Plum Yakhontovaya: Description And Characteristics Of The Variety, Advantages And Disadvantages, Planting And Care Features + Photos And Reviews

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-17 22:26

Plum Yakhontovaya: unpretentious, beautiful, tasty

The plum variety Yakhontovaya has gained popularity among Russian gardeners in a relatively short period of time. Unpretentious care, resistance to climatic adversity, beautiful and tasty fruits - this is the secret of his success.

Content

• 1 Origin of the Yakhontovy variety

• 2 Description of the variety with photo

  2.1 Advantages and disadvantages of the variety, table

• 3 Landing features

  • 3.1 Choosing a landing site
  • 3.2 Soil requirements and planting dates. Organization of the landing pit.
  • 3.3 Selection of seedlings

  • 3.4 Planting a seedling, step by step instructions

    3.4.1 Plum planting, video

• 4 Plum care

  • 4.1 Cropping

    • 4.1.1 Some general information about fruit formations of plum
    • 4.1.2 Formation of skeletal branches
  • 4.2 Removal of root growth
  • 4.3 Top dressing
  • 4.4 Watering

  • 4.5 Preparing for winter and protecting against sunburn in spring

    4.5.1 Whitewashing wood, video

• 5 Diseases and pests

  • 5.1 Diseases of the plum and how to deal with them - table

    5.1.1 Diseases of the plum and how to deal with them - photo gallery

  • 5.2 Pests of plum - table

    5.2.1 Plum pests - photo gallery

• 6 Harvesting and using the crop

  6.1 Plum blanks, video

• 7 Reviews of gardeners about the variety

The origin of the Yakhontovy variety

Yakhontova is the result of the work of domestic breeders Popova I. V., Yenikeev H. K., Satarova S. N. and Simonov V. S. from the All-Russian Institute of Selection and Technology of Horticulture and Nursery. Obtained by crossing Eurasia 21 and Smolinka varieties.

It is not entirely clear with the name of the variety, because in the old days corundum minerals were called yakhont: red yagont - ruby, blue (azure) yagont - sapphire. And quite rarely the mineral hyacinth was called yellow yacht.

You can find the similarity of plum and yellow yacht colors

A more plausible version of the name of the variety suggests itself from the phrase, also old, “my yahontovaya” - about a beloved, precious thing. Indeed, a new variety bred by breeders, like a child, cannot but be loved.

Description of the variety with photo

The tree is vigorous, up to 5–5.5 m tall with a compact crown of medium density. Shoots are straight, brown. Leaves are elliptical, light green, matte, smooth. Fruits are roundish, color yellow with pink speckled bloom, average weight 30–35 g. The pulp is yellow, tender, juicy, sweet-sour taste. Tasting score 5 points according to the official State Register of Plants. In the period of fruiting begins 3-4 years, the beginning of the harvest in August.

Yakhontova's fruits are almost spherical, rich in yellow

The fruits contain:

• dry matter 15.3%,
• sugar 9.0%,
• acids 3.5%,
• vitamin C 14.5 mg / 100g.

The variety is winter-hardy, this applies to both wood and flower buds, in the process of state. tests from 1991 to 2005 endured frosts in the middle and late winter to minus 33 ^o; drought-resistant, little damaged by fungal diseases. Fruiting is regular. Self-fertility is partial, therefore it requires the proximity of pollinating varieties, the best of which are Pamyat Timiryazev, Skorospelka krasnaya, Vengerka Moskovskaya.

The variety is zoned for the Central region of Russia.

Advantages and disadvantages of the variety, table

Advantages of the variety	Its flaws
High tasting fruit score	Tallness
Regularity of fruiting	Partial self-fertility
High winter hardiness and drought resistance
Early entry into the fruiting period
Resistance to a range of fungal and viral diseases
Good yield

Landing features

Choosing a landing site

To create optimal growing conditions for Yakhontova in a small summer cottage already planted with various plants is an almost impossible task. Let's start with the height of the tree. More than five meters is the height of a two-story house, the shadow of the plum will not be weak. Even if you have Yakhontova grafted on a dwarf stock and you have coped with tall growth, you need at least 2 pollinators at a distance of about 4 meters from Yakhontova and from each other.

