Dwarf fruit trees have always been of particular interest to gardeners. This is easily explained - from a relatively small tree you can harvest a rich harvest. Perhaps one of the best representatives of such crops is the Bratchud apple tree, which gives gardeners juicy, fragrant and very tasty fruits.
Variety history
The full name of the variety is Brat Chudny, and the abbreviated name Bratchud appeared a little later. The dwarf apple tree of the winter ripening period was bred by specialists from the Horticulture Research Institute of the city of Chelyabinsk. The variety was obtained by crossing the hybrid of Vydubetskaya weeping and Ural winter.
The low-growing apple tree Bratchud was bred thanks to the painstaking work of breeders Mazunin and Putyatin. The variety was successfully released in 2002. Despite the fact that the first samples of the new plant were originally planted in Siberia and the regions of the Southern Urals, a little later they began to be successfully grown in other regions of Russia - in the Altai Territory and in the north-west of the European partour country.
Variety description
The Bratchud apple tree is called a natural dwarf. It has a flat-rounded crown with a diameter of about three meters. The height of the tree does not exceed two meters, if we are talking about a plant on clonal rootstocks. Using a seed stock, it is possible to grow apple trees up to 2.7 meters high. On the main shoots and trunk, the color of the bark is dark brown. True, it depends on the growing conditions of the tree. In some cases, it has a lighter or darker shade.
Fructification is distributed across all fruit branches, including last year's growth. Young shoots of medium thickness, covered with greenish-brown bark, grow quite quickly. Large, oblong-rounded leaves are painted in dark green. On their upper part, a slight pubescence is clearly visible. The edges of the leaves are serrated.
Fruits
Apples of this variety are slightly elongated in shape, medium in size. They can be ribbed, although their feature is the presence of a side seam. The outer surface of the fruit is dry and smooth, with a slight glossy sheen and no wax coating. The relatively thin skin is colored greenish-yellow with a blurred red blush. The stalks are not very long, but rather thick. They are placed at right angles.
Fully ripe fruits of the Bratchud apple tree have snow-white flesh, while unripe fruits have a greenish tint. The pulp is coarse-grained in texture, with a pleasant sweet and sour taste, not too juicy. The chemical composition of fruits includes a number of usefulsubstances: titratable acids, sugars, ascorbic acid, soluble solids, pectins. The weight of one apple ranges from 140 to 250 grams. From one tree you can collect up to 120 kg of selected fruits. Regular annual fruiting occurs in the fourth year after planting.
Features of the variety
Bratchud apple tree perfectly tolerates severe frosty winters, when the thermometer drops to -40 ° C. The main advantage of the variety is the possibility of winter storage of fruits for a long time. In the description of the Bratchud apple tree, the creators of the variety guarantee 140 days of fruit preservation, but on the condition that they are placed in wooden boxes with holes immediately after harvest and placed in a cellar with an air temperature not higher than +15 ° C.
Another feature of this variety is intolerance to the neighborhood with potatoes during storage, so fruit boxes should be in different parts of the basement.
Selection of seedlings
In addition to the traditional rules for choosing planting material for fruit trees (selection without signs of disease, damage, etc.), dwarf varieties have some more indicators of the quality of seedlings. When buying a young plant in a nursery, you can be sure that you really have a Bratchud apple tree in front of you. In markets or fairs, the situation is different, and you may well purchase an ordinary wild apple tree instead of the desired variety. To exclude this option, when examining the plant, pay attention to the area located between the rootthe neck and stem of the seedling: on a dwarf rootstock, a knee-shaped protrusion should be clearly visible, which indicates grafting.
A two-year-old seedling has at least four well-formed branches with large buds - a wild game has many sharp branches without buds. The root system of the selected plant should be formed from many small and elastic roots. Rod-shaped roots indicate that you are looking at a wild apple tree.
Choosing a location on the site
Like most dwarf varieties, the Bratchud apple tree prefers elevated, wind-sheltered areas that are in full sun or partial shade. Preparation for planting can be divided into two stages: processing the site, inspection and processing (if necessary) of the seedling. Let's look into the intricacies of each of them in more detail.
