Features growing apple varieties Veteran

For three decades, the veteran has been one of the most popular apple varieties in our country. Many gardeners, planning to update their fruit trees, stop on this variety. And although the cultivation of apple trees requires a certain investment of time and energy, the future result is worth it. About how to grow a Veteran variety on your site, read below.

Variety selection history

Variety Veteran was developed by scientists N. G. Krasov, M. V. Mikheev and E. N. Sedova at a research station in Orel. The work was carried out by germinating seeds collected in 1961 from the apple variety King (USA).

Did you know? The longest whole apple peel was received by a resident of the United States, Katie Wolfer. The record was set on October 16, 1976 in New York, while the length of the peel was as much as 52.51 m!

The veteran gave the first apples in 1969, two decades later, after additional research, the variety was recommended for regionalization in the Central Chernozem Region and in the south of the Russian Federation, as well as in parts of the regions of Belarus. In areas with colder climates, apple trees are at risk of freezing and even death.

Description of the tree and fruits

Biological characteristics of the apple variety Veteran:

  • tree - medium, up to 3 m;
  • crown - round, spherical, harmonious;
  • bark - dense, brown in color;
  • shoots - dark brown, slightly pubescent, small lentils on young branches;
  • leaves - grayish-green, dull, wrinkled, ovoid, margins slightly serrated and wrapped;
  • flowers - small, light with a pinkish tinge;
  • fruits - rounded, slightly flattened with a conical apex, weight up to 160 g;
  • the peel of the fruit is dense, smooth, with a slight wax coating and shine;
  • the color of the fruit is yellow-golden with an expressive pinkish blush of various shapes and gray dots;
  • the fruit pulp is creamy, slightly aromatic, juicy, sweet and sour, experts estimate 4.3–4.5.
Apple-tree Veteran belongs to self-fertile trees, i.e. it does not need cross-pollination by plants and insects.

Variety Characteristics

Veteran is a high-yielding winter apple tree, which is perfect for industrial and personal breeding.

Disease and pest resistance

Shows average resistance to ailments and insect pests of fruit crops. So, for example, the variety is well opposed to one of the most dangerous enemies of apple trees - scab, but with a long wet period, the immunity drops, and the apple tree can become infected. Also, high humidity can cause another common fungal disease - powdery mildew.

Did you know? According to legend, Adam could not swallow the apple that Eve gave him, and the fruit stuck in his throat. Therefore, male Adam's apple has another name - "Adam's apple."

Also, the tree can be attacked by harmful insects - aphids, bark beetles, turtles, moths, beetles, hawthorn and others. They do not just damage parts of the plant, but lead to a decrease in the quality and quantity of the crop.

Aphids on the apple tree.

Drought and winter hardiness

The authors of the variety designated its frost resistance as medium. When landing in places recommended for zoning, Veteran shows good frost resistance. However, the apple tree may not survive too severe frosts. As for drought tolerance, both the lack of moisture and its excess are equally harmful for the variety.

Long waterlogging reduces the resistance of the tree to many diseases, and stagnation of water can lead to decay of its root system. Also, a lack of moisture, especially for a young tree, becomes the reason for its poor development, shedding of foliage and low productivity.

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Ripening period

Veteran apples fully ripen in the period from September 15 to 30. A signal to a complete ripeness of the crop can be the formation on the fruits of a saturated reddish blush.

Fruiting and Yield

The variety belongs to the early, the first apples appear on trees planted 4-5 years ago. The yield of the Veteran is quite high. So, about 60 kg of apples can be removed from one 8-year-old tree, and 80 kg from a 13-year-old.

Transportability

The fruits of the Veteran are characterized by good keeping quality and transportability. This is facilitated by their elastic structure and fairly dense peel.

Learn how to make an apple tree blossom and bear fruit.

Basic growing conditions

Saplings of the variety should be planted in a sunny place with well-fertilized, loamy or loamy soil. In the selected area, cold air and water should not stagnate. Also, groundwater should be located no closer than 1.5 m to the surface of the earth.

When and how to plant

Planting is carried out in the spring before the appearance of buds or in the autumn period about 2 months before the first frosts arrive. In late autumn, seedlings should not be planted, because they will not have time to take root before the frost and may not survive the winter.

Important! When purchasing a veteran sapling, it is worth paying attention to the state of its root system. The healthier and more developed it is, the sooner the tree will take root.

Landing is carried out as follows:

  1. About a month before planting, a pit with steep walls with a diameter of 80 cm and a depth of 70–80 cm is prepared. For spring work, the pit is prepared in the fall. When planting several trees, the distance between the holes is taken at least 4 m.
  2. A soil mixture is prepared — a fertile layer of earth, compost, manure or humus, wood ash, potassium supplements, and superphosphate (150–200 g). Coarse sand is additionally added to clay soil.
  3. At the bottom, 20 cm of the soil mixture is poured, a wooden peg is driven in, then a seedling is placed so that its root neck is 5 cm above the ground.
  4. The pit is gradually filled with a soil mixture, each layer (about 20 cm) is slightly compacted.
  5. The seedling is tied to a peg and watered with 2-3 buckets of water. The soil is mulched with humus.

Proper planting of apple trees: 1 - laying a seedling in a trench; 2 - a seedling dug for the winter.

