The Russian apple variety is known among many gardeners. This plant was obtained by crossing such popular varieties as Antonovka and Babushkino, which gave only the best qualities to the new hybrid. However, even today many do not know about what advantages a plant compares favorably with related varieties - more on this later in the article.

Botanical characteristic

The Russian woman belongs to the late winter-hardy varieties. The plant is highly resistant to frost, which was the main goal of breeders. This made it possible to obtain aromatic fruits of the culture, even in regions with long winters. In addition, the hybrid begins to bear fruit as early as 6 years after planting in a permanent place.

Did you know? According to archaeological artifacts, the apple tree belongs to the first plants cultivated by humans. The view was domesticated about 7 thousand years ago, even before the advent of the New Era.

First of all, the plant is quite large in size - the average height of an adult tree is about 5 m. However, the Russian apple tree often does not exceed 3.5–4 m in height. This is explained by a special technique of formation, which makes it possible to create a compact medium-sized plant, as well as to avoid thickening of the apple tree. The bark on the trunk is dense, dark brown in color.

The crown consists of dense, moderately tall branches, with an annual growth of shoots of about 55 cm. The branches are covered with a smooth dark burgundy bark. They are located on the trunk at a right angle, while in the crown they are evenly spaced. The leaves are wide, pointed, with slight pubescence.

The plant blooms profusely - during this period small flowers form on it, gathering in small inflorescences. The hue of the petals is mostly white, but light pink tones can also appear. After flowering, rounded conical fruits weighing up to 150 g are formed on the apple tree.

The skin is smooth with a glossy sheen. The skin color is predominantly bright yellow tones, but with intense aging, a yellow-orange hue may also appear. The pulp is white, juicy, resilient, but tender enough. Tasting assessment of the crop is at least 4.5 points (out of 5 possible).

Advantages and disadvantages of the Rossiyanka variety

• The main advantages of the variety:
• the plant is able to easily tolerate harsh winters;
• the hybrid stably tolerates sudden temperature fluctuations;
• the apple tree is especially resistant to many specific diseases, including scab;
• increased productivity;
• high content of ascorbic acid in fruits;
• apples have excellent taste characteristics and presentation.

• The main disadvantages of Russians:
• apple tree requires painstaking care throughout the season;
• the variety needs a long growing season;
• the fruits are not able to ripen on their own - for this they need special conditions.

Also pay attention to the features of growing other varieties of apple trees:

Preparation and direct landing

Since the Russian woman is the result of highly productive selection, when growing a plant, it is imperative to take into account all the subtleties of the process of planting a crop. This is necessary in order to protect the apple tree as much as possible from negative environmental factors, as well as create the most favorable conditions for its intensive growth and development.

Optimal time for landing

There are two optimal periods for planting an apple tree - early spring and late autumn. In the spring, seedlings of any age are planted: the procedure helps to root even young non-lignified sprouts.

In this case, it is possible to get a fully rooted plant by the end of the season, which is the main condition for its successful wintering. The procedure is carried out immediately after the onset of the spring thaw - from the end of April to the first half of May.

Important! Apple tree planted in spring only when the soil is fully warmed up. The most striking sign of this is the massive appearance of leaf buds on fruit and ornamental trees.

Autumn planting is no less popular - it allows you to get a flowering plant in the spring, ready for intensive growth. However, only adult seedlings about 2 years old are suitable for this procedure. The best time for this is considered to be mid-October, with at least 1 month from the moment of planting to the onset of frost, otherwise the plant will not be able to take root and die.

Choosing a quality seedling

To choose a quality seedling, you need to pay attention to the following:

• for planting, two-year-old plants are considered most suitable (they can be determined by the presence of several small young shoots);
• the rhizome of a quality seedling should be resilient (with mechanical action, the roots bend rather than break), as well as wet;
• the best plants are those in which under the bark a distinctly saturated green shade of tissues is clearly visible.

You should not purchase such seedlings:

• dry
• with traces of damage or defeat by pests and infections;
• in which the roots easily come off - this indicates a severe violation of the agricultural technology of growing crops;
• covered with full leaves, such plants are poorly rooted and subsequently suffer from reduced immunity.

