Did you know that there are about ten thousand different varieties of apples registered in the world?
Only a small part of them are grown in Russian culture and in demand among gardeners.
Today we would like to tell you about one of the popular varieties of apples, which is called Star.
It is valued for taste, versatility and easy care. Apple tree description Asterisk and photo - later in the article.
What kind is it?
Asterisk refers for winter varieties of apples.
Winter varieties are different high storage time.
Among the winter varieties such varieties are also known and popular: Orlovsky Sinap, Antonovka vulgaris, Aport, Jonagold and Lobo.
In the conditions of the fruit storage may lie until the middle of winter, and sometimes until the beginning of March.
Harvest should be without waiting for fruit to fall off and leave ripen apples for 3-4 weeks before use.
In our lane collect it early to mid september, in the southern regions, fruit ripening may be a bit earlier.
Simple, low wooden crates are best for storage. Boxes are recommended to be thoroughly washed, cleaned and dried.
Apples are better to put in a single layer. So they will lie longer. If the sides of the container are high, you can put in bulk, but not more than 3-4 pieces on top of each other.
In the refrigerator, the laying times are reduced. Storage temperature should be 0-2 degrees. You can put the harvest in the cold cellar.
Pollination
Since the asterisk is an apple tree of the winter variety, Apple trees of similar varieties are planted next to it: Antonovka, Ladoga, Belarusian Crimson, Zhigulevskoe, Bogatyr and others.
Variety description Zvezdochka
Consider separately the appearance of the apple tree and its fruit.
At a young tree crown dense, rounded shape. With age, it becomes more sprawling and wilted.
By 15-20 years old apple tree asterisk can reach five and a half meters in lengthand crown up to six meters in diameter.
The branches are long, skeletal, spreading, many small thin twigs. The shoots are thin, long, pubescent, brown in color with a red tinge.
The leaves are oval, green frosted, notched at the edges, short petioles.
Apples medium in size, weighing between 80 and 130 grams, some fruits reach 160-180 grams.
The form is flat-rounded with slightly visible ribs. The surface is smooth with a waxy coating. The stem is thin.
The color of apples is light green with an attractive red blush on almost the entire circumference of the fruit. The flesh is juicy, light green in color, sometimes with a red tinge next to the skin.
The asterisk refers to the table-dessert varieties. It has a pleasant sweet-sour taste. Its fruits go well for sale, for the manufacture of home baking, jam, preservatives.
The following apple varieties can also boast great taste: Orlovsky pioneer, Orlinka, Aromatic, Youth and Screen.
A photo
Breeding history
The variety of apples Asterisk was obtained due to the long work of the Russian breeder Chernenko S.F.
Star managed to get from crossing Anise with Pepinkoy Lithuanian.
The work was carried out for several years at the Michurinsky Scientific Research Institute of Genetics and Selection of Fruit Plants.
Chernenko’s hand also belongs to Rennet Chernenko, July Chernenko, Kandil Orlovsky.
Place of birth and distribution
Officially regions of its zoning taken Central regions of Russia: North-Western part, Central, Middle Volga, Volko-Vyatskaya.
In the southern regions, the adaptation of apple trees is not bad. In the northern parts, where winters are longer and frosty, it is not recommended to growas a grade does not differ in high frost resistance.
The following apple varieties are suitable for planting in these regions: Kalvil snow, Cinnamon New, Uspenskoye, Pepin Saffron and Young Naturalist.
Yield
The tree begins to bear fruit 5-6 year after disembarkation. Remarkably, seedlings grown on dwarf rootstocks bring the first fruits 1-2 years earlier.
Yields may vary each year. Average can collect from 50 to 100 kg of apples from one tree.
One of the disadvantages of the variety is fruit size reduction and decrease in palatability with age. Requires constant trimming.
If you are looking for a variety with consistently high yields, pay attention to: Welsey, Sunny, Ural bulk, Lobo and Isetsky late.
Caring for an apple tree is not difficult. Even a novice gardener can grow a tree. The main thing - to comply with the basic recommendations for proper care.
Landing need not earlier than the end of April or the beginning of Maywhen the snow melts, the night frosts will end, and the temperature during the day will warm the ground.
It is better not to plant a star in the fall, as the apple variety Asterisk does not tolerate cold wind and frost.
The tree should take root before the onset of cold weather.
Apple needs good lighting, so planting is preferable. in the open area of the south, southeast or southwest side of the site.
Place for planting need to carefully dig and loosen the ground. Sapling planted in deep wide pit (approximately 40 by 40 cm).
Fertilize (peat, ash), make a mound of land in the center of the pit and put a seedling upright, straightening its roots.
Next we bury the ground and we tamp. Root neck should be 6-7 cm above ground level The apple tree is more convenient to plant together.
Some gardeners do not attach importance to the selection of seedlings and care for them before planting.
No way do not shorten the roots apple tree, but hold first light pruning can even before diving into the ground.
Watering an apple tree should be moderated. She is does not tolerate excess moisture. Near the tree is recommended make a groove for the outflow of water. But, in hot weather watering is recommended to increase.
Land need weed and loosen. In rainy weather, loosening the soil is important for respiration of the root system, and in hot weather it will be useful for the best passage of moisture into the soil.
Top dressing bring in the spring. The first make when landing. It may be peat with ash or any organic fertilizer in the form of humus, horse humus.
Top dressing is done at the rate of 5-10 kg per square meter. In the fall you can feed complex fertilizers nitrogen free. It is very important to pay attention to the quality of the soil.
If the soil is fertile, the apple tree practically does not need additional feeding. An overabundance of minerals can also have a negative impact, as well as a disadvantage.
Asterisk be sure to cut. This should be done to increase the yield, prevent diseases, as well as preserve the decorative qualities of the tree.
To set the crown better, after planting the crown cut to 1/3. Pruning is carried out annually in the spring before the first leaves blooming.
It is impossible to spend it in late autumn. Old, dried twigs and branches are also removed.
Sort does not differ in good frost resistance. Therefore, before the onset of the first cold weather be sure to do the land mulching.
As mulch fit hay, peat, bark or sawdust. Mulch should be lined with a thick layer. To protect young seedlings and preserve the bark from rodents, additional shelter is made of planks.
Watch the video on how to properly prune a young seedling.
Diseases and pests
Variety has good immunity from various diseasesrarely affected scab
If this happens, the tree is treated with a spring drug. Chorus (1 ampoule per 10 liters of water) before flowering and after it.
Sometimes fruits are affected. rotten In this case, you can use the drug Fundazole (40 grams per 10 liters of water) for processing.
If there are visible signs of damage to flowers, leaves and shoots powdery mildew, treatment is carried out Topaz (ampoule per 10 liters of water).
Do not forget to carry out preventive measures against common pests of the apple orchard, such as the codling moth, the mole miner, the fruit sapwood, the hawthorn and the silkworm. What measures are the most effective read in separate articles of our site.
The asterisk is a demanded variety of apples in our strip. Its main advantages are: excellent taste, easy cultivation and care, good yield, strong immunity from diseases and pests.
Among the shortcomings worth noting weak frost resistance and the need for regular pruning. If you are going to grow an asterisk, be sure to pay attention to the care recommendations in order to preserve the decorative qualities and high yields.
