4 trees of the same variety are planted on the site so that they pollinate each other. If there is no desire or opportunity to create a small apricot garden, you can pin a twig of one variety onto a plant of another variety.

There are two methods of artificial pollination:

  1. Manual. Pollen from one tree is transferred to another using a piece of cotton wool, fur or a brush. Despite all the painstaking work, this is a fairly simple method. Pollen is taken with light movements from one tree and transplanted to another with the same light movements.

    Important! Hand pollination can bring a 40% increase in yield.

  2. Air flow using a powerful hair dryer or fan. This option is less effective, but does not require as much care as the previous one.

Feeding and watering

In normal weather, without critical frosts or heat, apricots are watered 4 times a year:

  1. April, when shoots begin to grow.
  2. May is a time of intensive shoot growth.
  3. 2–3 days before the fruit begins to ripen.
  4. October is a boost of moisture for the cold season.
In hot weather, you need to water the plant 2–4 more times. Watering is carried out in the morning or evening. Young specimens need 7–8 buckets of water. For plants 7 years and older, 12–15 buckets are required.

Fertilizer has a very good effect on the fertility of the plant. For young plants, fertilizing once a year with organic fertilizers will be sufficient.(5 kg of humus for one tree). Older ones need to be fertilized with mineral fertilizers: for example, 800 grams of superphosphate, 250 grams of potassium chloride, 350 grams of ammonium nitrate for one tree. It's best to do this every year in early spring.

Preventing diseases and pests

To protect apricots from diseases and insects, prevention should be carried out, which includes the following actions:

  1. Timely pruning of diseased and dry branches.
  2. Removing fallen leaves around the trunk.
  3. Loosening the soil.
  4. Timely watering and fertilizing of the plant.
  5. Whitewashing trunks.

Preventive measures are best carried out in the early morning and before the time when the apricot begins to bear fruit. It is in this case that the harvest will be abundant and the tree will be healthy.

Selection of drugs

Despite the fact that apricot is not the most fastidious plant, both the tree and the fruit can get sick. For fungal diseases, a solution of Bordeaux mixture or copper sulfate is usually used.. This treatment is suitable in the early stages. In severe cases, it is better to use antifungal agents. These are great for pest control medications like Entobacterin or Decim.

Apricot is a heat-loving tree that adapts well to any conditions. At proper care, watering and treatment against diseases and insects, it will delight you with a good harvest for many years.

Many gardeners dream of growing a good harvest of apricots, but this does not always work out. Poor fruiting of a crop is often associated with errors in care. Even a tree that once had a good harvest may experience “sterility.” Why doesn’t the apricot bear fruit? What to do when the plant blooms poorly or there is a barren flower? This will be discussed further.

Apricot care: general rules

For two years after planting apricot seedlings, the tree trunk area should be constantly loosened and mulched. Weeds are cleared regularly. They loosen the soil to a depth of 6-8 cm, because if you drip deeper, you can hit the root system.

Organic and phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are usually not applied to the soil before fruiting begins.

As soon as the apricot tree begins to bear fruit, the following fertilizer composition will need to be added to the soil annually:

  • Ammonium nitrate - 30 g.
  • Superphosphate - 8 g.
  • Potassium salt - 20 g.

The calculation is made on 1 square meter trunk circle.

Nitrogen fertilizers are applied every year at a rate of 20-30 g per 1 square meter. This is done in the spring and after fruiting, in half the dosage.

Despite the importance of the presence of nitrogen in fertilizers, its excess leads to the following negative consequences:

  • apricot resistance to diseases decreases;
  • leads to gum formation;
  • fruits ripen with a delay;
  • extra-long growths appear (up to 100 cm).

On a note. If the region is dominated by heavy acidic soils, then adding calcium will be beneficial.

For organic fertilizers There is a deadline - every 3-4 years, but if there is sodding, they are not needed at all. It is recommended to use liquid fertilizers. If they are dry, then they are poured into the grooves immediately before watering.

Note! Abundant watering will be necessary during the period of hardening of fruit seeds, their active growth and shoot growth.

If the tree is overloaded with fruits, then next year the harvest will be scanty and with small apricots. To avoid this, you need to trim the crown every year in spring. You can also manually thin out the fruits after setting them.

Phytosanitary hygiene of apricot trees involves the following actions:

  1. Diseased branches and shoots are removed and subsequently burned.
  2. The wounds are cleaned, disinfected and putty.
  3. Carrion, sick and bad crops are collected and also burned.
  4. Do the same with diseased leaves.
  5. Every year in the fall or as soon as early spring arrives, the stem part of the apricot is disinfected with lime.

When does apricot begin to bear fruit?

In what year the apricot will begin to bear fruit after planting depends on a number of factors.

Apricot bears fruit

Firstly, This is a planting method. If the plant is planted using seedlings, the first fruits will appear in 3-4 years.

Note! Not only wildflower, but also other stone fruit plants, such as cherry plum or plum, are suitable as a rootstock for an apricot tree. The main thing when planting is that the root part of the rootstock should not go too deep into the ground; it must rise 5-6 cm above the soil level.

The second important condition early fruiting of apricot, is right choice seat. The seedling must be protected with north side so that the rootstock is not exposed to cold winds. Groundwater at the planting site should be at a decent distance from the root system of the tree. Apricot does not like waterlogging, otherwise its roots will rot and the crop will die.

Third, The time of fruiting will depend on the variety of apricot. In fact, there are many varieties of this plant. Therefore, when purchasing seedlings of a particular variety, you should focus on the region, climatic conditions and qualitative indicators plants.

Important! If a gardener takes the risk of planting an apricot seed, the first sprouts will appear in a year, so the first harvest will only be harvested after 5-6 years.

Common cultural problems

Why does apricot not bear fruit?

Why sometimes there are no fruits on apricots? How to make a crop bear fruit?

There may be several problems:

  • Heavy clay soils. In this case, organic waste is embedded in the tree trunk circles, manure, sawdust and sand are added, and the soil is dug up in the fall, summer and spring. When the soil is highly acidic, it is “deoxidized” with the help of lime.
  • Lack of moisture.
  • Inability to handle fertilizers. It is necessary to add manure to the tree without exceeding the norm. It contains nitrogen necessary for apricot fruiting. Organic matter will be needed in the spring. In summer, instead of nitrogen, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are more important.

Apricot does not bloom

As you know, if there are no flowers on an apricot, then there will be no fruit. There are various possible reasons, including genetic failures.

Important! Seedlings should be purchased exclusively from trusted places. Immediately inquire about the variety and the expected beginning of fruiting.

The varietal characteristics of apricots vary greatly. For example, one variety begins to bear fruit after 3-4 years, while another crop will produce its first fruits only after 5 years.

Blooming apricot

An old tree that is more than 40 years old will not be able to bloom and bear fruit. Nothing can be done about it. You just need to plant and grow a new plant.

Other factors leading to apricots not gaining color include:

  • poor growing conditions;
  • diseases;
  • rare, irregular feeding.

Apricot blooms but does not bear fruit

It happens that there is plenty of flowering in the spring, but no fruit. This phenomenon is called barren flower.

There are several reasons why apricot blooms but does not bear fruit:

  • there is no pollination;
  • the appearance of diseases and pests;
  • unfavorable weather conditions.

How to deal with this? It’s worth going point by point.

If the tree is self-fertile, then other varieties of apricots (self-fertile) are planted nearby. Self-fertile crops do not have problems with pollination. But sometimes it happens that even in the presence of other apricot varieties, pollination does not occur. It is most often observed in cold rainy weather, when bee activity decreases. To attract insects, flowers are planted between the trees, which must be planted at the same time as the apricots. Some summer residents use the method of spraying crops with honey solution.

