- Authors: folk selection
- Taste: sweet and sour with some excess of acid
- Scent: strong
- The beginning of fruiting varieties: for 4-5 years. After budding, bears fruit for 7-8 years
- Ripening terms: early winter
- Removable maturity: in mid-September
- Keeping quality: up to three months
- Appointment: universal
- Growing regions: central Russia and Belarus, also zoned in a number of regions of northern Ukraine and the Volga region
- Name synonyms: Malus domestica 'Antonovka'
Antonovka Ordinary is a strong-growing "folk" variety that brings gardeners a large and high-quality harvest. On its basis, many varieties and their types have been bred.
Breeding history of the variety
The origin of the Antonovka common apple trees (Malus domestica 'Antonovka') is unknown, but there are some versions. The most common of them says that the Kursk province is the homeland of the variety.
Description of the variety
Trees can reach a height of 6-8 meters, but most often they are formed up to 3-4 m in order to prevent active growth. The crown is oval in young apple trees; with age, it acquires a spherical or wider shape. The leaves are bright green in color, have an oblong-ovoid (less often oval) shape, a rounded base and serrate-crenate jagged edges. Their surface is wrinkled.
The main branches are brown, raised upward. After a while, they spread out to the sides and become overgrown with branched ringlets. Shoots are also brown, geniculate, most often not straight and faceted in cross section. The flowers are saucer-shaped and white with a shade of pink, their petals are oblong.
Features, pros and cons
The variety is held in high esteem by gardeners because of its unpretentiousness to climatic conditions and high resistance. Apple trees can easily endure both severe frosts and hot summers, they are not afraid of strong winds and temperature changes.
Antonovka Ordinary gives a decent harvest, growing even on infertile and poor soil. Its fruits are highly nutritious, they contain a lot of vitamin C and other useful microelements. Doctors recommend these apples even for people with diabetes, as they have a small amount of sugar.
Apple trees are also in demand due to their high marketability (90-91%) and good transportability.
Ripening and fruiting
Apple trees are early winter, the first harvest can be harvested in 4-5 years. After budding, the variety bears fruit for 7-8 years. You can remove the fruits in mid-September, they are greenish in color, and their flesh is firm. After a short storage (20-30 days), the color of the apples becomes yellowish, and the flesh becomes loose and juicy.
Yield
At 10-15 years old, the tree is capable of producing 120-150 kg of fruit. Every year the yield increases, therefore, at 20-25 years old, apple trees yield on average up to 200 kg per tree. If apple picking is regular initially, then apple trees that have been blooming for more than a year will bring harvest periodically.
Fruits and their taste
Apples are greenish-yellow in color. The central fruits on the pouch are rounded, weakly flattened, while the lateral fruits are flattened-rounded. The skin is smooth, the pulp is yellowish, juicy, with a strong pleasant aroma. The taste is sweet and sour, there is some excess of acid.
They are used both fresh and in the preparation of apple jam, marmalade, confiture and jelly. The fruits can be stored for up to three months, they do not fall off the trees.
Growing features
Antonovka Ordinary does not require special care, but there are recommendations that will help you get a good harvest.
Pollination
The variety is not capable of self-pollination, so next to it it is necessary to plant other apple trees that bloom at the same time. Top pollinators:
- Welsey;
- Anise;
- Autumn striped;
- Pepin is saffron.
Top dressing
In order for the fruiting of trees to be active and of high quality, they should be fed about 4 times a year.
The main stages of feeding.
- For the first time, you should fertilize the apple tree with urea. This is done before the beginning of the flowering period. A young tree requires 50-100 grams, while an adult needs 500-600 grams of fertilizer. Top dressing is scattered in the crown projection.
- The second fertilization should be carried out with the first flowers, using 200 grams of potassium sulfate, the same amount of superphosphate, 5 liters of manure and 100 grams of urea.
- For the third feeding, 100 grams of nitroammofoska is used, and it is carried out during the ripening period of apples.
- The last fertilization is carried out after harvesting the fruits. 300 grams of potassium sulfate and the same amount of superphosphate are used.
Frost resistance
The variety has high frost resistance, easily tolerates both winter frosts and simple frosts.
Diseases and pests
Apple trees are scab resistant but often suffer from fruit rot.
The apple tree is a popular fruit crop among gardeners. It can be found in many summer cottages. But at the same time, such trees are often affected by various diseases. It is very important to recognize the disease in time and carry out the necessary procedures for a speedy recovery. Otherwise, the fruits will be spoiled, and the tree itself may die altogether.
