Medlar

Medlar is also found under the names ezgil and cup tree. This culture is deciduous and belongs to the Pink family. The name of this plant is taken from the Turkish language, where it got, in turn, from the Greek language. Most often, they are engaged in the cultivation of such a medlar as ordinary or German, but you should not think that this plant is from Germany, in fact, Southwest Asia and Southeast Europe are considered the homeland. This plant was brought to Germany later by the Romans. Today, in wildlife, this culture grows on the territory of Armenia, South Ossetia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, the southern coast of Crimea, the central region of Ukraine and the North Caucasus. In general, this culture has been cultivated for over three thousand years. Initially, it was cultivated in Ancient Greece, and later, in the era of the ancient Romans and the Middle Ages, this plant was a rather important and widespread fruit crop. True, after a while this plant lost its popularity and prevalence, since the time came for other plants that began to be imported to European countries from the New World. Now this culture does not often grow in gardens.

Medlar - description and characteristics

Medlar photo

This crop is an evergreen fruit tree with a dark gray bark. Under favorable growing conditions, this crop can grow up to 800 centimeters, but most often this tree grows only up to 600 centimeters. The leaves of this fruit tree are endowed with a dark green color and elliptical shape, on average they grow up to 13 centimeters on average in length and up to 350 millimeters in width. In autumn, the leaves of this culture have the ability to change their shade to a scarlet color. Towards the end of spring and early summer, the flowering period of the tree occurs. The flowers of this plant, when blooming, consist of five petals and have a pure white tint, and they are also endowed with a scent that attracts pollinating insects very well. The fruits of this culture can have a diameter of up to three centimeters when ripe, as well as pear-shaped or rounded and scarlet-brown. The fruit appears outwardly hollow, as its sepals are unfolded. The fruits of the garden forms of this plant can be of a size similar to a medium-sized apple. The fruits have a sour taste and hard to the touch, even when fully ripe, but if they are stored or frozen for a long enough time, they eventually become wrinkled, soft, smaller in size and acquire a sweet taste.

Medlar: landing

Seedlings of this plant, before the procedure for planting in an open space, can be grown at home from a stone (we will describe how to do this below). This plant is quite unpretentious to the ground for growth, the only condition is that the soil must be well-drained, neutral or slightly acidic. When choosing a place for planting this tree, remember that groundwater in such an area should be located from the soil surface at a depth of no more than one and a half meters. When planting several trees at once, it is worth leaving a distance between them of 5 meters. It is worth replanting seedlings to an open space only at the moment when they have a dormant period, that is, either in spring or in autumn. On the site where the tree will be planted, you must first remove all weeds and dig up the soil, adding bone meal to it.Prepare a soil consisting of an equal amount of deciduous and soddy soil, humus and river sand, moreover, coarse. The planting hole for this plant is dug out in such a size that it is one third larger than the rhizome of the tree given along with a lump of soil. A peg is driven into the center of the hole, and of such length that it cannot come into contact with the lower branches of the tree. Then the seedling is moved from the container to this hole and sprinkled with soil. It is worth noting that after planting, the root collar of this culture should have the same level with the soil surface. After planting, the tree should be well watered, and after the liquid completely goes into the ground and the soil settles, the plant is tied to a support. Then you need to pour a layer of mulch, the thickness of which is about 7.5 cm, consisting of compost or rotted manure, but do this carefully, as this layer of mulch should not touch the stem of the seedling.

Medlar: leaving

The cultivation of this plant on a personal plot does not differ from the cultivation of other fruit-bearing trees. Watering should be done so that the soil is always moist in the near-trunk circle, but make sure that there is no stagnant water near the rhizome. After the watering procedure or after the rain, experienced gardeners advise to loosen the soil near the trunk circle, together with weeding from weeds. During one season, the tree should be fertilized up to three times, using mineral and organic fertilizers. Although it should be said that young plants require more fertilizing, it should be approximately applied once every 21 days. This culture is quite good at feeding from mullein solution. In the spring, before the start of sap flow, it is required to prune the plant for sanitary purposes; for this, all damaged, diseased, frozen and thickening stems are cut off. For 3-4 years it is necessary to constantly shorten the skeletal stems, by about one third of the growth per outer kidney. The stems intertwined inside the crown of the tree should also be cut to 3 buds. After four years after planting the plant in an open space, you should begin to form a crown. Then, after the formation of the crown, it must be supported by the pruning procedure.