Fruitless apricot

Moniliosis is one of the most common diseases of apricots. With a monidial burn, first the flowers wither, and then the branches themselves dry out, so it is no longer possible to say that the tree will bear fruit. Only preventive spraying with a medicine containing copper will help. This is done twice a year: in the fall, after the leaves fall, and in the spring, before the buds swell. The wood is also treated with Bordeaux mixture, cuproxate, champion, and chorus. If it is not possible to get rid of the disease completely, then use a stronger drug, topaz.

Important! Absolutely all branches that have dried out as a result of moniliosis must be cut down and burned.

Pest control - the most common of them are aphids and flower beetles. In order for apricot to begin flowering, the crop at the stage of pink bud formation is treated with the drug confidor.

Confidor

It is also worth discussing what to do in bad weather. Apricots require certain weather conditions to bloom well. In a sleeping state, it is not afraid of frost. But warming in January and February may contribute to the early awakening of the plant. The root begins to consume more oxygen, but this process is hampered by a layer of snow. As a result, the apricot bark and roots simply rot away by spring. The gardener’s task in this case is to remove snow from the tree trunk circle and not plant seedlings in holes.

Early warming is also contraindicated for apricots, since they begin to bloom, and night frosts will not allow the fruits to form. In this case, it is recommended to plant frost-resistant varieties of apricots. But you can also shift the flowering time if you spray the crop with an auxin solution in the fall. In February, the tree is often treated with urea and copper sulfate (for 10 liters of water you will need 700 g of urea and 100 g of copper sulfate).

Preventive measures

As you know, prevention is best treatment. To achieve a good harvest, you will need to follow these growing rules:

  • choose the right apricot variety that grows best in the selected climatic conditions;
  • comply with all conditions for good growth wood;
  • pruning branches in a timely manner;
  • conduct preventative work pest control;
  • carry out disease prevention;
  • add fertilizers to the soil according to recommended rates.

Apricot trees require some care. But if you adhere to the above rules, you can avoid many problems in the future.

Important! When purchasing seedlings, you need to find out more information about the variety. Additional knowledge can be gleaned from relevant literature or the Internet.

Answers to common questions

If the gardener wants to enjoy quality harvest, then before the apricot tree begins to bloom (when the “pink buds” phase has begun), in order to improve fruitfulness, it should be sprayed with an insecticide (for example, mospilan). After flowering ends, repeat treatment. This procedure will be useful for all stone fruits.

Will one apricot tree bear fruit?

Apricot seedlings are not usually differentiated by gender. But there are varieties of this crop that need a pair for pollination. Therefore, when purchasing planting material, you must definitely check with the seller what variety is being sold and how it is fertilized. If there are other varieties of apricots and stone fruit plants growing in the garden, then there is no need to worry about this.

From all that has been said, we can conclude that it is not difficult to achieve fruiting of apricots if you know the rules of care. We need to be aware of pests and diseases. To prevent them from attacking the tree, the crop should be sprayed with Bordeaux mixture or other insecticides for preventive purposes. It is important to apply fertilizing on time and efficiently. Today, apricots can be grown in most of Russia. There are problems with culture, but there are no unsolvable situations.

Many gardeners dream of growing a good harvest of apricots, but this does not always work out. Poor fruiting of a crop is often associated with errors in care. Even a tree that once had a good harvest may experience “sterility.” Why doesn’t the apricot bear fruit? What to do when the plant blooms poorly or there is a barren flower? This will be discussed further.

Apricot care: general rules

For two years after planting apricot seedlings, the tree trunk area should be constantly loosened and mulched. Weeds are cleared regularly. They loosen the soil to a depth of 6-8 cm, because if you drip deeper, you can hit the root system.

Organic and phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are usually not applied to the soil before fruiting begins.

As soon as the apricot tree begins to bear fruit, the following fertilizer composition will need to be added to the soil annually:

  • Ammonium nitrate - 30 g.
  • Superphosphate - 8 g.
  • Potassium salt - 20 g.

The calculation is made per 1 square meter of tree trunk circle.

Nitrogen fertilizers are applied every year at a rate of 20-30 g per 1 square meter. This is done in the spring and after fruiting, in half the dosage.

Despite the importance of the presence of nitrogen in fertilizers, its excess leads to the following negative consequences:

  • apricot resistance to diseases decreases;
  • leads to gum formation;
  • fruits ripen with a delay;
  • extra-long growths appear (up to 100 cm).

On a note. If the region is dominated by heavy acidic soils, then adding calcium will be beneficial.

There is a deadline for organic fertilizers - every 3-4 years, but if there is sod, they are not needed at all. It is recommended to use liquid fertilizers. If they are dry, then they are poured into the grooves immediately before watering.

Note! Abundant watering will be necessary during the period of hardening of fruit seeds, their active growth and shoot growth.

If the tree is overloaded with fruits, then next year the harvest will be scanty and with small apricots. To avoid this, you need to trim the crown every year in spring. You can also manually thin out the fruits after setting them.

Phytosanitary hygiene of apricot trees involves the following actions:

  1. Diseased branches and shoots are removed and subsequently burned.
  2. The wounds are cleaned, disinfected and putty.
  3. Carrion, sick and bad crops are collected and also burned.
  4. Do the same with diseased leaves.
  5. Every year in the fall or as soon as early spring arrives, the stem part of the apricot is disinfected with lime.

When does apricot begin to bear fruit?

In what year the apricot will begin to bear fruit after planting depends on a number of factors.

Apricot bears fruit

Why doesn't the plum tree bear fruit?

Firstly, This is a planting method. If the plant is planted using seedlings, the first fruits will appear in 3-4 years.

Note! Not only wildflower, but also other stone fruit plants, such as cherry plum or plum, are suitable as a rootstock for an apricot tree. The main thing when planting is that the root part of the rootstock should not go too deep into the ground; it must rise 5-6 cm above the soil level.

The second important condition Early fruiting of apricot is the correct choice of planting site. The seedling must be protected from the north side so that the rootstock is not exposed to cold winds. Groundwater at the planting site should be at a decent distance from the root system of the tree. Apricot does not like waterlogging, otherwise its roots will rot and the crop will die.

Third, The time of fruiting will depend on the variety of apricot. In fact, there are many varieties of this plant. Therefore, when purchasing seedlings of a particular variety, you should focus on the region, climatic conditions and quality indicators of the plant.

Important! If a gardener takes the risk of planting an apricot seed, the first sprouts will appear in a year, so the first harvest will only be harvested after 5-6 years.

Why does apricot not bear fruit?

Why sometimes there are no fruits on apricots? How to make a crop bear fruit?

Sweet cherries do not bear fruit: what to do

There may be several problems:

  • Heavy clay soils. In this case, organic waste is embedded in the tree trunk circles, manure, sawdust and sand are added, and the soil is dug up in the fall, summer and spring. When the soil is highly acidic, it is “deoxidized” with the help of lime.
  • Lack of moisture.
  • Inability to handle fertilizers. It is necessary to add manure to the tree without exceeding the norm. It contains nitrogen necessary for apricot fruiting. Organic matter will be needed in the spring. In summer, instead of nitrogen, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are more important.

Apricot does not bloom

As you know, if there are no flowers on an apricot, then there will be no fruit. There are various possible reasons, including genetic failures.

Important! Seedlings should be purchased exclusively from trusted places. Immediately inquire about the variety and the expected beginning of fruiting.

The varietal characteristics of apricots vary greatly. For example, one variety begins to bear fruit after 3-4 years, while another crop will produce its first fruits only after 5 years.

Blooming apricot

An old tree that is more than 40 years old will not be able to bloom and bear fruit. Nothing can be done about it. You just need to plant and grow a new plant.

Other factors leading to apricots not gaining color include:

  • poor growing conditions;
  • diseases;
  • rare, irregular feeding.

Apricot blooms but does not bear fruit

It happens that there is plenty of flowering in the spring, but no fruit. This phenomenon is called barren flower.

