Apple tree Friendship of peoples

The apple tree Friendship of Peoples was obtained as a result of crossing "Antonovka ordinary" and "Pepin saffron". In Michurinsk VNIIS, a whole team of breeders, including G.A. Lobanov, Z.I. Ivanova, VK.Zaets and S.I. Isaev, worked on the creation of this variety. At the end of the 20th century, the Friendship of Peoples apple tree was included in the State Register and recommended for cultivation in the Pskov, Leningrad, Tver, Novgorod and Yaroslavl regions, as well as in Tatarstan, Mordovia, Samara and Penza regions. These recommendations do not mean at all that in other regions the tree will not grow and bear fruit, it is just that the best results can be achieved in the recommended regions.

Apple tree Friendship of peoples: description of the variety and characteristics

Apple tree Friendship of peoples: photo of the variety

The apple tree Friendship of peoples belongs to tall varieties. This tree has a wide-rounded crown, which becomes more spreading over the years than in the first years after planting. The branches are compactly located almost at right angles to the trunk, their ends are directed upwards. The bark on the trunk and main branches is smooth, dark gray with a reddish-brown tint. The pubescent geniculate shoots are colored maroon.

The flowering of the apple variety Friendship of Nations usually begins in mid-May and continues until early summer.

Fruits are tied on fruit twigs and spears, sometimes (albeit quite rarely) on pods. Apples are round-conical in shape and medium in size - their weight, as a rule, is from 120 to 150 grams. The skin of the fruit is smooth, shiny, firm. By the time of removable and consumer maturity, apples are colored in a light shade of yellow, and the integumentary color is bright or dark red over the entire surface of the fruit. The pulp is light creamy, its texture is tender and juicy, the taste is sour-sweet. The tasters evaluate the fruits of this variety at 4.3 points.

Fruiting of the apple variety Friendship of Nations occurs in the fourth or fifth year after planting. But since the Druzhba Narodov variety is self-fertile, you will have to take care of planting pollinators - other apple trees blooming at the same time period. Varieties such as Melba, Dream, Papirovka can be planted as pollinators.

The first years of fruiting in the Friendship of Peoples apple tree is moderate, but gradually increases, and by the age of 10-12, under favorable conditions, you can harvest more than 50 kg of fruit from each tree. As the tree ages, periodicity in fruiting becomes noticeable: after an extremely productive year, there may be a year of interruption when the harvest will be more than moderate.

You can pick fruits from mid-August, they ripen within two weeks. If you plan not to process, but store apples, eating them fresh, then it is worth removing the fruits from the tree without damaging the stalk, then the harvest will be stored until mid-October.

Apple tree Friendship of peoples: planting and care

Since the Druzhba Narodiv apple variety is tall, gardeners are trying to grow it on a dwarf rootstock. This method allows you to preserve all varietal characteristics, does not affect the yield and taste of the fruit. But at the same time, it allows you to freely place the tree in the garden, simplifies plant care (after all, it is very difficult to prune a seven-meter apple tree annually!) And reduces the waiting time for the first harvest to two or three years.Also, the method of growing tall varieties on a dwarf rootstock can be very interesting for those gardeners in whose area the groundwater is shallow. This often makes life very difficult and causes the death of trees.

The rules for planting such seedlings are practically no different from planting medium-sized or tall trees: you need to choose a dry and sunny place, protected from the wind and prepare a planting pit in advance. I suppose that you have come across similar recommendations more than once: for autumn planting, a pit is prepared in the spring, and for spring planting - in the fall. This is a very important rule that must be followed. Indeed, in addition to the drainage layer, you pour a nutritious soil mixture consisting of fertile soil, compost and mineral fertilizers into the planting pit. It is precisely because of the fertilizers that the place for the apple tree is prepared in advance - they must dissolve, since direct contact with the roots of the seedling can leave burns on them.

So, the following work must be done in advance:

• Dig a hole with a depth and diameter of about 70 cm. If you plan to plant several trees at once, then the distance between them should be 2.5-3 meters.
• At the bottom of the pit, a drainage layer is laid from stones, broken bricks or specially purchased expanded clay for this purpose.
• Fill about 2/3 of the hole with the nutrient mixture we talked about above, and leave everything in this form until spring (if you are preparing in the fall).

