Lel - a fabulous apricot for a summer resident

Through the efforts of skilled breeders, the southern handsome apricot climbed far north. Previously, this could only be imagined in a fairy tale, but now the variety of modern apricot bears the name of the Slavic god of love and abundance. Lel - generous and early, showers with a golden rain of juicy fruits melting in the mouth.

The history of apricot in the north of Russia and the description of the varieties Lel

Various measures have been taken to successfully spread the apricot to the north. And they sowed the seeds of the fruits they liked under more severe conditions, and crossed varieties of common apricot, common in the south and in the Caucasus with wild species, but the best results were obtained when the common apricot was grafted onto plum or cherry plum rootstock. For apricot Lel plum was the most suitable stock. Due to vaccination on plum stamb, it is possible to get rid of the heating of apricot bark, which is inevitable in conditions of high humidity.

Apricot branch Lel is strewn with golden fruits

The variety was created at the end of the twentieth century, and since 2004 it has been included in the State Register. Recommended to grow apricot Lel in the Central region. The tree does not grow large, has a not very dense wide crown. The variety is early-growing, in the third year after planting it begins to produce a crop of a very early ripening period. However, gardeners note the frequency of fruiting.

The skeleton of the tree is formed by smooth straight dark red shoots. Apricot flowering begins before the leaves appear. The flowers are large, have five white and pink petals. Five sepals, dark red. When flowering, a delicate sweetish aroma spreads around the trees.

Apricot flowers bloom before leaflets

The leaves are dark green, round-ovate, with a pointed tip, smooth, shiny. The fruits are round, orange, but if you give them the opportunity to ripen completely, they are filled with an intense red blush. Covered with a soft, soft fluff. The average fruit mass is 18 g. The pulp is orange, juicy, very tender, sweet and sour taste, received the highest tasting score.

If we compare the apricot Lel with another variety similar in terms of indicators, the Tsar's apricot, then the yield of Lel is higher, on average 40 centners of juicy aromatic fruits are collected per hectare. Apricot Tsarsky has an average yield of 30 c / ha. Lel's fruits ripen earlier and are slightly larger in size, 18 and 15 grams, respectively. The tasting score of Lel apricot is also higher, 5 against 4 points of the Tsarsky variety.

Apricot Lel - a productive variety with rounded fruits

Apricot Lel is winter-hardy, shows moderate resistance to kleasterosporiosis and practically does not suffer from aphid attack, less than 1% is damaged.

Planting apricot varieties Lel

Regardless of the variety, apricot planting takes into account the need of this crop for lighting and protection against sudden gusts of cold wind. Ideal are the southern slopes or areas protected from the north by buildings, but no closer than 4-5 meters, so that snow does not accumulate and there is no stagnation of water. Apricots are planted, maintaining intervals of 4 meters in a row and 6 meters between rows, since the crown of the apricot grows quite wide, and these trees require intense lighting.

A few general recommendations for preparing the landing fossa:

• The worse the soil, the wider the pit should be. For areas where weeds have grown strongly, it is recommended to make it wide - a diameter of 100 cm with a depth of 40-50 cm.
• The turf is removed first.
• Dig a layer of fertile soil and separate.
• Next, choose a layer containing clay, and remove from the site.
• In the soil mixture for planting, add river sand in a ratio of 2: 1.
• Apricots grow well on drained light soils and as all stone fruits respond gratefully to the application of calcium, so large limestone gravel is poured into the bottom of the pit.

Apricot planting pattern

Together with the topsoil, it is recommended to lay your own turf on the drainage, only with roots up. This will allow earthworms and microorganisms living in this layer to quickly spread through the soil, and plant debris during overheating will provide the seedling with organic fertilizers.

Trees with an open root system are recommended to be planted in spring or early fall. When purchasing containerized seedlings, planting dates are not so important, since the earthen lump remains intact during planting, and it is less stressed.

When planting, it is important not to deepen the root neck of the tree.

You need to choose the right level of planting seedlings for a strong and healthy tree

The sequence of actions when planting an apricot seedling:

1. Dig a hole 80-100 cm wide and 40-60 cm deep.
2. Pour limestone rubble.
3. Add soil to it and tamp (you can put the turf here with its roots up).
4. Place the seedling so that the root neck rises 5-7 cm above the soil.
5. Pour the soil mixture around the trunk and tamp well.
6. To water.
7. Cover with mulch from humus or freshly cut grass.

Experienced gardeners do not recommend forming an irrigation hole, as this can lead to stagnation of water or accumulation of snow with subsequent stagnation, which will cause the bark to heat up.