There are several reasons why apricot blooms but does not bear fruit:

  • there is no pollination;
  • the appearance of diseases and pests;
  • unfavorable weather conditions.

How to deal with this? It’s worth going point by point.

If the tree is self-fertile, then other varieties of apricots (self-fertile) are planted nearby. Self-fertile crops do not have problems with pollination. But sometimes it happens that even in the presence of other apricot varieties, pollination does not occur. It is most often observed in cold rainy weather, when bee activity decreases. To attract insects, flowers are planted between the trees, which must be planted at the same time as the apricots. Some summer residents use the method of spraying crops with honey solution.

Fruitless apricot

Moniliosis is one of the most common diseases of apricots. With a monidial burn, first the flowers wither, and then the branches themselves dry out, so it is no longer possible to say that the tree will bear fruit.

Only preventive spraying with a medicine containing copper will help. This is done twice a year: in the fall, after the leaves fall, and in the spring, before the buds swell. The wood is also treated with Bordeaux mixture, cuproxate, champion, and chorus.

If it is not possible to get rid of the disease completely, then use a stronger drug, topaz.

Important! Absolutely all branches that have dried out as a result of moniliosis must be cut down and burned.

Pest control - the most common of them are aphids and flower beetles. In order for apricot to begin flowering, the crop at the stage of pink bud formation is treated with the drug confidor.

Confidor

It is also worth discussing what to do in bad weather. Apricots require certain weather conditions to bloom well. In a sleeping state, it is not afraid of frost. But warming in January and February may contribute to the early awakening of the plant. The root begins to consume more oxygen, but this process is hampered by a layer of snow. As a result, the apricot bark and roots simply rot away by spring. The gardener’s task in this case is to remove snow from the tree trunk circle and not plant seedlings in holes.

Early warming is also contraindicated for apricots, since they begin to bloom, and night frosts will not allow the fruits to form. In this case, it is recommended to plant frost-resistant varieties of apricots. But you can also shift the flowering time if you spray the crop with an auxin solution in the fall. In February, the tree is often treated with urea and copper sulfate (for 10 liters of water you will need 700 g of urea and 100 g of copper sulfate).

Preventive measures

As we know, prevention is the best treatment. To achieve a good harvest, you will need to follow these growing rules:

  • choose the right apricot variety that grows best in the selected climatic conditions;
  • observe all conditions for good tree growth;
  • pruning branches in a timely manner;
  • carry out preventive work to eliminate pests;
  • carry out disease prevention;
  • add fertilizers to the soil according to recommended rates.

Why doesn't the apple tree bear fruit?

Apricot trees require some care. But if you adhere to the above rules, you can avoid many problems in the future.

Important! When purchasing seedlings, you need to find out more information about the variety. Additional knowledge can be gleaned from relevant literature or the Internet.

Answers to common questions

If a gardener wants to enjoy a high-quality harvest, then before the apricot tree begins to bloom (when the “pink buds” phase has begun), in order to improve fruitfulness, it should be sprayed with an insecticide (for example, mospilan). After flowering ends, repeat treatment. This procedure will be useful for all stone fruits.

Will one apricot tree bear fruit?

Apricot seedlings are not usually differentiated by gender. But there are varieties of this crop that need a pair for pollination. Therefore, when purchasing planting material, you must definitely check with the seller what variety is being sold and how it is fertilized. If there are other varieties of apricots and stone fruit plants growing in the garden, then there is no need to worry about this.

From all that has been said, we can conclude that it is not difficult to achieve fruiting of apricots if you know the rules of care. We need to be aware of pests and diseases. To prevent them from attacking the tree, the crop should be sprayed with Bordeaux mixture or other insecticides for preventive purposes. It is important to apply fertilizing on time and efficiently. Today, apricots can be grown in most of Russia. There are problems with culture, but there are no unsolvable situations.

Source: https://7ogorod.ru/plodovye-derevya/ne-plodonosit-abrikos.html

Planting apricot pits in the fall - Cottage, garden, vegetable garden, indoor plants

Apricot, as a fruit, has many benefits. We like its tender, tasty pulp with subtle aroma. If you don’t like sour fruits, then apricot is “just right”, its taste is sweetish, almost not sour, you can even call it neutral. It is a storehouse of natural vitamins, fruit acids and microelements, such as potassium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus. Apricots contain potassium and magnesium in sufficient quantities, and they - natural stimulants rhythmic work of the heart.

In Russia, apricot grows mainly in the southern regions. Breeders have developed adapted varieties for colder regions. You can buy apricot seedlings, and according to the seller, the variety is adapted to your area. But there is no guarantee that this is true. You will see the result, perhaps next year, when the seedling “does not wake up” in the spring after a frosty winter. Or vice versa, if you are lucky, you will be cheerful and bloom with cheerful spring leaves.

Buying seedlings can be an expensive pleasure, because just one copy is not enough. For good fruiting and pollination, you need to purchase and plant at least 2-3 trees.

How to grow apricots from seeds at home? Is this kind of apricot propagation possible? Let's get a reliable, experience-tested answer to this question. When planting from seed, having planted a sufficient number of seeds, you will receive many seedlings from which you can choose the strongest and healthiest. Amateur gardeners have already experimented with planting apricots from stones. What results did they get?

Is it possible to grow an apricot from a seed?

Growing an apricot from a seed is not at all difficult. If you take an apricot seed for planting, you can grow a tree from it in two ways:

  1. plant the seed in the ground in the garden before winter;
  2. plant a seed in a pot at home

Will an apricot grown from a seed bear fruit?

The seedling will grow in both cases. Should he be vaccinated? Flowering and fruiting will begin in a few, usually 5-7 years. But the fruit may not taste as good as expected.

An apricot, unlike, for example, a peach, can produce unpredictable offspring from the seed, which do not always repeat the characteristics of the variety from which it was taken. The fruits can be large and sweet, or they can be sour and small. To obtain a certain variety, grafting is necessary.

You can graft several varieties onto one tree. Cross pollination will increase yield.

How to germinate an apricot kernel

Looking at apricot kernel, it is clear that it is difficult for a sprout to break through such a hard shell. Each seed already contains the entire genetic program for the development of the tree, flowering and fruiting, its size and characteristics. How to do everything correctly and get this program to start working?

When planting directly into the ground in the fall, you need to soak the seeds and select only those that have sunk. Floated seeds are not suitable for planting. It is necessary to plant as many seeds as possible in case they are eaten by rodents or birds. With this method of planting, the seeds will undergo a natural cycle of stratification (passing through a period of cold temperatures), and the sprouted seeds will be well adapted specifically to your area.

If you are not sure that the seeds will not be damaged by rodents or birds, then try planting them in pots. The seeds will need to be artificially stratified. Follow this procedure:

  • Select seeds only from ripe, large, tasty fruits. Then the probability of getting good offspring will be greater;
  • pits from eaten apricots immediately, without drying them and without waiting time (according to the behest of the famous breeder Michurin - from the mouth straight into action!) Immerse them in water;
  • the floating seeds must be thrown away - they will not sprout;
  • Remove any remaining pulp from the seeds that have sunk to the bottom;
  • wrap the seeds in a wet cloth, then place them in a plastic container and place them on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator;
  • You can place the bones in wet sand and in the basement, if possible. Optimal temperature stratification +2˚С.
  • once a week check the bones to see if they are covered with mold, ventilate them;
  • To enhance the effect, you can sometimes place the container with the seeds in the freezer for 2-3 hours;
  • after a while the seeds will begin to crack and sprouts will appear;
  • the duration of the stratification period is 90-100 days.

Source: https://site/posadka-abrikosa-kostochkoy-osenyu/

9 reasons why apricots don’t bloom or bear fruit - a complete guide to the problem

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. Why this happens and what to do to ensure that the apricot bears fruit every year - the editors of HozGround.guru will sort everything out. And the first thing you should pay attention to is the age of the crop - there is a possibility that the fruiting period has not yet arrived.