For Yakhontova, you will have to provide a decent "living space"

Next comes a set of such conditions:

• The place should be well lit during the day, only morning and evening shade is permissible.
• Strong drafts at the place of growth are highly undesirable.
• The groundwater level is no closer than 1.5 meters.
• The landing site should not be low-lying.

Therefore, take seriously the decision to land Yakhontova, so that later you will not regret the wasted money and time

Soil requirements and planting dates. Organization of the landing pit

The ideal soil composition for plums is light loam with a neutral acidity reaction. For peat and sandy loam soils, it is necessary to lay about 10 cm of clay on the bottom of the planting pit. Plum usually takes root easily and quickly, so both spring (March-May) and autumn planting are acceptable. It is better not to delay with an autumn planting; if the seedlings are not planted before October, they must be dug in and planted in spring.

The trunks of the seedlings are half covered with earth

In order to prevent rodents from damaging the bark of dug-in seedlings, they are covered with spruce branches, and a layer of snow is raked onto them in winter for insulation.

It is advisable to prepare the planting hole in advance, that is, in the fall for spring planting and in spring-summer for autumn planting. The size of the dug hole is 70x70x70 cm. The upper fertile layer of the earth and the lower layers are placed separately, the roots of perennial weeds are selected. A few centimeters from the center of the pit, a stake is driven in so that about 0.5 meters of its length remains above the ground. Fertile soil, 2–4 buckets of humus or compost, 250–300 g of superphosphate, 70 g of potassium sulfate are poured into the pit. Potash fertilizer can be replaced with 0.5 kg of wood ash. The composition is thoroughly mixed. If the hole is not completely filled, add some fertile soil to it.

Clay from the bottom of the pit should not be used for filling it

Selection of seedlings

The main planting material offered by nurseries is grafted seedlings.

On the seedlings, the places where the rootstock and scion grow together are clearly visible

You can also find own-rooted forms, but in this case there is a greater risk of acquiring a "pig in a poke". The age of the offered seedlings can be from one to three years. The procedure for buying a seedling is as follows:

• We carefully examine the trunk near the root collar and, according to the characteristic thickening, find the place of grafting the scion on the stock. It should be covered with bark without any wounds.
• Ask the seller what kind of rootstock was used for the plum: Yakhontovoy is usually grafted onto dwarf rootstocks VVA-1, 2–17, felt cherry, and a variety of home-grown plum Alexiy to reduce its tallness.
• Then we look at the root system: it is necessary to have several main roots and fibrous growing ones that are not dried out. A healthy root cut is light yellow in color.
• Depending on the age of the seedlings, it may not have lateral branches at all (one-year-old) or have several shoots, this is not important. The main thing is to make sure that the bark is in good condition and the presence of live buds.

If the planting of the seedling is not planned in the days following the purchase, it must be dug in.

Planting a seedling, step by step instructions

So, we have prepared a landing pit in advance and the earth in it has already subsided.

1. We shovel the earth to the center of the hole to form a small mound and try on our seedling. Since the shrinkage of the earth has mainly taken place, we make the protrusion of the root collar relative to the ground level no more than 1–2 cm.
2. We carefully distribute the roots along the mound and fill the hole with fertile soil, lightly tamping it with our feet. After the hole is filled, we organize an annular groove for irrigation along its edge and slowly pour two buckets of water into it.
3. We tie the seedling to the peg with a soft twine, forming a "eight" with it, not in tightness.
4. We mulch the trunk circle with humus or compost 10 cm thick.
5. Next, the seedling needs to be cut for the first time. One-year seedling, without lateral branches, is pruned at a height of 60–80 cm above the bud. For two - three-year-old seedlings, 3 shoots are selected above the stem, extending from the trunk in different directions at an angle of 45-50 degrees with a distance of 10-15 cm between them. The strongest of them is cut by 1/3, the other two are aligned in height under it.