Choosing a place to land

After you have chosen a high-quality seedling for planting, you must carefully approach the choice of a place for planting. The variety is distinguished by rather large plants, so the Russian woman is planted in open and well-lit areas.

Did you know? The oldest tree in the world is considered to be a tree planted in Manhattan (USA) back in 1947 by a local resident Peter Stuvesant. Despite age — almost 400 years old, the plant looks great and even bears fruit well.

Also, one should not choose a lowland for planting - the tree should grow on a plain or a small hill. Otherwise, it will suffer the effects of excessive humidity.

The hybrid is not demanding on the soil composition, but the tree develops best on well-fertilized sandy-loamy or loamy substrates with a neutral pH value (6.5–7).In addition, the soil should also have a low level of groundwater, otherwise the root system will suffer from all kinds of putrefactive infections. In this case, moisture must be at a depth of at least 3 m.

Landing technology

When planting a Russian woman, it should be remembered that the tree must be provided with the necessary space for rapid growth. When planting an apple orchard, seedlings are planted according to the 4 × 3 m (L × W) pattern; in case of planting one plant, the distance to neighboring trees or farm buildings should not be less than 4–5 meters. Such a space will give the seedling the necessary lighting, as well as eliminate any difficulties with free space in an adult tree.

Landing in a pre-prepared hole. With a spring planting, preparatory work begins even in the fall, after the leaves have fallen, in other cases - in about 14 days. The hole should be at least 70 cm deep and about 50 cm in diameter. Organic fertilizers are placed at the bottom of the pit with a layer of about 5 cm - slurry, compost or peat are best suited for this. Fertilizers can withstand outdoors for about a week, and then carefully dig into the soil.

Immediately 24 hours before planting, a seedling is also prepared: for this, its root system must be soaked in clean water at room temperature. They plant the plant so that the root system uniformly fills the hole, and the root growth point deepens into the ground by about 5–10 cm. An important step in the procedure is watering: the apple tree during rooting requires an excess of moisture, so a freshly planted tree is watered using 40-50 l of water.

Care Features

After planting, the apple tree must be given special attention: for proper care on the site, a special regime should be created that provides for periodic watering, top dressing, pruning and preparing the tree for wintering.

Watering

Despite the fact that the apple tree is considered unpretentious crop for irrigation, a moderate regime of soil moisture should be created on the site. Without this, the tree will grow slowly, and the resulting crop will not be large enough. In addition, the absence of drying favorably affects the ripening of the fruits, as well as their taste.

Important! For irrigation use only clean, warmed up to ambient temperature water. Cold water can cause overcooling of the root system and inhibition of plant growth, especially in young seedlings.

To ensure that the apple tree has the correct moisture content of the substrate, it is necessary to ensure that the soil is always saturated with moisture at a distance of about 1 m from the trunk at a depth of 10 cm. Therefore, after drying of this layer, the soil must be watered.

Drip irrigation is best suited for wood, but the root method of irrigation (in the near-stem circle) can also be used. The apple tree is watered throughout the growing season, the last watering is carried out after the leaves have fallen, before sheltering the plants for the winter.

Regular feeding

Young and adult plants fertilize 4 times per season according to the following scheme:

• Before flowering, highly nutritious nitrogen-phosphate fertilizers are fed to the site. For this, a mixture of 5 buckets of humus, 450 g of urea, 30 g of nitroammophoska and 25 g of ammonium nitrate are instilled into the soil;
• during the period of active flowering, the tree is fertilized with a solution of 10 l of water, 5 l of slurry, 2 l of liquid chicken manure, 200 g of urea, 100 g of superphosphate and 60 g of potassium sulfate;
• in the first half of June and 1-2 months before wintering, a solution of 2 tbsp. l superphosphate and 1 tbsp. potassium chloride (per 10 liters of water).

Pruning

Trimming involves a procedure shortening, thinning, crown formation and sanitation. Often they are carried out in the spring, before the buds open, but it is also permissible to cut the apple tree in late autumn, after the leaves fall.