For what year after planting does apricot bear fruit?

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

Reasons for lack of color on apricot

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

  • type of crop - grafted onto a rootstock, self-rooted, grown from a seed;
  • the period of entry into fruiting characteristic of a particular variety;
  • climatic conditions;
  • agricultural cultivation technology;
  • diseases and pests;
  • self-fertility (self-sterility) of the variety, presence or absence of pollinators;

Let's look at 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 a fast-growing variety. As for the gradation by varieties, we distinguish between those that begin bearing fruit early and those that develop slowly:

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

A detailed description of each variety, including the timing of fruiting, can be found in the “Apricot Varieties” section of our website.

Early entry into fruiting (early fruitfulness) will be shown by varieties and hybrids carrying genes of the Manchurian, Central Asian, Iranian-Transcaucasian groups. The last two groups are not winter hardy, so they are cultivated only in the southern regions.

Harsh winter

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

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

Reducing t to +2...1 °C is detrimental to flowers and leads to irregular fruiting. A short excursion into the biology of apricot will help you understand the reason.

The formation and differentiation (separation) 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 planting begins on annual bouquet branches approximately in the second half of July, in mid-August - on shoots of the second wave.

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

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

Sprinkling, the use of fogging units, watering apricots before freezing, and smoking are also practiced as options for saving apricot color.
Delays flowering and spraying - treating apricot with 3% Bordeaux mixture, acting as a fungicide. The crop is processed in early spring, before warming, at a temperature not lower than +5 °C, or in autumn.

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

Incorrect landing

Improper planting can be an indirect cause of lack of flowering. To the most common problems relate:

  1. Timing. The climate of a number of regions (from the Moscow region to Siberia) suggests spring planting or sowing seeds. Saplings or seedlings planted in the fall in northern latitudes demonstrate slow development and delayed fruiting.
  2. Choosing a location. Dry, sunny, high and windless area with neutral pH, groundwater no closer than 2 meters, sandy loam, light loam - the best place for apricot. Both poor (sandy) and overly enriched soils with organic matter are unacceptable for growing crops. In the first case, the apricot develops slowly, in the second it “fattens” - the green mass develops to the detriment of fruit formation.
  3. Selecting a seat height. In northern latitudes, it is appropriate to plant apricots not in holes, but on embankments (mounds of earth) 0.5-0.7 meters high. A tall rootstock is also important, in which the grafting site will be above the level of the snow cover.

In the video below - useful tips according to the rules and techniques for growing apricots:

Improper care

Apricots don't bloom - it's a matter of care. Common care mistakes:

  1. Low level of agricultural technology: insufficient watering, lack of timely fertilizing. The apricot root system is superficial, its roots lie in upper layers soil 10-60 cm from the surface, and only the vertical (tap) root penetrates to a depth of 2 meters. This means that the plant likes frequent, but not abundant watering, and not abundant, frequent feeding.
  2. Incorrect power supply. An imbalance of the NPK complex, when the nitrogen component dominates and there is a lack of microelements, in particular potassium, calcium, iron, etc. Do it right.
  3. Incorrect pruning: excessively short, late, traumatic, causing gum formation. A short one pushes the seedling away or deprives the tree of the opportunity to form buds; a late one threatens to freeze in winter. The lack of rejuvenating pruning of aging apricots is the reason for a reduction in productivity or cessation of fruiting.
  4. Incorrect preparation for winter: late formative and sanitary pruning at temperatures below +7...8 °C, when the cuts heal poorly and may freeze, not whitened cuts, lack of shelter for young trees.

Fertilizing, especially nitrogen-containing and organic matter, is stopped in July. Late application means poor wintering - the wood does not ripen, 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, a mineral complex is introduced in August with an emphasis on potassium, phosphorus and other microelements that accelerate the ripening of shoots.

The following agricultural practices will help make apricots bloom and bear fruit:

  1. Pulling back branches in spring - shoots are bent to a drooping or horizontal position relative to the trunk.
  2. Furrowing in May-June - making thin cuts with a sharp knife on the branches and trunk.
  3. Application of a nitrogen-phosphorus complex in April, then at the end of May or at the beginning of June, in the phase of intensive shoot growth. A 2-3 times increased dose of nitrogen and phosphorus will produce fruit the following year.

High doses of fertilizers stimulate the formation of fruit buds only until the end of shoot growth. At the end of growth, fertilizing does not affect the formation of buds in any concentration.

The methods listed above are united by one principle: artificially increasing the concentration of tree cell sap in the phase of its intensive development. The essence of the method is to increase the rate of fruit bud formation by increasing the concentration of sugars, enzymes, microelements and other nutrients.

If there is no threat of the bark becoming warm, in regions with a high level of snow cover and non-critically low winter temperatures, grafting onto a low-growing (dwarf) rootstock is practiced. The method brings apricot flowering and fruiting closer by 1-3 years.

Diseases of various origins

Diseases leading to lack of flowering and fruit formation:

  1. Gum flow is a response to traumatic factors: improper pruning, frostbite or sunburn, fungal diseases. It manifests itself as the release of a stretchy sticky liquid that hardens and turns into a glassy mass. The affected areas are cleaned of gum, treated with vitriol, and covered with pitch.
  2. Moniliosis. Monilial burn is accompanied by a lack of flowering - the color and unopened buds fade and fall off. The disease can be distinguished by falling leaves and burns in the form of ulcers on the wood. The fight consists of treating with copper-containing agents - Bordeaux mixture before flowering, after - copper sulfate, using copper-containing fungicides - Horus, Kuprosat, etc.
  3. Clusterosporiasis. It affects all parts of the apricot, most often young shoots, buds, and ovaries. With clasterosporiasis, orange-red spots are observed on the wood of the trunk and branches, transforming into ulcerative areas; apricot leaves become covered with brown spots and small holes. Control measures - pruning, treatment with drugs active against the disease, planting resistant varieties: Louise, Red-cheeked, Hungarian Best, Pineapple.

Insect pests

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

  • plum codling moth, devouring apricot blossom at the formation stage;
  • leaf roller, feeding on unopened buds and buds;
  • weevil and hawthorn butterfly eating buds, flowers and young leaves;
  • fruit striped moth.

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

There are flowers, but no fruits - reasons and solution

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

  • self-sterile or poorly pollinating variety;
  • lack of pollinating insects;
  • weather.

The last point is clear: drought and heat, like rainy, cold summers, have a detrimental effect on fruit formation. Rain prevents the flight of pollinating insects, and cold weather and, on the contrary, sudden heat, affect the quality of pollen.

Choosing a self-sterile variety

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

  • self-fertile varieties

Apricot is one of the most delicate stone fruits fruit trees. Even mild frosts are destructive for its blossoming buds, as a result of which gardeners often lose their entire harvest. But the lack of fruits is not always a consequence natural phenomena. Sometimes the reason is that the tree simply has not reached the required age. From this article you will learn what year apricots bear fruit depending on the planting method.

How long does it take for a grafted apricot to bear fruit?

It is not necessary to use only wildflower (perch) as a rootstock for apricot; you can also take other crops: blackthorn, plum. Fruits on grafted branches will appear in 2-3 years.

When does apricot begin to bear fruit after planting as a seedling?

Most often, apricots with this method of planting begin to bloom and produce ovaries within 3-5 years. In order not to delay this moment, when planting it is very important not to lower the root collar of the seedling too deeply and to choose the right place (with protection from the wind from the north and the absence of stagnant water). Each apricot variety begins to bear fruit at a different age:

  • at 3 years - “Frost-resistant”, “Laureate”, “Honey” and “Pinsky”;
  • at 4 years old - “Mountain Abakan” and “Sayan”;
  • at 5 years old - “Kichiginsky” and “Chelyabinsky early”.