Plum planting, video

Plum care

Of course, timely feeding and watering are important for Yakhontova, but rational pruning will be the determining factor affecting the development of a tree.

Pruning

The purpose of pruning is to form the crown of the tree with the most favorable conditions for its development and obtaining a full harvest

As for the pruning time, the generally accepted spring is considered, before the mass flow of sap begins, although there are convincing examples of successful pruning of plums in summer and late autumn.

Some general information about the fruit formations of the plum

1 - single buds, 2 - group buds, 3 - bouquet twigs, 4 - spurs

If you look closely at the plum shoots in spring, you can easily find their annual growth: young end sections of the shoot with a growth bud at the top and flowering, as well as growth buds along the length. We go down the branch and there, in addition to the buds, we will find short (up to 5 cm) fruit branches - spurs, and even lower and rather long fruit branches. So, the life of shoots goes according to the following scheme:

1. The first summer, it simply grows and throws out leaves, by autumn, fruit or growth buds are formed in their axils. The apical shoot bud is only growth bud.
2. The next summer, on the last year's section of the shoot, fruit buds bloom and yield, and lateral shoots (spurs) grow.
3. A year later, lateral shoots will bloom and bear fruit in the same place.

At Yakhontova, the harvest is formed on the flower buds of the growth of last year

These plums are formed from flower buds of last year's growth.

as well as on bouquet twigs and spurs of two-year and older increments

Plums grown on bouquet twigs

The lifespan of fruit branches is only 3-4 years, rarely 5-6 years, which is why, over time, the fruiting of the plum goes to the periphery of the crown, and the spurs turn into familiar thorns. The main subject of plum pruning is its annual growth. If you do not touch it, then the main part of the tree's energy will be directed to the growth of the shoot, and the formation of fruits will proceed according to the residual principle.

Formation of skeletal branches

For Yakhontova, it is enough to have 5–6 well-formed skeletal branches.

Formation of skeletal branches

In the first year after planting, the main focus is on the formation of the skeletal branches of the first tier. The requirement for them was discussed in the section "Planting a seedling". These branches grow freely for the first year, and the development of the rest is inhibited by pinching the upper bud or bending down.

On the skeletal branches of the first tier, branches of the second order may appear. The first shoot should be at a distance of 30-50 cm from the trunk, the subsequent ones should be located at 30-40 cm from each other. They should not come out of the upper part of the skeletal branch, otherwise they will most likely turn into tops.

In the second year after planting, skeletal branches of the next tier are formed. They must be selected from healthy and properly located branches above the first tier. The distance to such a lower branch is taken 60 cm from the first tier, the next one or two skeletal branches are selected at a distance of 40-60 cm from the one below. If a competitor has grown for a conductor, it is removed, and the conductor itself is shortened by about a third of the annual growth.

By the third year, the main skeleton of the tree should be formed. Pruning at this time is to remove the branches, forming a branch from which they grow up, the angles of less than 40 ^on, Voltchkova branches and the depth direction of the crown, with the exception of short fruiting branches. The competitors of the main skeletal branches are also removed. All annual growths are shortened by 1/3, while the plum switches the growth to the lateral shoots of this growth.

In the fourth year, Yakhontovaya usually begins to bear fruit. The pruning is similar to the previous year's pruning, except that the conductor is still cut above the well-developed side branch. This creates favorable conditions for uniform illumination of the crown.

The finally formed crown of a plum in the fourth year of the tree's development

The plum pruning technique has many nuances, depending on the size of the annual increments, the age of the tree, the chosen arrangement of skeletal branches, etc., consideration of these issues is beyond the scope of this article. You can start working with plums with two basic techniques: trimming annual increments by about 1/3 and sanitary pruning, and then, as you gain experience and knowledge, move on to more varied methods.

Removing root shoots

Yakhontovaya, like most varieties of plums, is prone to overgrowth formation. We don't need it at all for the development of the tree. There are no difficulties in removing it, you just need to know that you need to trim it at the base. For this, the soil is removed near the shoot, it is cut out at the root, and the earth returns to its place.

