Apricot Royal

The main botanical garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences is the place where the work on the creation of the variety, which is invariably present in the list of the best fruit trees, took place. Tsarsky apricot went through several stages of improvement and was included in the State Register as a crop for cultivation in the central regions of Russia. Since its inception, it can be confidently asserted that apricot belongs not only to crops that can bear fruit in the south, but can also fully grow and delight gardeners in a temperate climate, in the middle zone of the Russian Federation.

Apricot Tsarsky was bred by the then head of the GBS RAS A.K.Skvortsov and the breeder L.A. Kramarenko in the 80s of the twentieth century. The goal pursued by botanical scientists was to create frost and winter-hardy varieties that do not freeze out in a long winter. The difficulty of their task was to impart new useful features to the southern plant, and they achieved it. Tsarsky is only one of the fruits of their successful work. It is able to grow successfully and bear tasty fruits in the central regions.

The scientific tandem has more than a hundred developments on its account, always successful, but the most famous of them is the unique Tsarsky apricot, resistant to severe frosts, calmly accepting temperature changes and other unfavorable weather conditions. The method used - free pollination for three years allowed to give not only valuable characteristics for breeding, but also excellent taste. The versatility of using the sun fruit is due to the dense, but juicy pulp, tender, with hints of sourness and a pronounced, long aftertaste characteristic of the fruit. Submission to the State Register in 2004 is only a statement of the success of the bred variety, its relevance to gardeners, suitability for breeding in places with unfavorable conditions located in temperate zones.

Tsarsky apricot belongs to fruit plants with a relatively early growing season. A plant with an average height (up to 4 m), branching and shoots, as well as excellent palatability of fruits and high growth intensity. The invariable mention of the decorativeness of a flowering plant is only an additional confirmation of the abundant flowering when the tree is strewn with large white flowers.

Unpretentious care, convenience in picking fruits and high yields are additional bonuses of the variety, which is used by gardeners in the area of ​​difficult weather conditions, previously deprived of the opportunity to grow a heat-loving southern plant. Early ripening makes it attractive to use Tsarsky apricot for commercial profit.

In some sources, you can find the statement that the fruits are not large (from 15 to 20 g), but they have other, indisputable advantages:

• the skin is thin, of a beautiful yellow color, toasty with a raspberry-pink tint from the side of sunlight;

• the stone is small, easily separated from the pulp;

• it will not be difficult to remove it from the stalk;

• the original taste, abundance of juice and medium-density pulp will appeal to anyone;

• versatility of use due to pronounced sweet aroma and pleasant aftertaste, which remains even after intense heat treatment.

After a three-year period, the gardener has the opportunity to collect a bountiful harvest of fruits for sale, eating, preparing blanks for the winter and baking. The small size is compensated not only by a large number of fruits, even from a young tree, but also by the unique taste characteristics of each apricot.

Connoisseurs of exotic fruit talk about the uniqueness of Tsarskoe apricot, which consists in the sweetness of the fruit and a slight sourness. Some experts find in it a pineapple or peach aftertaste, but the main attraction for the consumer is a pronounced apricot aroma, juiciness and softness of medium density, literally melting in the mouth, easily acquiring transparency when cooked. Sugar and acids are presented in an optimal ratio from almost 8% to 1.6%.

There is more potassium in fruits than in dessert varieties, as well as valuable vitamins and microelements. They are even preserved when processed into compotes and jams, and remain when frozen. 4.5 points in the tasting assessment is a clearly underestimated indicator.

The self-fertility of the variety is a weighty argument in favor of growing Tsarskoe apricot, which justifies its name not only by the ability to do practically without watering throughout the season. Early ripening in late July - early August, the ability to maintain a presentation during transportation over a long distance are additional bonuses to the yield inherent in the variety.

From one tree, you can get 26 kg with minimal maintenance. Care and increased provision of the needs of the plant bring this figure to 40 kg. You can enhance fruiting by the presence of another variety on the site, with similar flowering times. In special sources, the average figure is indicated - 30 c / ha, but gardeners' reviews speak of the possibility of increasing it without much effort and even abundant bait - the apricot does not like excess fertilizers in the soil. The stability of the yield indicator with the correct formation of the crown from season to season is observed unchanged.

Experts recommend purchasing seedlings from nurseries with a proven track record and taking care of this in advance. Useful features of Tsarskoe apricot made it a popular crop among gardeners of temperate and cold climates. Planting is recommended at the end of April or in autumn, no later than a month before the onset of cold weather. The soil requirements are looseness and sufficient fertility. If the soil does not correspond to them, it must be ennobled. For disembarkation, a southern direction is recommended, with a low occurrence of groundwater. The pit can be of variable size, it is determined by the dimensions of the root system of the seedling.

You should take care of the neighbors of apricot in advance - it does not tolerate the neighborhood of Rosaceae and Solanaceae, currants and raspberries, cherries and walnuts. When planting, the roots are watered with a nutritious substrate of humus and phosphorus fertilizer, spilled with water in an amount of 20-24 liters.

If you thin out the branches inside the crown, shape it into a bowl, ensure regular watering, the tree will generously reward the gardener. If you whitewash the trunk and cover the branches with a thin film, and mulch the near-trunk circle, the apricot will survive the winter well.