In order for apricot fruiting to occur within the specified period, the variety should be selected according to the area where it will then grow.

When will apricots from the pit bear fruit?

An apricot planted with a seed in summer will delight you with fruits only for 5-6 years of life. During this time, the tree should be pruned. This is necessary in order to create optimal conditions for the ripening of future fruits.

Knowing how many years an apricot begins to bear fruit, you will not needlessly worry about the lack of a harvest on it.

Many gardeners dream of growing a good harvest of apricots, but this does not always work out. Poor fruiting of a crop is often associated with errors in care. Even a tree that once had a good harvest may experience “sterility.” Why doesn’t the apricot bear fruit? What to do when the plant blooms poorly or there is a barren flower? This will be discussed further.

Apricot care: general rules

For two years after planting apricot seedlings, the tree trunk area should be constantly loosened and mulched. Weeds are cleared regularly. They loosen the soil to a depth of 6-8 cm, because if you drip deeper, you can hit the root system.

Organic and phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are usually not applied to the soil before fruiting begins.

As soon as the apricot tree begins to bear fruit, the following fertilizer composition will need to be added to the soil annually:

  • Ammonium nitrate - 30 g.
  • Superphosphate - 8 g.
  • Potassium salt - 20 g.

The calculation is made per 1 square meter of tree trunk circle.

Nitrogen fertilizers are applied every year at a rate of 20-30 g per 1 square meter. This is done in the spring and after fruiting, in half the dosage.

Despite the importance of the presence of nitrogen in fertilizers, its excess leads to the following negative consequences:

  • apricot resistance to diseases decreases;
  • leads to gum formation;
  • fruits ripen with a delay;
  • extra-long growths appear (up to 100 cm).

On a note. If the region is dominated by heavy acidic soils, then adding calcium will be beneficial.

There is a deadline for organic fertilizers - every 3-4 years, but if there is sod, they are not needed at all. It is recommended to use liquid fertilizers. If they are dry, then they are poured into the grooves immediately before watering.

Note! Abundant watering will be necessary during the period of hardening of fruit seeds, their active growth and shoot growth.

If the tree is overloaded with fruits, then next year the harvest will be scanty and with small apricots. To avoid this, you need to trim the crown every year in spring. You can also manually thin out the fruits after setting them.

Phytosanitary hygiene of apricot trees involves the following actions:

  1. Diseased branches and shoots are removed and subsequently burned.
  2. The wounds are cleaned, disinfected and putty.
  3. Carrion, sick and bad crops are collected and also burned.
  4. Do the same with diseased leaves.
  5. Every year in the fall or as soon as early spring arrives, the stem part of the apricot is disinfected with lime.

When does apricot begin to bear fruit?

In what year the apricot will begin to bear fruit after planting depends on a number of factors.

Firstly, This is a planting method. If the plant is planted using seedlings, the first fruits will appear in 3-4 years.

Note! Not only wildflower, but also other stone fruit plants, such as cherry plum or plum, are suitable as a rootstock for an apricot tree. The main thing when planting is that the root part of the rootstock should not go too deep into the ground; it must rise 5-6 cm above the soil level.

The second important condition Early fruiting of apricot is the correct choice of planting site. The seedling must be protected from the north side so that the rootstock is not exposed to cold winds. Groundwater at the planting site should be at a decent distance from the root system of the tree. Apricot does not like waterlogging, otherwise its roots will rot and the crop will die.

Third, The time of fruiting will depend on the variety of apricot. In fact, there are many varieties of this plant. Therefore, when purchasing seedlings of a particular variety, you should focus on the region, climatic conditions and quality indicators of the plant.

Important! If a gardener takes the risk of planting an apricot seed, the first sprouts will appear in a year, so the first harvest will only be harvested after 5-6 years.

Common cultural problems

Why does apricot not bear fruit?

Why sometimes there are no fruits on apricots? How to make a crop bear fruit?

There may be several problems:

  • Heavy clay soils. In this case, organic waste is embedded in the tree trunk circles, manure, sawdust and sand are added, and the soil is dug up in the fall, summer and spring. When the soil is highly acidic, it is “deoxidized” with the help of lime.
  • Lack of moisture.
  • Inability to handle fertilizers. It is necessary to add manure to the tree without exceeding the norm. It contains nitrogen necessary for apricot fruiting. Organic matter will be needed in the spring. In summer, instead of nitrogen, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are more important.

Apricot does not bloom

As you know, if there are no flowers on an apricot, then there will be no fruit. There are various possible reasons, including genetic failures.

Important! Seedlings should be purchased exclusively from trusted places. Immediately inquire about the variety and the expected beginning of fruiting.

The varietal characteristics of apricots vary greatly. For example, one variety begins to bear fruit after 3-4 years, while another crop will produce its first fruits only after 5 years.

An old tree that is more than 40 years old will not be able to bloom and bear fruit. Nothing can be done about it. You just need to plant and grow a new plant.

Other factors leading to apricots not gaining color include:

  • poor growing conditions;
  • diseases;
  • rare, irregular feeding.

Apricot blooms but does not bear fruit

It happens that there is plenty of flowering in the spring, but no fruit. This phenomenon is called barren flower.

There are several reasons why apricot blooms but does not bear fruit:

  • there is no pollination;
  • the appearance of diseases and pests;
  • unfavorable weather conditions.

How to deal with this? It’s worth going point by point.

If the tree is self-fertile, then other varieties of apricots (self-fertile) are planted nearby. Self-fertile crops do not have problems with pollination. But sometimes it happens that even in the presence of other apricot varieties, pollination does not occur. It is most often observed in cold rainy weather, when bee activity decreases. To attract insects, flowers are planted between the trees, which must be planted at the same time as the apricots. Some summer residents use the method of spraying crops with honey solution.

Moniliosis is one of the most common diseases of apricots. With a monidial burn, first the flowers wither, and then the branches themselves dry out, so it is no longer possible to say that the tree will bear fruit. Only preventive spraying with a medicine containing copper will help. This is done twice a year: in the fall, after the leaves fall, and in the spring, before the buds swell. The wood is also treated with Bordeaux mixture, cuproxate, champion, and chorus. If it is not possible to get rid of the disease completely, then use a stronger drug, topaz.

Important! Absolutely all branches that have dried out as a result of moniliosis must be cut down and burned.

Pest control - the most common of them are aphids and flower beetles. In order for apricot to begin flowering, the crop at the stage of pink bud formation is treated with the drug confidor.

It is also worth discussing what to do in bad weather. Apricots require certain weather conditions to bloom well. In a sleeping state, it is not afraid of frost. But warming in January and February may contribute to the early awakening of the plant. The root begins to consume more oxygen, but this process is hampered by a layer of snow. As a result, the apricot bark and roots simply rot away by spring. The gardener’s task in this case is to remove snow from the tree trunk circle and not plant seedlings in holes.

Early warming is also contraindicated for apricots, since they begin to bloom, and night frosts will not allow the fruits to form. In this case, it is recommended to plant frost-resistant varieties of apricots. But you can also shift the flowering time if you spray the crop with an auxin solution in the fall. In February, the tree is often treated with urea and copper sulfate (for 10 liters of water you will need 700 g of urea and 100 g of copper sulfate).

Preventive measures

As we know, prevention is the best treatment. To achieve a good harvest, you will need to follow these growing rules:

  • choose the right apricot variety that grows best in the selected climatic conditions;
  • observe all conditions for good tree growth;
  • pruning branches in a timely manner;
  • carry out preventive work to eliminate pests;
  • carry out disease prevention;
  • add fertilizers to the soil according to recommended rates.

Apricot trees require some care. But if you adhere to the above rules, you can avoid many problems in the future.

Important! When purchasing seedlings, you need to find out more information about the variety. Additional knowledge can be gleaned from relevant literature or the Internet.