• Reproduction

How to propagate this plant by seeds will be described in some detail below. There is another method of propagation of this culture - cuttings. Last year's plant growths are selected as cuttings. The cuttings themselves are made with an average length of 17-20 cm, and each cuttings must have at least two nodes. The lower leaves are completely removed, and the apical leaves need to be made shorter by about one third. Due to this, it will be possible to reduce the evaporation of moisture. Sections need to be treated with ordinary wood ash. Planting cuttings is required in an upright position. For this, containers filled with expanded clay and sandy-peat soil are used. The cuttings are buried in the ground by about 4.5 centimeters, after which they are well watered. When caring for such planted cuttings, they should be regularly watered and constantly moistened by spraying with prepared boiled liquid. Rooting and adaptation of the cuttings takes place within one month. Then, after the roots grow back, the culture is transplanted into an open space. Trees after planting will have a rather slow growth, but do not worry, with proper and timely care, after a while, the growth of the plant, as well as its development, will occur at a normal pace.

• Pests and diseases

This culture has a fairly good resistance and immunity to various diseases and small pests. Although sometimes you can see caterpillars on the plant, gnawing leaves. To combat them in the spring season, all spider nests are removed from the tree and destroyed.During the opening of the buds, the surface of the soil around the tree, like the tree itself, must be treated by spraying with a solution of 7% Karbofos or Chlorophos. For prevention, several times in one season, the plant is treated with a solution of Insegar or Fitoverm (in the first days of the spring and after the foliage falls in the fall).

Features of growing from a bone

Growing this plant with a stone at home is quite possible. It is possible to keep a bone pulled out of the fruit only up to three days, after which this bone will need to be planted in the soil. From the seeds purchased in the store, crops are most often formed that are not able to bear fruit. But when planting a seed that you personally pulled out of the fruit of this plant, there are much more chances to grow a fruit-bearing tree. The soil for planting can be purchased ready-made in the store, or made with your own hands, for which you will need to mix equal amounts of peat, humus, sand, leafy soil. Prepare the container by making small holes at the bottom for drainage. Drainage is made from a good layer of expanded clay, and the rest of the place is filled with harvested soil. Seeds should be sown in moist soil, to a depth of about 2 centimeters. It is allowed to sow no more than 6 seeds in one container. After sowing, the container is covered on top with a regular film or transparent glass. Then the containers are placed in a sufficiently warm and well-lit place. You will be able to see the first shoots only after one month. After that, young plants are required to be protected from direct sunlight and daily airing, and it is also required to regularly remove the condensate that has come out from the film, otherwise the seedlings can become infected with a fungal disease. When a young plant reaches a growth of about 2 centimeters, remove the film or glass from the container and rearrange the container itself in place, with a predominance of temperature conditions with a mark of 18 degrees. In the summer, these containers are allowed to be moved to the balcony, where there is fresh air, but then the seedlings should be well protected from the winds and the hot sun. It should be noted that the soil in the container with seedlings must be constantly moistened, but not wet. To do this, it is worth watering the seedlings up to about three times a week. Young plants that have just appeared are endowed with a fairly rapid growth. After about a month, after emergence, they can grow up to 150 millimeters in height. Seedlings that have already grown must be dived into various separate containers, pre-filled with soil, which includes humus, peat and river sand, moreover, coarse-grained. It is worth noting that often the weak transplanted seedlings die, but the transplanted large and strong ones will strengthen even more after a while. The color on the bush, which is grown at home, comes only 2-3 years after transplanting into separate containers. In this case, flowering occurs at the very end of the autumn period or in the first half of the first winter month. After that, fruits will begin to form, but closer to the New Year. After the end of flowering, you should begin to form the crown of the bush, although you can do without this. Sometimes you want the plant to look quite natural outwardly, so only damaged, infected, weak and thickening branches are cut off.

Medlar: varieties

To date, there are only three species of this plant, but they are cultivating only one species, which is called the Crimean or Caucasian medlar, or otherwise German. We talked about this species in some detail above. In the world there is also such a medlar as Lokva or Japanese, or otherwise still Eriobotria. This plant is a rather large evergreen and fruit tree, with excellent decorative qualities.It is grown both outdoors and indoors. This culture belongs to the genus Eriobotria from the Pink family, and the plant also has a kinship with the German medlar, but in reality it is not a medlar. A tree of this species can reach a height of about 8 meters. The branches and inflorescences of this culture have a gray-red tint, due to their dense felt pubescence, which completely covers them. The leaves are endowed with an oval shape, the outer surface of the leaves has a shiny coating. Leaves sessile, or otherwise short-petiolate, can grow to a length of about 250 millimeters, and up to a width of 80 millimeters. On the inside, they are also covered with rather dense pubescence. The terminal paniculate inflorescences have a composition of flowers with five petals, and in diameter they can have up to two centimeters, moreover, they are endowed with a light or yellow tint. Medlar has a fairly high level of resistance to cold, and with age, this resistance only increases. The most famous subspecies:

- Frosty. This crop can only be grown in a greenhouse or indoors. The distinctive feature of this variety is that it has no astringency in the mouthfeel.

