Apple-tree Moscow late

In the Michurinsky garden of the Timiryazevskaya SA, quite a few tests were carried out of various subspecies of apple trees, which were bred by various scientists and research institutes of Russia. For several years, their indicators were assessed in terms of taste, frost resistance, weight of their fruits, immunity to various diseases and yield in general. The Moscow apple tree later, which we will consider in detail in this article, after such serious tests, took an honorable second place.

Apple-tree Moscow later - description and characteristics

This hybrid was first discovered in the early 60s. It appeared thanks to the works of the scientist-breeder S.I. Isaev, from the Moscow Society of Nature Experts at Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov. The subspecies was bred by crossing varieties such as North Sinap and Brown New. Officially zoned this variety much later, only after 40 years.

By its ripening period, the subspecies belongs to the late winter varieties of this fruit crop. The difference between this apple tree is its tallness. At a young age, the crown of the tree has a wide pyramidal shape, and in adulthood, the shape of the crown changes to a rather wide oval. The trunk of the tree and the main stems are colored gray-green. Basically, the branches are inclined vertically. Leaf cover is average. The shoots of this subspecies are even, having a round shape and rather strong pubescence, and also endowed with a brown-brown color. The leaves of this tree are large, serrated and short at the edges, and the petioles are hairy.

When ripe, the fruits of this subspecies are endowed with a fairly large size. On average, the weight of one fruit reaches 160 grams, although there are also such apples in this tree, weighing 230 grams. The fruits themselves are even, have a round, conical shape. Their surface is covered with a smooth skin, with the absence of ribs and pearls. It should be noted right away that in these fruits the ripeness for picking coincides with the consumer's ripeness.

The main color of these fruits is greenish-yellow, with a slight blush on the sunny side. With prolonged storage, the color of apples changes to golden, thereby resembling a waxy fruit.

Apple-tree Moscow later: features of the variety

Advantages and disadvantages

Like any other variety, this subspecies has its pros and cons. The advantages of this fruit tree include:

• - Amazing storage period.
• - High index of consumer characteristics.
• - Good level of cold resistance.
• - Has immunity to the dangerous and widespread disease of scab.

This subspecies does not have any large and significant drawbacks. One can only attribute to the disadvantages the thickening of the crown, if there is no required formation.

Dimensions (edit)

The tree of this subspecies is tall. If you do not carry out proper pruning and shaping, then the plant can grow up to six meters in height, thereby causing great inconvenience in caring for it. Plus, such growth can obscure other cultures. But the annual growth of this tree cannot be said to be very large, on average about 12-15 centimeters.

Fruiting and productivity

If you follow all the rules for care and formation, then this crop will bear fruit regularly, every year. The only difference is the low yield.If the ovary or peduncles are not thinned, fruiting usually takes place in one year.

With private cultivation, the yield per tree can be about 150 kilograms, while at an industrial level in the region of 100 centners per hectare.

Tasting characteristics

The inner part of the fruit has a juicy, dense, fine-grained structure, and they taste sweet and sour, with a slight spice in the aftertaste. The pulp of these fruits has a whitish color. When tasting the fruit, a score of 4.3 points was given.

According to their chemical composition, these fruits can be distinguished:

• - Sugar 8.5-11.2 percent, depending on the region of growth and weather conditions.
• - The concentration of titratable acids is 0.94 percent.
• - Phenolic compounds with tanning properties 55 milligrams per 100 gamma product.
• - Ascorbic acid 8.8 milligrams per 100 grams of product.
• - P-active substances 0.15 milligrams per 100 grams of product.
• - Pectins 8.7 percent on a dry weight basis.

Frost tolerance and disease immunity

Apple-tree Moskovskoe later is an excellent option for cultivation in the middle zone of our country, due to its high indicators of endurance to low temperatures. Has a relatively good immunity to the most common apple disease - scab.

Apple-tree Moscow later: planting and leaving

The main feature of planting tall plants of this fruit crop is considered to be the "correct step" between them. When this rule is followed, there is the possibility of easy care for such an apple tree. It should be noted right away that before purchasing a seedling, pay special attention to its trunk. When curvature is detected, it can be concluded that the rhizome of the plant is damaged, or the root neck is invisible. You should not acquire such a seedling, so that the plant does not die in the future, or the deformation of its trunk. The purchased seedling should be shortened. Artificial reduction in growth depends entirely on the size of the rootstock. Leave about 85-90 centimeters on average.

The Moscow apple tree later has the same planting time as the seedlings of other varieties of apple trees - these are the spring and autumn periods of the year:

• - In autumn, disembarkation can occur even after the first snowfall. The most important thing is that the soil does not freeze at this moment. When planting a seedling earlier than 15 days before frost, it may happen that the tree wakes up and grows, while for wintering the tree must remain dormant.
• - In the spring, planting occurs after a short period of time after the thawing of the soil and before bud break.

Note that tall crops are planted according to a five-by-five meter pattern.

One of the main agrotechnical actions is the correct selection of soil, which affects the rooting and adaptation of the plant, as well as its yield. This can happen when planting on dense clay or acidic soil. But this apple tree can grow and bear fruit well on such soils, provided that the acidity is quenched with nitrate. And in the case of heavy soil, a large planting hole should be made and enriched with fertile soil mixed with river sand and fertilizers. The best option for this tree is loam with groundwater at a depth of at least three meters from the soil surface. The landing hole is prepared in advance. Its depth should be approximately twice the size of the rhizome, not less. It is best to prepare the hole one month before planting the seedling.

When digging a hole, the soil should be thoroughly mixed. One third of the resulting soil mixture should be fertilized with a glass of wood ash, 4 tablespoons of potassium sulfate, half a kilogram of superphosphate and three buckets of rotted manure. Loosens to the landing hole.Fertilized one third of the soil is poured out, and then the remaining soil without additives.

