Plum Yellow Hopty

The tireless work of breeders gave the residents of risky farming zones the opportunity to grow southern fruits on their plots. New types of peaches, apricots, cherry plums, sweet cherries and plums have been mastering Siberian gardens for a long time. These include the magnificent yellow-fruited, high-yielding domestic plum of the Yellow Hopty. Its fruits are intended for fresh consumption. For preservation, use is complicated by the need to remove the bitter skin. In this way, you can cook jams and preserves, but fruit is not used in compotes. The variety is characterized by low transportability, which does not allow the use of products for commercial purposes.

The authorship of the plum adapted to difficult climatic conditions belongs to the breeder N.N. Tikhonov, whose inquiring mind could not calm down until he achieved the desired result. As a starting material, he used plant samples from the gardener Hopta, after whom the new variety was named.

A vigorous (up to 250 cm) tree with a short stem has a rounded spreading crown with some flattening and sparse fullness. The skeletal branches are covered with a light brown, shiny bark, covered with a large number of small light lentils. Thick shoots have a direct growth direction, sometimes with subtle bends. Round fruit buds are of medium size, small vegetative ones have a conical shape. Fruiting is observed on bouquet branches.

Features of Yellow Hopty:

• the height of the tree is inferior to the red-fruited and blue-fruited varieties;

• self-fertility and the need for pollinating varieties;

• low calorie content (44 kcal or 181 kJ / 100 g) allows the use of fruits in weight loss diets.

A non-pubescent plate of medium-sized ovoid leaves 11x6 centimeters colored green, has a slightly wrinkled surface with a slight gloss. On young shoots, the leaves are folded like a boat, on old ones, they are unfolded and open. The blossoming snow-white flowers are cup-shaped, collected from contiguous obovate, wavy at the edges, petals 9x6 mm in size.

Rounded, slightly flattened fruits weighing 12-14 g have a clearly visible abdominal suture, a small funnel and are covered with a thin, bitter skin. Plums are light yellow with a touch of prune. The stone is large in size, well separated from the pulp.

Loose but juicy pulp is characterized by high sweetness with pleasant sourness and light aroma. The composition of fruits includes: sugars (10.2-13.6%), titratable acids (1.2-1.7%), dry substances (4.5-21.8%), tannins (0.45- 0.74%), ascorbic acid (4-12 mg / 100 g) and P-active substances (150 mg / 100 g).

The crop is harvested in late August - early September, regular fruiting, comes 4 years after planting annual seedlings.

The variety belongs to the medium-yielding variety - 20-30 kilograms of fruit are harvested from one tree. The peculiarity of the Yellow Hopta is that ripe fruits should not be left on the tree, since the plum is prone to shedding.

The variety is officially adapted for the Ural region and Western Siberia. These are Kurgan, Orenburg, Chelyabinsk and Bashkortostan, as well as the Altai Republic and Altai Territory, Tomsk, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Kemerovo and Tyumen. In practice, the variety is found outside these areas.

The variety is listed as self-fertile, therefore it needs pollinating varieties with the same flowering times.

Self-fertile Yellow Hopty is prone to damping, which must be borne in mind when growing. The time for planting is spring and autumn, but experienced gardeners always prefer the autumn period. In spring, a young plant is planted early - it is important to have time to carry out the procedure before the buds begin to swell. In this case, the snow should already melt, and the earth should warm up. Autumn planting is carried out in the first decade of September, and it is most effective for the future development of the seedling. Before the onset of cold weather, the root system manages to get stronger and adapt, the plant takes root and in early spring enters the growing season along with all nature. A seedling planted in spring takes a long time to root and adapt, and therefore, the season can be considered lost.

After planting, caring for a young tree consists of standard activities. These are watering and weeding, loosening and hilling, autumn preparation for the winter period. Top dressing begins in the third year after planting. A healthy plant needs nitrogen-magnesium fertilizers in spring. in the fall, the trunk circle is covered with a thick layer of organic matter - humus, compost, manure, as well as potassium-phosphorus preparations and wood ash. Sanitary pruning of the Yellow Hopty is carried out in the spring, removing damaged, dry or diseased branches. During formative pruning, root shoots, lateral shoots are removed, leaving the largest and most beautiful.

Despite adaptation to a difficult climate, yellow Hopty has average resistance to clasterosporiosis and is strongly affected by Maslov's seed-eater.In addition to the listed problems, pests such as the moth, aphid and sawfly pose a danger to plums. Preventive treatments with insecticides and fungicides are needed to prevent problems. For those who do not use chemistry on their sites, alternative methods remain, although they are not always effective. Whitewashing with special compounds, for example, lime, casein glue, copper sulfate and others, helps a lot.

The variety has a high winter hardiness with regard to wood, and a lower ability to tolerate frost at the buds. The climatic conditions of risk zones (rains, temperature drops, short summer) are tolerated by the plant quite easily.