Care Features

The seedling needs regular watering, pruning, top dressing, loosening and mulching the soil. You should also take care of its preparation for the winter period.

Soil care

Periodically, the ground near a tree needs to be weeded and loosened, which will allow it to cope with weeds and improve access of water and oxygen to the root system. Loosening is carried out after irrigation, when the water is completely absorbed into the ground. Next, the soil must be mulched with rotted humus or compost. This layer will protect the soil from overheating and quick drying.

Read also about how to get rid of rotting apples.

Fertilizers and watering

Without fertilizing, there is a lack of nutrients in the soil and, accordingly, low yield of the variety. The first three years after planting a seedling in the ground there are still valuable elements introduced during planting. Therefore, it is only necessary in the early spring to feed the seedling with organic additives - manure or compost. If the apple tree shows poor vegetation, then in early June, the procedure should be repeated.

Trees included in fruiting must be fertilized every autumn with minerals - phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen. Their dosage is taken according to the instructions for the drugs. Fertile soil after flowering should be fertilized with organic. For this, a solution of cow manure or chicken droppings (1 liter per 10 liters of water) is well suited.

Organic fertilizers are introduced into grooves arranged around the circumference of the trunk circle. This event is convenient to combine with watering. Proper watering contributes to the good development of the tree and increase productivity. In a dry and hot climate, seedlings are watered about 3 times a month, 2 buckets of water are left for one watering.

You will be interested to know what to do with the tops that appear on the apple tree.

Mature trees should be watered several times during the season:

  • before the appearance of leaves;
  • 2 weeks after flowering;
  • 2 weeks before harvesting;
  • at the end of the harvest.
If the weather is very hot and dry, then additional irrigation is allowed.

The best method of watering trees is sprinkling.

Cropping and shaping the crown

Pruning of trees is carried out to form a crown, for sanitary purposes (removal of infected and damaged parts) and for rejuvenation. Thus, pruning is the prevention of the development of various diseases, contributes to the early onset of fruiting and increase fertility.

The first pruning takes place immediately after the apple tree is planted in the ground. In this case, the top of the central trunk is cut off, and young buds are left in the lower part of the seedling. In older trees, the branches are trimmed by about a third, and for the formation of the crown, the last buds are left on the outside of the branches.

Important! Pruning of young trees is carried out in two stages with a break per day - pruning of the crown and other branches.

Lower branches should not be cut. Pruning of fruiting apple trees is carried out so that the crown decreases in volume by about 3/4. Such thinning will preserve the strength of the tree and open access of sunlight to the fruits. At the same time, all damaged branches of the tree are cut. All sections are necessarily processed by garden var.

The pruning scheme of the apple tree.

Winter preparations

Preparing the apple tree for winter is as follows:

  • weeding and loosening of soil around a tree;
  • mulching the surface of the earth with compost, humus, peat or sawdust;
  • whitewashing a seedling with chalk solution, and an adult apple tree with lime;
  • tying the trunk to protect against rodents with reed, spruce branches or several layers of parchment paper.

Diseases and pests of the variety

The most common fungal infections of apple trees:

  1. Powdery mildew - a light coating on the leaves and other parts of the tree. The treatment is spring treatment with "Topaz" or "Skor", after flowering - with copper-based products, after harvesting - with Bordeaux liquid.

  2. Cytosporosis - reddish-brown traces on the cortex, the death of branches. Treatment - the drug "Hom" during the period of swelling of the kidneys and after flowering. Before flowering, treatment with copper sulfate is desirable.

  3. Fruit rot - brown spots on apples, chopping of fruits. Removing and destroying damaged apples, processing with the “Khom” tool when leaves appear and after flowering has ended.

With good care, the Veteran is not prone to scab. However, it is susceptible to many pests - aphids, bark beetles, tinkers, codling moth, flower beetle, hawthorn and others . As a result, they harm both the tree and the fruits, reducing their quality and quantity. If harmful insects are found on apple trees, it is necessary to treat them with chemicals according to the instructions. Processing should be planned no later than 4 weeks before harvesting.

Prevention measures against pests:

  • pruning trees, cleaning old bark;
  • soil weeding and whitewashing of trunks;
  • treatment of wintering pests with Bordeaux fluid.

Harvesting and storage of crops

Veteran apples are harvested from September 15 to 30. The fruits are picked carefully, manually, together with the stem. Before placing them for long-term storage, they should be sorted, removing too small and damaged ones.

Next lay one of the proposed methods:

  • in a wooden box - wrap each fruit in paper, place the stalk up, possibly in several layers;
  • in a wooden box - sprinkle with sand or sawdust, the fruits do not touch each other, place in 3-4 layers;
  • in closed bags of polyethylene - 5-7 kg of fruit.
For long-term storage, you should choose a room with a temperature within + 2 ... + 5 ° C and a humidity of 85–90%. Proper storage will allow you to taste the fresh fruits of Veteran until the end of winter or even the beginning of spring of next year.

Also read about how long to keep apples fresh for the winter at home.

During the winter period, apples should be periodically inspected and rotted copies removed. Variety Veteran for its rather long history not only withstood competition with other varieties, but also gained many new fans. If you plan to plant an apple tree, and the climate of the area allows you to choose this variety, do not even hesitate. Bright, tasty and juicy apples are provided to you!

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