The first few years of its life after planting, it will be better to tie a young tree to a peg for support. When planting, it is required to control the location of the root collar; it should be about five centimeters above the soil surface.

It is worth noting that in order for the plant to produce a good and high-quality harvest, this tree should be cut off and shaped every year, and additional fertilizing should be periodically applied. This subspecies is rarely affected by scab disease.

In order for the seedling to take root and adapt better, the first color must be removed entirely. In the following years, it is also worth rationing the yield, thinning the fruits at the stage of formation. The fruits that remain will be larger, much tastier, and thanks to this, the culture will have more strength to prepare for wintering.

The Moscow apple tree later requires a regular watering procedure (about five times a month). One bucket each morning and evening. Especially this should be done during the fruiting period, because it is at this moment that the formation of the future harvest takes place. And with a lack of moisture, you can lose both the current and future crops. These trees at a young age will be quite enough once watering a month, but at the same time abundant. In the last days of August, watering should be stopped. This is done in order to avoid long-term growth of shoots, as well as not to disturb the plant's resistance to frost. Although it is also necessary to prevent the soil from drying out and overflowing.

Although this subspecies is hardy to frost, young plants are required for protection. Therefore, the tree trunk circle is mulched with humus (horse will be the best option), or compost, and the layer of mulch should be at least 10 centimeters. It is also required to whitewash the stem and wrap it after a rodent net. The trunk circle of the plant should always be kept clean and, in addition, loosening should be done.

Two years after planting, this fruit tree must begin to form:

• - It is required to remove all appearing branches from the trunk.
• - Remove branches that grow steeply vertically downward or upward.
• - Shoots that are more than 50 centimeters long are shortened.
• - Last year's growth is thinning out.

The intensity of branching and the formation of fruit buds is stimulated by the removal of part of last year's stems and old branches. Pruning correctly helps to control yields, the amount of sugars in these apples, and also leaves the culture with the strength to fight various infections.

The main stages of pruning and shaping this tree:

• - The planted young tree is shortened by one third to stimulate the formation of the crown.
• - Pruning and shaping is done every year in early spring, even before bud break.
• - In autumn, sanitary pruning is carried out, after leaf fall. At this time, diseased, dry and damaged branches are cut.
• - When cutting a branch of a completely whole branch, no stump is left either. The cut should be made under the base.
• - Stems lying on the ground under the mass of fruits are best cut off.
• - Crooked and weak shoots are cut, you need to leave only even and strong ones.
• - Do not cut off a large number of shoots and stems at once. Only one quarter of the total is removed, otherwise the plant will receive very severe stress and may get sick.

Fruiting and ripening

An interesting fact: during the selection, the first fruiting was planned 9 years after planting. And the very first tree had just such a result. But after that, already his seedlings began to bear fruit much earlier. Therefore, usually, after planting the plant, the first full harvest is obtained in 6 years.

The variety has no interesting features of fruiting, in addition, it is likely that the removable ripeness of the fruit coincides in time with the consumer one. Experienced gardeners claim that this culture is quite unpretentious, produces a regular and high-quality harvest, and also has high taste characteristics of its fruits.

The flowering period begins after May 10 and lasts a little over one week. Although climatic conditions can make some adjustments for the flowering period.

The subspecies is endowed with late ripening of fruits. Harvesting begins in the last decade of September.

The main difference between this subspecies is the ability of the fruit for long-term storage. These apples are able to maintain their consumer qualities until June. And if you fulfill all the conditions for storage correctly, then they will lie until the next harvest.

Subspecies options

- Winter

The Moscow winter variety is considered the most frost-resistant subspecies. Fruits begin to take off in the last days of September and before the first days of October. Apples are large and can weigh 250 grams each. The fruits are dark red with yellow subcutaneous dots. These apples are quite aromatic and endowed with a sweet taste with a hint of sourness. They can be stored until June.

- Columnar

The Moscow necklace variety, which is two meters tall. Fruits can weigh 150-250 grams each, have a red skin tint and a dessert aftertaste. The variety has cold tolerance and immunity to scab disease.

- On a dwarf rootstock

The plant has a growth of up to three meters and all the qualities of the Moscow late.

Growing regions

If you look at the zoning system, then it determines the hardiness of a given culture in terms of frost resistance to zone 4. That is why the subspecies is actively grown in areas such as: Leningrad and Moscow regions, Most of Russia, northern and mountainous regions of Scandinavia.

Apple-tree Moscow later: reviews

Apple-tree Moskovskoe later is a rather non-capricious plant to care for, although it still requires attention. Only in this case, this tree will produce a large and high-quality harvest every year.

There are a huge number of different reviews on the Internet about this subspecies of the apple tree. Here are a few of them:

- I am engaged in the cultivation of several winter varieties of apple trees at my dacha. Among them is this subspecies. I prune in such a way that 4 tiers of branches remain. And in the spring and autumn period of the year I follow this. Due to this, the apple tree bears fruit for me every year.

Anna

- We just adore this taste with the whole family in early spring, at a time when there are only imported apples on the shelves in stores. Our tree of this variety is more than 15 years old. And during this time the failure in the yield was 4 times. Basically, the yield every year, regularly up to 9-12 buckets. True, the tree itself is quite tall.

Svetlana

- I believe that this subspecies belongs to those varieties of apple trees that every gardener should plant on his site. There are a lot of complaints in terms of tallness and thickening. But after all, each culture requires at least minimal care, as well as the study of its description and characteristics. I am engaged in the formation of the crown of this tree from the beginning of planting, thereby preventing thickening of the crown and great growth.

Nikolay