1 - correct removal, 2 - incorrect, 3 - increased growth of overgrowth after incorrect removal

If you cut off the shoots at ground level, then after a while a real coppice panicle will form at this place.

Top dressing

In the year of planting, Yakhontova does not need to be fed, a sufficient amount of nutrients is laid in the planting pit. In the second and third years, the plum must be fed in the spring with urea at the rate of 2 tbsp. spoons / m ².

Further feeding is as follows:

1. Spring: 1-2 buckets of humus or compost are added under the tree and 2-2.5 tbsp. tablespoons of urea.

   

   In the spring, organic matter is added to the planting circle

2. Autumn: 3 tbsp. tablespoons of simple superphosphate (or half as much as double), 1.5 tbsp. tablespoons of potassium chloride and 200 g of wood ash.

Fertilizers are applied to the circular groove of the trunk circle and covered with earth. Top dressing in such a volume is sufficient for the development of plums and the formation of fruits.

Watering

The drought resistance of the Yakhontovaya variety does not imply testing your plum for compliance with this parameter. To get a good harvest, regular watering of the plum is necessary. This is especially true for the following stages:

• Formation of ovaries
• Mass ripening of fruits
• After harvest.

As a result of draining at least three times per season, it should be watered with 3–6 buckets of water

Water pours out into the annular groove of the barrel circle

Water-charging irrigation is organized separately at the beginning of October, and about 200 liters of water should be used. It is clear that the irrigation rates are adjusted with an eye to the precipitation, we do not need a swamp under the drain.

Preparing for winter and protecting against sunburn in spring

The fallen leaves are raked from under the plum and burned. The soil in the near-trunk circle, and, if possible, even further, is dug up in order to prevent various pests from overwintering underground. Dead bark and lichens are removed from the trunk and skeletal branches. These places are smoothed out to healthy tissue, treated with iron sulfate and covered with oil paint or garden varnish.

For some reason, it is customary to whitewash trees in the spring, although its main task is to protect the trunks from early spring sunburn. Therefore, whitewash the trunk of the tree and the lower part of the skeletal branches in the fall, choosing a dry, sunny day. The height of the whitewash is approximately 1.5 meters.

Whitewashing wood, video

Unfortunately, plum bark, along with apple bark, is popular with hares. It is better not to rely only on whitewashing as protection, some eared gourmets also like it, but to protect the plum stem with spruce branches - this will be more reliable.

Tying the trunk with spruce branches - effective protection against rodents for the winter

Diseases and pests

A very valuable property of Yakhontova is her immunity to viral diseases, and from fungal she practically does not suffer from perforated spot (clusterosporia) and gray fruit rot (moniliosis). Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for other common diseases, so let's take a look at them.

Plum diseases and ways to deal with them - table

Disease	The manifestation of the disease	Prevention	Treatment
Coccomycosis	Small brown spots form on the outer sides of the leaves, and pink bloom on the lower ones. The leaves dry and fall off in the summer. The bark cracks, flower and sprout buds may die.	Removal of fallen leaves in autumn. Competent crown formation.	Plum treatment with 1% Bordeaux liquid, Hom, Nitrafen, Horus preparations at the stage of bud swelling, immediately after flowering and after harvesting.
Pockets	Only the fruits are affected. They take on an ugly shape, and the bone does not develop at all. Then the fruits are covered with a gray bloom. Most of the crop may be lost.	Remove and destroy diseased fruits before plaque appears on them.	Treatment with 1% Bordeaux liquid, Horus, Topsin-M, Topaz preparations. Multiplicity of processing: 3-4 days before flowering; immediately after flowering.
Rust	Plum foliage gets sick. Rusty spots appear on it.	Removal and burning of diseased leaves.	At the stage of swelling of the kidneys, spraying with Hom.
Milky shine	The leaves become pale, showing a silver sheen. Leaves die off. Air bubbles appear in the leaf tissues.	Autumn whitewashing of boles. Feeding plums with potassium chloride. Timely removal of branches damaged by the disease.	The milky shine is not cured; in case of a serious damage to the plum, the tree must be uprooted and burned.
Gum therapy (gommosis)	The appearance of drops of gum on the bark of a plum, usually amber in color. They are caused by various types of burns, as well as inept plum care: mechanical damage to the bark, waterlogging or overfeeding of plums, as well as excessive pruning.	Competent feeding, watering and pruning. Timely repair of bark damage with garden varnish or oil paint.	Removal of severely affected branches.