Answers to common questions

If a gardener wants to enjoy a high-quality harvest, then before the apricot tree begins to bloom (when the “pink buds” phase has begun), in order to improve fruitfulness, it should be sprayed with an insecticide (for example, mospilan). After flowering ends, repeat treatment. This procedure will be useful for all stone fruits.

Will one apricot tree bear fruit?

Apricot seedlings are not usually differentiated by gender. But there are varieties of this crop that need a pair for pollination. Therefore, when purchasing planting material, you must definitely check with the seller what variety is being sold and how it is fertilized. If there are other varieties of apricots and stone fruit plants growing in the garden, then there is no need to worry about this.

From all that has been said, we can conclude that it is not difficult to achieve fruiting of apricots if you know the rules of care. We need to be aware of pests and diseases. To prevent them from attacking the tree, the crop should be sprayed with Bordeaux mixture or other insecticides for preventive purposes. It is important to apply fertilizing on time and efficiently. Today, apricots can be grown in most of Russia. There are problems with culture, but there are no unsolvable situations.

Adding an article to a new collection

A young and healthy apricot in your garden pleased you with flowers, but did not bear fruit? Or an adult apricot has not bloomed or bear fruit for several years? Let's look at the possible causes together and consider ways to eliminate and correct them - it's not difficult.

On average, a healthy apricot tree begins to bear fruit at the age of 3-5 and continues to do so with proper care for up to forty years! What to do if year after year you cannot wait for the harvest from this crop?

To achieve regular and abundant fruiting of apricot, you should know how to handle this heat-loving plant on your site. Below are some of the most probable causes lack of fruits and advice on how to behave in these situations.

1. Wrong apricot variety selected

Apricot variety Snegirek

Firstly, the variety must be winter-hardy, that is, zoned. For example, Snegirek, Honey, Hardy, Lel, Russian, Triumph Northern etc. The right choice is your primary task if you want to fully grow this southern tree in our mid-latitudes. Therefore, check the information about the variety you have chosen in advance and buy seedlings only from a trusted seller.

If you want several varieties of apricots to grow on your plot, choose options that differ in ripening periods. In this case, you will be able to collect ripe fruits within 1-2 weeks, and with a successful combination of varieties – up to a month. Moreover, if you are not engaged in harvesting apricot fruits in industrial scale, it is not necessary to plant several trees of each variety. One copy will be enough - after all, it’s healthy mature tree bears fruit quite abundantly.

Secondly, do not forget that not all apricot varieties are self-fertile; some require pollinating trees in the immediate environment to bear fruit. If you have planted a self-sterile apricot variety ( Early Marusich, Shiraz, Serafi, Mirsanjali, Babai etc.), make sure that the garden contains self-fertile pollinating varieties - cultivated ( Khabarovsk, Red-cheeked, Cupid, Bukhara, Pineapple etc.) or just wild ones. It is important to remember that the main variety and its pollinators must have the same flowering time, otherwise pollination will not occur and ovaries will not form.

If it is not possible to plant new trees on the site, regraft the non-fruiting apricot with cuttings of self-fertile varieties.

2. The tree grows in inappropriate conditions

The place for the apricot seedling should be warm and sunny, protected from wind and drafts, and the soil should be light, loose and fertile, preferably loamy, neutral in acidity. Groundwater should not lie high, ideally no closer than 2 m from the surface. On excessively moist soils, be sure to arrange drainage.

Some gardeners advise painting the vertical surfaces closest to the apricot tree (fence, house wall) white so that reflected sunlight helps the plant receive more light and warmth, which it loves so much.

To prevent poor or insufficient pollination from causing the lack of apricot fruiting, attract more beneficial pollinating insects (bees, bumblebees) to the garden. To do this, plant nectar-bearing flowers in the spaces between the rows, which will bloom simultaneously with the apricot varieties you have chosen. Choose: clover, daisies, calendula, marigolds, sweet clover, dandelions, yarrow. Sometimes gardeners even resort to spraying the garden with a honey solution (1 teaspoon of honey per 1 glass of water), which also attracts insects.

To prevent the tree from freezing during a slushy or snowless winter, you should properly prepare it for the cold season. If necessary, carry out sanitary pruning of the apricot, then treat it with 3% Bordeaux mixture to protect against fungal infections, whiten the trunk and wrap the entire tree with dense agrofibre.

3. Apricots are pruned incorrectly or not at all.

Apricot pruning scheme in autumn

Apricot is characterized by rapid and abundant fouling. Do not forget about annual regulatory pruning of the tree in order to remove overdried, improperly growing and diseased branches, which can also negatively affect apricot fruiting.

Pruning is carried out in spring or autumn. Spring pruning suitable for late-ripening apricot varieties (after it the shoots grow more actively and more flower buds are formed), early varieties are recommended to remove part of the branches in autumn. The gardener’s task in this case is to correctly adjust the ratio of fruit and leaf branches in order to maintain the harvest in the achieved quantity and prevent weakening of the tree’s growth.

In the summer (around mid-June), pinch off all the apical buds of young branches - this will provoke the growth of overgrowing shoots that form next year's flower buds, which results in richer fruiting.

Summer pruning of apricot is advisable only if there is abundant watering! In hot weather and a dry kidney, it will not bring results.

Old trees that have stopped bearing fruit are recommended for anti-aging pruning, which is also carried out in the fall. It involves removing old bare branches and wood, as well as shortening overgrown branches in the upper part of the crown. With a high degree of probability, this procedure will help your apricot to bloom and bear fruit profusely again next year.

4. Improper watering and fertilization

In average weather in the middle zone, apricots are watered four times during the season:

  • when the shoots begin to grow, it is usually mid-spring (April);
  • when shoot growth is most intense - usually the end of spring (May);
  • before fruit ripening - 2-3 weeks;
  • in late autumn (moisture-recharging irrigation).

Of course this schedule needs to be adjusted depending on weather conditions. If the season is cold and wet, apricots do not need additional watering. And if the summer is dry and extremely hot, it won’t hurt to “water” the tree generously several more times, in addition to those listed above.

Water apricots in the morning or evening when there is no direct sun. Make sure that the water does not stagnate at the roots and that the soil is sufficiently loose. Remember about the golden mean - both drought and waterlogging (and especially a sharp change in these conditions) are equally harmful to apricots. In the first case, you will get dried out or unformed fruits, and in the second case, the fruits will burst. For one watering, 3-5 year old plants need 5-8 buckets of water, and 7-10 year old and older plants need 12-15 buckets.

Regular fertilization of apricots will also not harm. However, unless necessary, do not get carried away with fertilizing before the tree begins to bear fruit. Typically, trees are fertilized once a year: young ones are more suitable with organic matter (rotted manure diluted with water, humus - about 5 kg per tree), and for adults who have been bearing fruit for a long time - mineral complexes (for example, 800-900 g of superphosphate + 250 g of potassium chloride + 350 -370 g of ammonium nitrate per tree).

Depending on the composition of the soil in your area, the fertilizing scheme and the composition of the applied fertilizers can be adjusted, for example, add peat, lime, etc. every few years.

Also, do not forget to get rid of weeds in a timely manner and remove leaves that have fallen in large quantities so that the roots do not rest under their “cushion”.

5. Pests and diseases of apricot

Tree care and abundant apricot fruiting will not be complete without the prevention of its diseases, as well as timely measures to combat diseases and pests. Fungal diseases of apricot (moniliosis, clasterosporiasis) or insects (codling moths, leaf rollers) can deprive you of your harvest.

The main preventive measure in both cases is spraying the tree with 3% Bordeaux mixture - in the fall after leaf fall and in the spring before the buds swell.

Carry out spring spraying only after sanitary pruning and cleaning of the affected areas of the bark, but before covering the cuts.