Medlar morozko photo

- Tanaka. The fruits of this variety are endowed with a pear-shaped shape and an orange-yellow tint. The inside of the fruit has a pale pink color and a sweet aftertaste with a touch of acidity.

- Champagne. The fruits of this variety have a rather delicate inside, and on the outside they are fleecy and have a yellow color.

- Silas. A distinctive feature is that the mass of the fruits of this variety is similar to the weight of apricots, it can be up to 80 grams.

Medlar: useful properties and disadvantages

• Beneficial features

The fruits of this culture consist of such useful substances as iodine, zinc, magnesium, iron, selenium, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, sucrose, fructose, sodium, malic and citric organic acids, pectins, phytoncides and tannins, which can get rid of diseases gastrointestinal tract, will lead to the normalization of the intestines and relieve pain in the presence of kidney stones and urinary tract, and also contains a whole set of vitamins A, C, B1, B2, B3, B6 and B9. To eliminate inflammation and to help stop intestinal bleeding, a decoction is made from these fruits, but only immature ones. They also make a decoction from the leaves, which are collected during the color, it is believed that such a decoction has an anti-inflammatory, fixing and hemostatic effect. The fruits of this plant are also used in the preparation of tinctures, which are used in Japan for therapeutic actions in asthma and bronchitis. The fruits of this tree are often used in the diet, as they contain a sufficient amount of dietary fiber, citric acid, antioxidants, fructose, plus they are considered to be low in calories. They also help in the treatment of diabetes mellitus, cleanse the body of toxins and toxins, eliminate the symptoms of kidney dysfunction, help get rid of intestinal colic and intestinal disorders, increase the filtering capacity of the kidneys, help strengthen immunity, eliminate a runny nose, normalize blood pressure and help improve the work of the digestive and visual organs. Experts recommend using these fruits during pregnancy and lactation, as they are endowed with a high content of macro- and microelements, as well as vitamins. But it is worth noting that they should be eaten only by those women who do not have an individual intolerance to this product. The insides of these fruits are actively used in cosmetology. Masks are prepared from it, giving the skin a healthy tone, helping to smooth out small wrinkles, and can eliminate pigmented spots.

The fruits of this plant are perfect for cooking various dishes, such as stewed fruit, preserves.The juice obtained from such fruits has a fairly fast fermentation process, so it is used to make liqueur, wine or liqueur. The seeds of this plant are also used, for example, they are used to prepare a drink that is quite similar in taste to coffee.

• Contraindications

Like all products, medlar has its own contraindications. Very carefully you need to give this product to children, because allergies may appear. It is strictly forbidden to eat these fruits, especially immature ones, for people suffering from gastritis with an increased level of acidity, gastric ulcer or duodenal ulcer, as well as who have inflammation of the pancreas. But it is worth noting that jam or preserves made from these fruits are quite good and have an effect on a weakened and sick organism.

Role in landscaping

A species such as Germanic medlar is endowed with a rather spreading and abundantly lush crown, but landscape designers are most attracted to it because of the red-brown foliage. Most often, this culture is planted in 2-3 pieces, and to the north of other plants, because in adulthood, these trees are remarkably protected in winter from strong winds. In this case, you should not worry about the plant itself, since an adult tree has a fairly high level of resistance to cold and frost. Sometimes this plant is grown in the form of a central point on a small garden plot. This is because in such a tree the crown has a spectacular and chic appearance even without the presence of leaves on it, and in spring, flat in shape, beautiful and fragrant flowers with a pale pink or snow-white hue bloom on this crown. Plus, the medlar repeats its flowering period, approximately at the end of the summer season and early autumn. In autumn, the leaves are endowed with the ability to change their hue to red-brown or red-yellow. And the fruits of this tree contribute to the decorative appearance of this plant. Medlar is able to retain its decorative characteristics throughout the season, which is why it is advised to plant it along the garden paths, in a row, as a result, you can get a whole park alley of trees with even trunks and closed crowns.