Plum diseases and how to deal with them - photo gallery

Coccomycosis can affect not only leaves, but also shoots, as well as fruits

With this disease, the fruits become completely inedible.

Rust is one of the most common plum diseases

Milky shine is not treatable

Most of the manifestations of this disease are the inept actions of the gardener

It was noted that among the pests of Yakhontova, the most interested in plum aphid, plum moth and black plum sawfly. Let's take a closer look at them.

Plum pests - table

Pest	Description of the pest	Prevention	Control measures
Plum aphid	Insect up to 2.5 mm long, mostly green with three characteristic longitudinal stripes on the back. It is found on leaves and young shoots, feeds on their juice. Leaves curl, shoots are deformed.	Autumn harvesting of fallen leaves, removal of plum sprouts, fighting ants. Trimming the tips of shoots heavily affected by aphids.	Spraying the foliage with a soapy solution of tobacco. Application of drugs Iskra, Fitoverm, Nitrofen, Benzophosphate.
Plum moth	Quite a pretty butterfly, slightly smaller than the apple moth. Caterpillar pink with a dark head up to 15 mm long. The caterpillar hibernates under the ground or in cracks in the bark, and in the spring, during the plum blossom period, it pupates, and after 10 days it turns into a butterfly. At dusk or at night, butterflies lay their eggs on plums and a week later the caterpillars emerging from the eggs bite into the fruits. At this point, gum appears at the plum.	Digging the soil in the near-trunk circle, collecting volunteers and destroying it.	4 - multiple spraying of the tree with infusions of tobacco, wormwood, pepper, pine needles at weekly intervals. Application of Karbofos or Benzophosphate at least 3 weeks before harvest.
Black plum sawfly	The insect is black, up to 5 mm in size. The female lays in buds or on the ovary of fruits up to 30 eggs, from which larvae-caterpillars appear. The larva damages the ovary or the fruit, it falls to the ground, where the caterpillar pupates.

The drugs mentioned in the tables against diseases and pests of plums are used only according to the instructions for them

Plum pests - photo gallery

Aphids take juice from the leaves and young shoots of the plum

The moth moth is nocturnal

Caterpillars of the moth feed on the pulp of the fruit

The sawfly looks like a fly

The sawfly causes the main harm to buds and unripe fruits

Harvesting and using the crop

Yakhontovaya plum begins to bear fruit in the third or fourth year after planting. The ripening period is the second or third decade of August and it can be harvested for 3-4 weeks. Up to 50 kg of plums with an average weight of 30–35 g are removed from an adult tree.

If the plum is supposed to be transported somewhere, then it is necessary to collect it 4–6 days before it fully ripens, so it will better endure the road. Stacking in boxes or baskets should be no more than 3-4 layers. With the storage of plums in the refrigerator, be careful: at a temperature of about 0 ^about With her flesh darkens.

Due to the good taste of this variety, the most correct use of the fruits is to eat them fresh. Well, since 50 kilograms will not be easy to overpower even for a large family, then make preparations: jam, compote, jam, marmalade, marshmallow.

Amber-colored jam is very appetizing

Plum blanks, video

Reviews of gardeners about the variety

Gardeners note the winter hardiness of the variety, but there are different opinions about the taste, some consider this plum to be fresh.

Plum Yakhontovaya is quite competitive against the background of other domestic varieties. Its trump card is amazing winter hardiness combined with drought resistance. It is also immune to moniliosis, a real scourge of stone fruit trees. Among the problems of the variety, it is worth noting its tallness and, as a result, the need for increased attention to competent tree pruning. Not everyone likes the lack of sourness in their taste, but this is from the case of "who is a priest, who is a priest, and who is a priest's daughter", you cannot please everyone.