Many gardeners dream of growing a peach in their area, but most are afraid of this, because they live far from the southern latitudes, and everyone knows that the fruit tree is heat-loving. To grow a peach variety Donetsk yellow is not from the realm of fantasy. Let's find out more about it.

History of selection of Donetsk yellow variety

The Donetsk yellow variety was developed in 1960 by the honored agronomist Liliya Ivanovna Taranenko from the Donetsk Horticultural Research Station, later Artyomovskaya, now the Bakhmut Research Nursery Station of the Institute of Horticulture of the Ukrainian Academy of Agrarian Sciences (Bakhmutsky nursery nursery).

She received seeds for breeding from the city of Gelendzhik (Krasnodar Territory, Russia). This variety has been propagated at the station for a long time, its seedlings are actively planted in areas of Donetsk and Lugansk regions (Ukraine), Rostov region (Russia).

Variety characteristics Donetsk yellow

Donetsk yellow peach variety is distinguished by tall trees with a dense spherical crown. By the length of the growing season, it can be compared with the Kiev early. The leaves are large, in the form of a lancet, painted in dark green. The flowers of the variety are beautiful, large, painted pink, have the shape of roses.

Drought resistance, frost resistance

Trees do not tolerate drought well; needs regular watering. Donetsk yellow is a frost-resistant variety. In the winter of 1993-1994. the degree of freezing was estimated at 1.7 points, while other varieties were much more frozen.

Also, observations showed that during severe frosts 1986–1987. trees were freezing to the level of snow, however, due to good regenerative ability the next summer, all consequences disappeared, growth continued. The ability of the variety to tolerate frost is evidenced by the presence of 20-year-old trees in the nursery gardens.

Flower buds tolerate frosts somewhat worse, in this they are ahead of the early Kiev variety. However, in comparison with other large-fruited varieties, their frost resistance is higher. This is evidenced by the freezing of the top of the tree at 2.1 points in the cold spring and summer of 1992.

Important! During the growing season Donetsk yellow needs warmth.

Peach pollinators, variety productivity, field of application of fruits

This tree does not need pollinators, it is fertilized independently. Fruits in large fruits weighing about 150 g each, sometimes the mass can reach 220 g. Fruits in 4 years of life. From one tree you can collect from 50 to 60 kg of peaches of a round or wide oval shape with flattened poles.

The peel of ripe fruits is painted in a light yellow color with a red spot of a blurry shape on one side, in unripe fruits it is greenish with a yellow tint; pubescence is weak. The seam is clearly distinguishable. The flesh changes its color from yellow-green on the stone (without a red tint) to yellow-orange on the surface, not soft, moist.

The taste is very sweet with a slight tint of acidity, tasters rated it 4.7–4.9 points. A large bone grows to the pulp, is painted in a light brown color. The aroma is pleasant. Suitable for cooking fruit compote, jam, jam, candied fruit, marmalade, and also good in fresh form.

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Disease and pest resistance

For Donetsk yellow, the following diseases are dangerous:

1. Powdery Mildew First a white coating appears, then a dark one, later spots form, shoot growth slows down, and their dying off occurs. The degree of damage is medium.
   

2. Curliness. Cherry-colored spots appear on the leaves, their borders are also painted. Later, a plaque is formed on the underside. The leaves are folded into a tube, fall off, fruiting stops or continues in small quantities with a damaged pericarp. The tree is at risk of freezing when the temperature drops. The degree of damage is severe.
   

Such pests of the variety are known:

• aphid;
• weevils;
• ticks;
• fruit moth;
• eastern codling moth.

Advantages and disadvantages of the variety

• The advantages of the variety include:
• good frost resistance;
• high ability to recover;
• crop quality;
• large fruits;
• good transportability (in unripe fruits).

Did you know? Basketball was invented as a game in which players threw a ball into a basket from under peaches. At first, I had to climb up the ball all the time and take it out of the basket, as it was with a bottom.