To keep your apricot orchard healthy and fruitful, no incredible effort is required. Everything is quite simple - provide the trees with a warm and bright place, “feed” and “water” them, trim them regularly and protect them from diseases. And then the fragrant orange fruits-suns will not keep you waiting long.

continuation

What should be the agrotechnical care in an apricot orchard?

Regardless of the type of garden, variety, rootstock, crown shape, soil climatic conditions area, direction of use of products, agrotechnical care is carried out in a complex. The more intensive the garden, the more high-quality agrotechnical care is required.

The complex of agrotechnical garden care includes soil maintenance, fertilizing, watering, pruning and crown shaping, crop preservation, garden repair and restoration, protection from pests and diseases.

a) Caring for young and fruit-bearing gardens

Agrotechnical care in a young apricot orchard is aimed at ensuring the growth and development of trees, improving the condition of the root system, correct crown formation and accelerating fruiting.

Depending on the growth vigor of the varieties, the annual growth of shoots should not be less than 80-140 cm, and for lateral shoots 60-100 cm. To achieve such success, you need high level maintenance and cultivation of the soil, provision of moisture and nutrition for trees, as well as timely implementation of protective measures against pests and diseases.

Rice. 4. Intensive young garden

The main task of agrotechnical care in a fruit-bearing apricot orchard is: ensuring good annual growth, obtaining high annual yields, which are possible in the conditions of the given area, with minimal labor consumption per unit of production (kg, quintal, ton), and, if possible, prolonging the productivity of trees and protection of the garden from natural, climatic and anthropogenic factors. During this period, the growth of annual shoots is approximately 30-40 cm.

b) Pruning and shaping of apricot trees

Trimming and shaping fruit crops, including apricot - these are the main agrotechnical measures that are carried out constantly to regulate growth and development, improve productivity and quality of fruits. Therefore, the purpose and task of pruning is determined depending on biological features breed, variety, age of the garden, soil type, climatic conditions, level of agrotechnical measures, condition of the trees, structure of the garden, organizational conditions and others. Fruiting apricot branches live 5-6 years, depending on location, light conditions and pruning methods; they bear fruit mainly for 2-4 years.

Most of the fruiting organs are on 2-5 year old branches. On 7-8 year old branches the flowers dry out and fall off; if they remain, they are very few. The main part of the harvest is tied on 3-4 year old branches in young gardens (up to 4-6 years). As a result of proper pruning, growth and development improves, and the tree is formed according to the planned crown shape. To ensure anchorage and uniform light penetration, free conduct of mechanical and handmade, including harvesting, trees are pruned so that the branches in the crown are evenly spaced.

Pruning in a fruit-bearing garden is carried out for good growth and development of trees, crop regulation, improvement of fruit quality, long-term productivity of the garden, and also to prevent trees from overgrowing.

When shortening, pruning is carried out only by 1/2 - 1/3 of the annual, perennial or fruiting shoots. When thinning, the mentioned organs are cut off at the base.

When the crown reaches a length of 1.5 m, above the 5th or 6th skeletal branches, the central conductor is shortened. The upper skeletal branch should be almost equal in thickness to the central conductor, and its angle should be at least 45°. Then the side shoots of the skeletal branches of the upper tier are shortened.

In order to extend the productivity period of old apricot trees, they are rejuvenated. During rejuvenation, skeletal branches and growing shoots are shortened by 1/3 - 1/2 parts. At the same time, skeletal, semi-skeletal and growing branches, broken, dried out and damaged by pests and diseases, are removed from the base.

After rejuvenation due to the growth of new shoots, to restore the crown, well-developed shoots are left and the excess ones are removed. After 2-3 years, the tree goes into full fruiting with good quality fruits.

In the republic's conditions, from the end of autumn after the leaves fall until the buds begin to open in the spring, with the exception of cold weather (-5°C) and rainy cloudy days, apricot trees can be pruned. If, as a result of pruning, damage to the bark with a diameter of more than 2 cm occurs, it is recommended to use a sharp blade of pruning shears or a garden knife to cut off the surface of the damaged area, clean it and apply garden varnish or yellow or yellow paint. Brown, prepared in vegetable drying oil. You can also use a mixture of clay, water and fresh cow dung.

c) Soil use

After establishing the garden, depending on the soil and climatic conditions of the area, rootstocks and moisture availability, the use of row spacing is determined. Based on the results of many years scientific research The following soil maintenance scheme is recommended: black fallow, steam green manure or green manure.

The soil is cultivated in such a way that it does not erode under the influence of wind and water.

In the inter-rows of young gardens it is recommended to grow cotton, vegetables, legumes, melons and annual herbs. In the inter-rows of rain-fed gardens, peas (nahut), lentils, flax, etc. are recommended as green manure. It is better to keep the soil fallow. Sowing tall crops such as sunflower, corn, tobacco, and grains in the rows of the garden is not recommended. Tree trunk circles Depending on the age and crown of the tree, it is necessary to constantly loosen and remove weeds.

Figure 5. Soil maintenance system for black fallow

The row spacing of a young garden is plowed to a depth of 30-50cm, and fruit-bearing gardens to a depth of 18-22cm.

d) Fertilizer

The application of fertilizers depends on many reasons, primarily on the apricot’s need for a certain ratio of nutrients, as well as on the age of the tree, growing conditions (irrigated or rainfed), method of soil maintenance, soil structure and fertility. Apricot trees are more demanding of nitrogen than phosphorus fertilizers.

Organic and mineral (phosphorus, potassium) fertilizers are applied once in 2-4 years in the fall or early spring to a depth of 30-50 cm (in a young garden) and 18-22 cm (in fruit-bearing gardens). Nitrogen fertilizers are applied annually three times at a rate of 20-40 kg (according to a.i.) per hectare during the periods of the beginning of flowering, biological abscission of the ovary and before the formation of buds.

In addition, apricot trees need macro- and microelements (calcium, magnesium, iron, sulfur, zinc, molybdenum, manganese, boron, copper and others). Their deficiency can lead to disruption of the life of trees.

e) Irrigation of gardens

Apricot trees are demanding of soil moisture. By providing moisture in the soil, the yield increases by 1.5 - 2.5 times.

In the conditions of our republic, the irrigation norm is 4-6 thousand m 3. Its volume depends on the amount of annual precipitation in the area, soil composition, evaporation, irrigation method, etc. Depending on the period, moisture-recharging and vegetation irrigation are carried out.

There are different types of water-recharging irrigation in autumn, winter and early spring. The most promising is autumn watering– this is especially important for areas with water shortages. Autumn moisture-recharging watering is carried out after yellowing or massive shedding of leaves, so that the depth of moisture reaches 1.5-2 meters.

Vegetative watering should correspond to the timing of the growing season and the development phases of the trees. The main criterion for irrigation is the lowest moisture capacity of the soil. The total moisture supply of the soil layer should be no less than: on sandy soils - 60%, sandy loam soils - 65-70%, clay-sandy soils - 70-75%, clayey soils - 75-80%.

The amount of growing season watering depends on the soil and climatic conditions of the area, the type of garden, how to use row spacing, and it is recommended to water 5-8 times.

Based on many years of scientific and experimental research data, it has been established following methods irrigation: furrow, check (around the tree trunk), strip, subsoil and drip irrigation. In Tajikistan, apricot orchards are mainly watered along furrows and belt method.

Timely and high-quality implementation The above agrotechnical measures create conditions for good growth and development of trees, accelerate their fruiting, regular fruiting and prolong their productivity. As a result, you can get a net profit in a short period of time.

What pests and diseases affect apricot?

In all zones of the republic, apricot trees are significantly damaged by pests, fungal, viral and bacterial diseases. In some years, in a number of zones and farms, they lead to a decrease in yield and quality of fruit.

To date, the following pests have been registered in the apricot orchards of the republic: bud moth, apricot moth, apricot fat beetle, apricot elephant moth, Tajik case beetle, apricot moth, apricot moth, Turanian false scale, wrinkled moth, gypsy moth, green leaf roller, Fergana leaf moth, scale insect spherical and others. From fungal diseases: moniliosis, klyasterosporiosis, gommosis, rhizoctonia, etc.