Site preparation
If you are going to plant a Bratchud apple tree in the spring, then digging the soil and fertilizing it should be done in the fall. Remove all leaves and plant parts from the site, dig up the ground and add some mineral or organic fertilizer (depending on the composition of the soil).
In the spring, a month before planting, dig a square hole measuring 1.5x1.5x1.5 m and put humus or peat on its bottom.
Preparing seedlings
Examine the young plant carefully, paying special attention to the root system, and determine its viability. If the shoots have dried up, they must be placed in water for a day. The roots of the plant are cut a little before planting in the ground to form a lower stem.crowns.
Planting seedlings
The best time to plant a Bratchud apple tree is spring, but that doesn't mean you can't plant seedlings in the fall. True, in this case, the event should be carried out before the onset of the first frost, so that the plant has time to take root.
The twenty-centimeter top layer of soil from the planting hole is removed to the side. It can be used to prepare a nutrient substrate. Connect the earth with two buckets of peat or humus, add 600 g of superphosphate and 700 g of wood ash. After mixing the prepared substrate, it is poured into the hole, driving a stake into the center. You will get a mound on which the seedling will be placed.
The roots of the plant must be spread well, and then fill the hole with the rest of the soil. Please note that after planting, the grafting site should be located 3 cm above the soil level. Compact the soil around the young plants and make a roller out of the earth. Its height should not exceed 15 cm, departing from the trunk 0.5 m. A young tree is watered with 30 liters of water. After it is completely absorbed, mulch the site with peat and humus, with a layer of no more than three centimeters, but in such a way that the mulch does not come into contact with the tree trunk. Tie the seedling to the stake.
Seasonal Care
After planting the Bratchud apple tree, the gardener faces another task: it is necessary to ensure proper seasonal care for the young plant. Before fruiting, the seedling is watered periodically, but not more than five times a year. Under every young treepour in five buckets of water. After the liquid is absorbed, it is necessary to loosen the soil in the near-stem circle.
In very hot periods and in preparation for winter, trunk circles are mulched to prevent excessive evaporation of moisture and protect the root system of even a frost-resistant apple tree from freezing. To do this, you can use sawdust, peat, mowed grass.
Feeding
It is natural that every gardener, planting a tree, dreams of getting abundant harvests. For this, watering alone is not enough. The Bratchud apple tree is fertilized three times a season with organic fertilizers: infusion of chicken manure (1:20), infusion of mullein, which is diluted in water in a ratio of 1:10. In addition, organic top dressing also includes:
- pigeon droppings;
- fish and bone meal;
- potato peelings;
- whey;
- eggshell;
- tobacco dust;
- nettle;
- onion peel.
Three years later, trees can be fertilized with solutions of mineral fertilizers. In the spring, these are nitrogen-containing or complex compounds.
In autumn, fertilizing apple trees should not contain nitrogen, as it causes the active growth of new shoots, which delays the preparation of the tree for winter. At this time, the culture most of all needs potassium and phosphorus. To feed 1 square meter of soil, you will need to dissolve 1 tablespoon (tablespoon) of potassium and 2 tablespoons of double superphosphate in a bucket of water.
Cutting
For the dwarf apple tree Bratchud, pruning is needed not so much assanitary purposes, how much for uniform distribution of fruits, as well as to remove weakened shoots. In addition to too long damaged branches, weak rootstocks must also be removed. This allows you to thin out the crown.
Sometimes gardeners also remove the upper buds so that the middle buds develop better. Formative pruning of the apple tree is carried out twice a year: in autumn and spring.
Bratchud apple tree: reviews of gardeners
Most gardeners in the northern regions and the middle lane are satisfied with the Bratchud apple tree. According to reviews, this small tree, which does not require complex care, pleases with good and stable crops after three years. Fruits that have a pleasant aroma and sweet and sour taste can be consumed fresh, as well as to prepare delicious compotes, preserves, jams from them. In addition, apples of this variety are stored almost until the new harvest.