• The disadvantages of the variety:
• ripe fruits do not tolerate transportation;
• exposure to powdery mildew and curly hair;
• need for watering;
• it is necessary to prophylactically treat against insects and diseases;
• in the same fruit there can be either fully ripened or unripe pulp.

Rules for planting peach seedlings

If you want the seedling to take root, you need to plant it correctly.

Timing and seat selection

The best yield indicators were noted in the Donetsk region and neighboring it - Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhya, Kharkov, Lugansk regions of Ukraine and in the Rostov region of Russia. You can plant in other regions with mild winters. It is not recommended to grow in cold areas, where in winter the average temperature often reaches -20 ° C and below.

Keep a three-meter distance to other plants or buildings. If the climate in your region of residence is colder, you need to plant a peach in the spring, in warm regions autumn planting is allowed. For her, it is necessary to wait until the temperature drops to + 10 ° and the sap flow of the plants stops.

Important! Do not plant Donetsk yellow on the territory where alfalfa, strawberries, clover, melons and solanaceous crops were grown less than 3 periods before.

Preparing the site and seedlings for planting

If landing occurs in the spring, a hole is dug up in the fall. It is deepened by 50 cm, expanded by 70 cm. The support should be lowered in the middle of the depression. To the upper layer of soil add 5–8 kg of humus, rotted manure or compost, 200–300 g of wood ash, 50 g of potassium chloride, the same amount of superphosphate.

If the land on the plot is fertile, you can do without organic fertilizers. The resulting mixture must be poured into the center of the recess and form a mound. If planting occurs in the fall, dig a hole in 2-3 weeks, add only potassium chloride, superphosphate, wood ash, without organic matter.

When choosing a seedling, pay attention to its health indicators:

• smooth place of vaccination;
• healthy roots without shriveled or rotten parts;
• green color of the bark on the back.

Choose seedlings 1 year old. Before planting, hold the roots of the seedling for several hours in water, you can add a growth stimulator.

The process of planting young seedlings

How to plant a peach seedling:

1. Lower the seedling on the tubercle in the recess.
2. Spread the roots.
3. Fill the ground so that the vaccine is located a little higher above the surface of the site.
4. Tamp, forming a small groove along the edges of the pit.
5. Pour 20-30 liters of water, wait until absorbed.
6. Tie a seedling to a peg.
7. Mulch with manure, forming a cover 8-10 cm high, so that the seedling does not come into contact with the mulch.

Peach Care Rules

Proper care of peach trees will provide a good harvest and delicious fruit.

Prevention and protection against pests and diseases

Diseases can be resisted as follows:

1. Powdery Mildew After the flowering period is over, it is necessary to treat with Topsin or Topaz preparations. All parts of the plant with signs of disease are cut.
2. Curliness. For prevention, they are treated with Bordeaux liquid in the fall, in spring, after waking up, they use Skor, Horus, Khom, and after 1.5 weeks they repeat it. If a disease is detected, immediately cut the affected branches.

Pest control is carried out by treatment with insecticides when the kidneys are swollen. The next time they are treated after flowering, combining insecticides with antifungal drugs.

Read more about peach pest and disease control methods.

Watering frequency

In the first month after planting, trees are watered every 3 days, at the rate of 1 bucket of water per 1 plant. If the soil is dry, the interval between irrigation is reduced to 2 days, and the amount of water is increased to 1.5–2 buckets per seedling.

Mature trees begin to be watered in May if there is little rainfall in winter and spring. A peach tree will need 2–5 buckets of water, it all depends on how dry the ground is. The soil should get wet not only from above, but also in depth, near the roots.

The frequency of watering corresponds to 1-2 times a month, time - morning or evening. The last watering is organized 20-30 days before harvesting. Then the plants are watered after removing the fruits and in preparation for wintering, increasing the amount of water to 9-10 liters per 1 m² of area.