Important! If the apple tree requires thinning in the summer, this is the first sign of a saturation of the soil with nitrogen. In this case, all highly nitrogenous compounds (manure, compost, litter, ammonium nitrate, etc.) are removed from the top dressings.

Shorten the apple tree as necessary - to slow down the activity of horse growth, the whole tree and individual branches. To do this, each branch is cut at least 1/3. Tree formation is already started in the second year after planting. The most acceptable is a longline crown with a characteristic cascading arrangement of branches.

To do this, the branches are formed so that, as the trunk grows, they are connected into horizontal cascades at a distance of 50-60 cm between them. Moreover, on each "floor" there should be no more than 4-6 branches, the rest are removed completely, to the base.

Often, the formation of the crown lasts about 6 seasons, after which, from about 10 years of life, apple trees carry out sanitary pruning. During the procedure, old, dry and damaged branches are removed, as well as thinning. It avoids the shading of the fruit, which speeds up the ripening of the crop.

Winter preparations

Preparation for wintering provides for the protection of the tree from freezing, as well as rodents. The bark of the apple tree is very soft and nutritious, so many small animals eat it during long and long winters. First of all, the tree is protected from the cold.

To do this, the trunk is wrapped in dense burlap or briquettes of hay or straw with a thickness of at least 10 cm. The covering material is carefully tied to the trunk with a dense twine.

After that, the trunk circle is mulched using wood sawdust, pine needles, crushed bark, pome husk, etc. The thickness of this layer should not be less than 15 cm.

Most often, rodents use a dense metal or plastic mesh to protect against bark damage by rodents, creating a protective fence around the plant.

Spruce branches, which tightly cover the trunk and the root zone of the soil, are also considered particularly effective. A more advanced method is considered special traps (Efa) or ultrasonic repellers. Many gardeners use all kinds of chemicals to fight rodents. One of the most popular is a naphthalene tablet, which has a repelling odor.

Also, the trunk is not rarely processed:

• special whitewash with the addition of concentrated peppermint oils;
• a mixture of fish oil and naphthalene (8: 1);
• 2% solution of Bordeaux fluid.

Grade Diseases and Pests

The Russian woman is resistant to many diseases and pests, but the plant necessarily needs treatments. Working fluids are used to spray branches, green matter and unprotected parts of the trunk.

Do them as the problem arises or for prevention, 3 times per season:

• during swelling of the kidneys;
• before filling the fruits;
• 30 days before harvest.

The most effective for pest control are solutions of powerful antifungal agents.

Among them, the most popular are:

• 2% copper sulfate;
• Bordeaux mixture;
• preparations “Horus”, “Khom”, “Kaptan”, “Imazapir”, “Difenoconazole”, “Triadimefon” and “Topaz”.

Against insect pests use spraying with the following contact insecticides:

• Cypermethrin;
• Imidacloprid.
• Lufenuron
• "Dimethoate";
• "Bifentrin";
• Thiacloprid.

Harvesting and storage

Russian women harvest the fruits in October, but they still do it in the green-ripe phase. On a tree, the crop is not able to ripen fully, in addition, such fruits will not differ in the necessary taste and aroma.

For these reasons, apples after harvesting are additionally laid for ripening in a dry and well-lit place with a temperature of about +15 ... + 18 ° С. Under such conditions, the crop is kept for about 1 month, after which it is harvested in the vegetable store.

Ripe apples are stored in a dry, cool and well-ventilated place, at a temperature of about + 10 ° C, away from other vegetables or fruits. To do this, they are placed in small boxes in 2-3 layers. As they are stored, the fruits are sorted, otherwise even one rotten apple can cause damage to the entire crop.

Important! The first sign of ripe apples is a strong and rich aroma with light spicy notes.

Apple-tree Rossiyanka is a variety characterized by special winter hardiness. This plant is able to withstand even prolonged frosts and delight the gardener with aromatic fruits. However, for this it should be provided with appropriate care and attention, especially in the off-season, in early spring and late autumn.