In the Sughd region, the main damage to apricot orchards is caused by the apricot thickipe, and currently the apricot black borer.

Among the diseases, especially in the regions of republican subordination and the foothill zones of the Kulyab Valley, moniliosis and clasterosporiasis occur.

Rice. 6 The main diseases of apricot: a – trees damaged by moniliosis, b, c – clusterosporiosis

How to protect apricots from pests and diseases

To successfully protect apricots from pests and diseases, it is necessary to use an integrated method - this is a complex organizational events, including agrotechnical, mechanical, biological and chemical methods, which makes it possible to improve the growth and development of plants and preserve them from pathogenic organisms.

For effective protection apricot from pests and diseases requires the correct choice of site, high-quality seedlings (free from quarantine objects) and the full use of agricultural technology (soil maintenance, improvement of its agrophysical condition, timely application of fertilizers and watering, pruning, shaping of young trees, weed removal, harvesting) .

Chemical treatment is necessary when the number of pests exceeds the established number. It is advisable to use low-toxic pesticides in compliance with recommended standards, and, if possible, alternate them

Pesticides, their rate and processing time

1 Preparation No. 30 40 - 100 Early in spring before buds open - 1
2 Copper sulfate, r.p. (960g/kg) 10 - 15 Scale insects, mites, aphids, leaf rollers, false scale insects Early spring spraying before buds open - 1
3 Horus, VDG 750=1 kg 2 – 3.5g/10 l water Scale insects, mites, aphids, leaf rollers, false scale insects Before flowering with an interval between treatments of 7 - 10 days 15 2
4 Bi-58 NEW 0,8 - 2 Leaf-eaters, aphids, mites, sawflies, scale insects Spraying after flowering 40 1
5 Lepidocid,p (BA-3000 EA/mg) 1,0 – 1,5 Turkestan goldtail, leaf rollers, silkworm 5 1-2
6 Bitoxibacillin, p. (BA-1500 EA/mg) 3,0 – 5,0 Turkestan lacewing, fruit moth, hawthorn Spraying during the growing season against each generation of the pest with an interval of 7-8 days 5 1 - 2
7 Bitoxibacillin, TAB. (BA-1500 EA/mg) 8 -16 tablets/l of water Turkestan goldentail, fruit moth, leaf roller Spraying during the growing season against each generation of the pest with an interval of 7-8 days 5 1 - 2
8 Karbofos, s.p. 60g/10l water Weevils, mites, aphids, leaf rollers, codling moths, scale insects Spraying during the growing season 30 2
9 Sumition, Ph.D. 500g/l 1,0 – 2,4 During the growing season 15 1
10 Samurai, e.g. 500 g/l 1,0 – 2,4 Plum moths, scale insects, aphids During the growing season 20 2
11 Zolon 35% k.e. 0,8 – 1,8 Leaf-eaters, aphids, mites, sawflies During the growing season 30 - 40 2
12 Decis 0,5 - 1 Leaf rollers, aphids, purple scale insects During the growing season 30 2
13 Omite ke.e., (570g/l) EW 57%, ke.e. in (r) 1,5-3 Ticks During the growing season 45 1
14 Fazalon, k.e. 350g/l 2,0 – 2,4 Leaf rollers, aphids During the growing season 45 1
15 Bayleton 25% sp. 0,06 – 1,2 During the growing season 10 2
16 Bordeaux mixture, p. 10 - 20 Moniliosis, klyasterosporiosis, curliness During the growing season - 1
17 Copper oxychloride sp. 4 - 8 Moniliosis, klyasterosporiosis, curliness During the growing season 30 6

In China and Japan, unripe apricot fruits are used for pickling, reminiscent of salted olives.

In some countries, including Russia (Dagestan), apricots are used to prepare National dish"Urbech". In a number of regions of our republic, dietary dishes are prepared: in Zeravshan “dovpak”, in Yazgulyam - “khukhpa”, in other regions of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) - “noshkhukhpa”, etc.

Rice. 8 Technology for preparing apricot juice

In all regions of Tajikistan, dried fruits with low sugar content are used as a seasoning for liquid dishes.

How to dry apricot fruits

Cooking dried fruits is one of the ways to process fruits.

Compared to other fruits, apricots are dried in two ways: open place under sunlight and in electric dryers. In both cases, drying can be carried out either with or without the use of sulfur (fumigation). When fumigated with sulfur, the fruits acquire a golden color, thereby improving their presentation and ensuring their long-term storage.

Rice. 9. Chamber for apricot fumigation

The cheapest and most widely used method of drying in production is under open air using sunlight. The production of high-quality products depends on the drying area and adherence to sulfur fumigation technology.

The area for drying fruits should be on level ground, lubricated with a solution of clay and straw or cement, with a slope towards south side with good ventilation, away from cars and crowded roads and closer to apricot orchards. The site should have a pool with clean water, wooden trays, a fumigation chamber, required amount paper bags, bucket, basin, sulfur, etc. The fumigation chamber consists of 5 pieces of plywood 105-110cm long, 100-105cm wide and 95-100cm high. Such a chamber should accommodate 12-14 trays. The chambers can be made from boards or plastic film. Wooden trays prepared in different sizes 60x90cm, height 5cm.

The production of dried fruits is carried out in stages: fruit collection, sorting, fumigation, drying and storage.

Rice. 10 Solar drying apricot after fumigation

It should be noted that in dried fruits the residues of sulfuric anhydride should not exceed 0.01%.

In this regard, 60 to 200 g of cuttings or lump sulfur are recommended per 100 kg of fruit. Fumigation is carried out as follows. A small hole is dug into which trays with fruits are placed on top of each other. A certain amount of sulfur is placed on a shovel without a handle, set on fire and placed at the bottom of the hole. Cover the trays with a camera. The fumigation period is from 30 to 120 minutes, depending on the degree of ripeness, volume and color of the fruit.

If there is insufficient fumigation, the color of dried fruits turns brown and their quality decreases. With excess fumigation and an increase in sulfur levels, dried fruits become sour and unsuitable for use.

For fumigation, the fruits are removed during the period of technical maturity. After fumigation, it is better to dry the fruits in wooden boxes. If there are not enough boxes, dry them on kraft paper on the ground, scattering the fruits in one layer.

When drying in the sun for 2-3 days, carefully turn the fruits over with your hands, then collect them in a pile and leave them for another 2-3 days to equalize the moisture in the dried fruits. Dried fruits are considered ready if, when you hold them in your fist, no juice comes out of them, the fruits are firm, elastic and easily crumble when you unclench your palm.

Over-dried fruits reduce product quality. If under-dried, they will spoil quickly. Therefore, the quality of dried fruits depends on their timely removal and sorting at the drying site.

After sorting, dried apricots are sent to a warehouse for storage.

List of used literature

  1. Smykov V.K., Isakov M.D. The problem of cultivation in the world // Gardening and viticulture of Moldova - 1986, No. 8 - P.16-17
  2. Sholokhov A.M., Savvina T.M. etc. Winter hardiness in kN. Apricot. M., 1989. – P.42-64
  3. Nuraliev Yu. Medicinal plants. – Dushanbe, 1988. – 285 p.
  4. Kriventsev V.I. Features of the biochemical composition of fruits. In the book: Apricot, M., 1989. – P.134-143
  5. Kamolov N. The nutritional value apricot seeds. //Reports of TAASKhN, 2006, No. 9-10. - P.40-50
  6. Kryukova I.V. Botanical classification and geographical distribution. In kN. Apricot. M., 1989. – P.9-22
  7. Ivanova A.S., Ivanov V.F. Requirements for soil conditions. In kN. Apricot. M., 19889. - P.81.