Another important issue is the attitude to fertilizers. Some successes when planting apricot in the soil mixture add mineral fertilizers, others prefer to add rotted horse manure, there are those who believe that for the apricot it is enough to have its own fertile layer with the addition of river sand to improve the mechanical properties of the soil. Apricot is not very picky about the composition of the soil. For him, heat, lighting and quality drainage are more important. If you wish, you can make fertilizers in the spring to avoid the intensive growth of young shoots before winter frosts.

Video: apricots in central Russia

Features of cultivation and subtleties of care

After planting, seedlings are trimmed. To do this, choose the strongest shoots directed in different directions. The optimal angle of departure of branches from the trunk for the formation of a small crown 45-50^about. Cut the lateral shoots to the outer bud so that they are about 1/3 shorter than the central conductor. In subsequent years, they support the tiering of the crown and try to prevent its thickening.

When trimming, delete:

• Crossed branches.
• Shoots directed inside the crown towards the trunk.
• Shoots looking down.
• Thicken and weak branches.
• Basal shoots.

To the joy of summer residents, the apricot Lel is slow growing and does not require constant attention. In order to better tolerate trees in winter frosts, summer forming pruning is recommended. In this case, only strong shoots with a length of 50 cm are left, the rest are cut into a ring. And even in August, they choose a powerful young shoot, bend in the direction of better lighting and tie it with twine until the next year.

Apricot crown formation pattern

Another important tree protection measure is whitewashing. Spend it in late autumn and early spring, providing protection of the bark from winter frosts and spring return frosts. It is recommended to add copper preparations to whitewashing to prevent fungal diseases. You need to whiten both the trunk of trees and the main skeletal shoots.

In general, apricot Lel is a winter-hardy variety and calmly tolerates cold up to 25-30^aboutC. No need to cover trees in winter. If nevertheless, the frost-holes damaged the bark, then in the spring in April-May they clean the injured area to healthy tissue and cover it with garden var.

To obtain a stable and good apricot crop, it is advised to plant at least two trees. The more planted, the more effective pollination.

Lel apricot care recommendations are similar to those of other northern apricots.

Video about growing winter-hardy apricots

Diseases and Pests

Apricot Lel is also convenient to grow because the variety is resistant to claustosporiosis. If a lot of stone fruits grow on the site: cherries and cherries, and there is concern about the defeat of fungal diseases, it is recommended to carry out preventive spraying with a 1% solution of copper sulfate or Bordeaux liquid. These same drugs will prevent a possible disease of moniliosis.

It is advisable to constantly monitor the condition of the leaves on the apricot. If dark spots are found on them or when the dry leaves appear out of season, you need to immediately collect the affected leaves and destroy, and treat the tree with copper preparations, and this should be done at least 2-3 times with interruptions of 14 days.

Apricot disease

Apricot Lel has no pests. To prevent even rare aphid lesions, you can spray biotlin with the preparation in early spring according to the instructions.

Reviews

Sorry to "fit" into the topic. Maybe someone knows the varieties "Lel" and "Irkutsk winter-hardy"? How do they behave in Moscow? Thanks. Lyudmila Moscow

Do-it-yourself garden magazine 01/2005 writes: "The following apricot varieties are allowed for use in our State Register of Breeding Achievements: very early - Lel, Tsarsky, early - Iceberg, Alyosha, medium - "Aquarius", later - "Monastic". All of them are frost-resistant, fruitful and bear fruit annually. In plantings, you must have at least two inter-pollinated varieties. "Article of the candidate of agricultural sciences Zakotina V., rather short, but more or less informative.

maha. Dubna Mosk.obl.

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Last year I had one apricot blossom, a three-year-old. In this I hope the two blossom. It’s too early to say yet. But the kidneys were swollen on both, so they certainly did not freeze. Cottage, if that in the Ramensky district 50 km from Moscow time - southeast. The main thing is to plant them not in a blown sunny place.

lapolka

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And my apricot seems to have died. Variety Lel, bought in timiryazevke 3 years ago. I do not know whether to recover or: drv

Maksimulkin. Moscow

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I tried to treat the old (about 8 years old) apricot for gum therapy. For some reason, his bark burst, exfoliated from the wood, and gum flowed. I opened the affected area, removed everything exfoliated - I got a wound 10 * 4 cm in size along the trunk. Fissured with a knife - 5 furrows along the trunk, sprayed with 3% iron sulphate and smeared with clay, which also added a little vitriol (probably 0.5%). He did all this at the end of May. In August, the clay fell away, the crust roller covered the wound in half. I repeated the treatment again - it was gone in the winter. The wood really turned black, but there were no signs of rot. There is no gum either.

SeRiToYoH. Kamyshin

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Just like the golden-haired mythical Lel from the palms of metal sparks that cause love passion, so in the harvest year the apricot tree with zealous gardeners is covered with golden fruits, which it is impossible to pass indifferently.