Feeding scheme

In the spring, before the buds open, for young trees, you can apply spraying with 7% diluted urea, or after opening the buds, dig the earth in the near-stem circle, mixing it with 50 g of urea and 70 g of ammonium nitrate (per 1 m²). Subsequently, every 2-3 years, fertilizer consumption should increase by 20 g. If peach grows on poor soil, it is fertilized annually, on fertile soil, every 2-3 years.

In the summer, Donetsk yellow is sprayed with diluted:

• urea 30-50 g (you can replace 50-60 g of ammonium nitrate);
• water extract of superphosphate 100–150 g;
• potassium sulfate 50–70 g (you can replace 30-60 g of potassium chloride);
• ammonium sulfate 50–80 g;
• brown 10 g.

All these components are dissolved in 10 l of water and used at the beginning of fruit ripening. After pouring peaches, the trees are sprayed with a solution of 30 g of potassium sulfate or potassium salt, dissolved in 10 l of water.

During pre-winter preparation, 40 g of superphosphate and 50 g of potassium chloride are put in the dug up soil, based on 1 m² of soil. Also, every 2-3 years, in the fall, compost or humus is introduced or green manure (rapeseed, Pancake week radish and others) is planted nearby.

Cropping and shaping the crown

The thick crown of Donetsk yellow needs thinning, for this they are trimmed:

• sanitary (in the fall they remove old and diseased parts, as well as those that thicken the crown, in the spring - frostbitten shoots);
• formative (in the period between the formation of flower buds and their blooming during the first 4 years of life, a crown is formed in the form of a bowl).

Learn more about the features of proper peach pruning in spring.

Forming Trimming Steps:

1. After planting, the conductor is cut off from the seedling, leaving 60–70 cm. Choose 1 branch above, growing at an obtuse angle to the trunk, and two growths below, growing in different directions at approximately the same angle with the upper shoot. 10 cm are left from them, all other branches are cut.
2. After a year, these branches are shortened to 60–70 cm, the strong lower and upper growths are cut, the lateral thin out, in those that remain, cut into 2 buds.
3. After a year, the two strongest branches located on the upper shoot (second-order branches) are cut to 60 cm, the trunk above is cut. The lower branch is cut to 50 cm. Powerful branches are also removed. Branches that were cut a year ago are cut into 2 buds.
4. In the following year, several branches of 3 orders are left on the branches of the second tier and cut them by 1/3. The growths on them are thinned out, of the remaining ones, part is shortened, and part is left untouched. On the upper branches, 7-8 kidneys are cut, on the lower - 2 kidneys.

Winter preparations

The soil around the tree is abundantly watered, fertilized, dug. After that, you need to mulch the soil around the tree with a 10-15 cm layer using peat or humus. To the height of the stem, nearby, you need to drive 2 pegs, which will serve as a kind of frame for fixing cardboard or non-woven material to warm the trees. You can use a flour bag or spruce branches. In the southern latitudes, where winters are warm, instead of sheltering, the trunk is piled with earth to a height of 50 cm.

Read the basic rules for warming a peach tree for the winter.

Harvesting and storage of crops

The variety is mid-late; the crop ripens in late August. If Donetsk yellow is planned to be consumed fresh, then it is ripened completely ripe, if it is intended for storage or transportation - incomplete ripeness of the fruits is required. Ripening takes place in several stages, so the harvest, too, must be carried out several times.

Ripe peaches do not last long. To increase their shelf life up to 1.5 months, they are collected not fully ripe, healthy and intact are selected, each is wrapped in a newspaper, folded in layers into boxes and put into a room with high humidity and a temperature of 0 ° С.

Did you know? The company Ella Bach & from Sydney (Australia) created a sculpture of a girl from 24 thousand peaches for its advertising campaign.

Thus, Donetsk yellow peach is a variety that resists frosts and is able to recover quickly in case of freezing. It gives large fruits of excellent taste, if you do not forget to properly care for it. And you don’t have to plant pollinator trees nearby to enjoy the fruit.