In the spring, you buy seedlings, making sure that they are healthy, without traces of rot and drying out, and start planting:

• Before planting, the roots of the seedling are dipped in a specially prepared clay talker.
• A support is installed in the bottom of the pit, to which the seedling will be attached until complete rooting.
• The tree is placed in a hole, gently spreading the roots on the surface of a mound of nutritious soil, and covered with earth. When doing this, make sure that the root collar is about five centimeters above the soil surface.
• Loosely so as not to damage the bark, tie the seedling to a support.
• Water the tree abundantly, and mulch the surface of the trunk circle.

In the future, it should be borne in mind that the roots of dwarf trees are located close to the soil surface, therefore, in the absence of precipitation, they need regular watering.

Pruning of fruit trees is carried out in the spring, before the start of sap flow, or in the autumn months, after leaf fall, when the tree goes into a state of dormancy. For work, prepare sharp garden tools that should be disinfected before starting work, as well as garden pitch, which should be used to process the cut points.

In the first year, the tree should be pruned to a height of about half a meter above the bud, pointing in the opposite direction from the graft. During the summer, 4-5 shoots are formed, among which there will be a clear leader.

In the second year, the leader is shortened, leaving 20 centimeters from the base of the growth, and the remaining branches are cut off, supporting the vertical growth of the main shoot-leader.

In subsequent years, the leader and the main branches are pruned, maintaining the shape of the crown of the tree. At the same time, do not forget to thin out the crown, removing small, growing deep into the crown, as well as broken, damaged and frozen branches.

It is recommended to feed dwarf apple trees once or twice a month. In the first year, you don't have to worry about fertilizers, since you have brought everything you need into the planting hole, but in the future the tree will need annual feeding:

• potash-phosphorus fertilizers (in the spring you can add a little nitrogen to them)
• a solution of manure (1 in 10) or chicken droppings (1 in 20) can be used twice a season, adding one bucket to each tree, after watering the soil.
• in the summer months, the crown of the tree can be sprayed with urea.

Tall apple trees of Friendship of Nations have excellent frost resistance, but apple trees on a dwarf rootstock need additional insulation of the roots.Be sure to mulch the surface of the trunk circle with a thick layer of spruce branches or humus. You can also wrap the tree trunk with a fine metal mesh to protect it from rodents.

Prevention: protection against diseases and pests.

The Druzhba Narodiv apple variety has good resistance to pests, fungal diseases, and especially to scab (no cases of the disease were recorded during the testing period). But all this is true, if you devote enough time to prevention and maintain cleanliness in the near-stem circle.

• Remove loose leaves and fruits as they can become a source of infection. Weed the tree circle regularly and loosen the soil regularly.
• Wear a sticky belt on the barrel to prevent insects from sticking to the surface.
• As a prophylaxis of diseases, treat with Bordeaux liquid in the spring before flowering and in the fall, when all the leaves fall off and are removed.
• If pests are found on the apple tree, use solutions and infusions prepared according to folk recipes for spraying the crown of the tree. You can use insecticides only before flowering begins, or after the crop is fully harvested.

Fallen leaves and damaged branches should be burned.

Conclusion

There is an old anecdote about how a man bought a hamster at the poultry market, which then grew into a bear.

So, in order not to make a mistake when buying "Friendship of Peoples" and instead of an apple tree on a dwarf rootstock, not to acquire a huge tree, you should pay attention to the following points:

• The root system of ordinary and dwarf apple trees is different: in the first case it is pivotal, and in the second it is fibrous. Therefore, you need seedlings with a fibrous root system.
• The seedling should have a clearly visible graft - a thickening or protrusion located at the bottom of the trunk.

Most gardeners who grow the Friendship of Nations apple tree in their garden praise its yield and fruit taste. Taking a little time to maintain your garden on a regular basis can help you harvest a great harvest every year.

Apple tree Friendship of peoples: reviews of gardeners

• Antonina Georgievna, Chelyabinsk region: “The apple variety Druzhba Narodov won me over. Productivity for 10 years of cultivation has been stable and good, the apple tree has good immunity to many diseases and has never got sick, the apples are beautiful and tasty, and they tolerate transportation well over long distances. Therefore, our distant relatives also enjoy the fruits of the Friendship of Peoples apple tree "

• Maria Andreevna, Samara region: “The Friendship of Peoples apple tree is good for everyone, but there is one small drawback. The fact is that, reaching full ripeness, the fruits begin to crumble, so it is very important to harvest on time. Also, the Friendship of Peoples apple tree is already very high, which makes it difficult for me to harvest and prune branches. "