The Pepin saffron apple tree variety can be called one of the most famous and popular not only in Russia, but also in the CIS countries.
Bred by the great breeder I.V. Michurin at the beginning of the 20th century from wonderful parents ( Renet of Orleans and a hybrid of a Chinese woman with a Lithuanian Pepinka ), he won the hearts of amateur gardeners and the minds of test breeders.
The excellent combination of quality and taste characteristics with excellent adaptive abilities have made it the undoubted leader in demand in private gardening.
Thanks to its ideal qualities, more than 20 varieties and subspecies have now been created on the basis of this variety, zoned for almost all regions of our country and neighboring countries, which explains its popularity.
Knowing the basic rules of agricultural technology and the characteristics of the variety, you can easily plant this apple tree in your garden . And this article will help you with this by showing a photo and description of the variety.
Main characteristics
The tree is of moderate size, reaching its maximum in about 6 years. The crown is moderately thick and has the shape of a ball. Without sufficient pruning it may thicken. Young long stems can reach the soil. The fruits are formed on thin annual branches, whose length reaches 15 centimeters. The leaves are small, slightly oblong, matte. They are pointed at the tips.
The bark of an adult individual is colored green-gray, which gradually turns into a more saturated shade.
The variety is not resistant to drought and frost, so it is unsuitable for growing in northern or arid regions.
There are such variants of this culture:
- Cultural winter . Zoned in the Middle and Central zones of Russia, the Volga region and the Moscow region. It is very picky about the chemical composition of the soil and does not tolerate high acidity.
- Creeping . It copes best with difficult winter conditions and is not afraid of frost. This variety requires special care, especially paying attention to pruning.
Appearance of trees
Pepin saffron is a medium-height apple tree, up to 5-7 years of age it has a spherical crown, and when older it has a wide-rounded crown, with shoots drooping almost to the ground, of which there are quite a lot, which is why the crown thickens very quickly and requires annual sanitary pruning. Apples are formed on fruit twigs and spears.
The shoots of this variety are usually quite long, thin, greenish in color with a gray coating. The pubescence on the shoots is clearly visible. The leaf blades are small, oval in shape and have a clearly visible pointed tip. The leaves are matte, appearing grayish due to pubescence.
Description of fruits
The fruits reach medium sizes, the usual weight is about 90 grams, although they can reach 130. The shape is somewhat flattened and ribbed. The color is greenish-yellow, with red stripes and dots visible on it, but as it is stored the shade becomes orange. Fruit stalks often reach up to 3 centimeters in length and 2 millimeters in thickness.
The surface of the apple is smooth and the skin is dense. As for the taste of the fruit, it is sweet and sour and has a spicy aroma. The pulp is dense and creamy in color. The harvest is rich in sugars and ascorbic acid. The taste and smell are characterized by tasters as very pleasant and rich.
Apples can be eaten fresh or made into juices, marmalade, jam, purees, and so on. They are not bad as a component of salad or baked goods.
Apples tolerate transportation well. Shelf life is 200 days, sometimes more. During storage, the taste characteristics improve, while the presentation is not lost.
Pollination
Pepin saffron is capable of self-pollination . However, gardeners notice that the apple tree gives excellent results if the following varieties of apple trees grow nearby:
- Melba;
- Antonovka vulgare;
- Welsey;
- Slav.
Cross-pollination, in which pollen from one flower is transferred to another flower of a plant related to the same species, significantly affects the yield of an apple tree.
Pollinator trees
The apple tree of this variety is, in general, self-pollinating and self-fertile. But if you use the optimal pollinator, you can increase the yield quite well. The best varieties are:
- Slav;
- Antonovka;
- Welsey;
- Caliville Snowy.
Slav
Antonovka
Welsey
Video
Practicing gardeners share their opinions about the best varieties of apple trees suitable for Siberia in videos:
About the author:
For several years she worked as a television program editor with leading producers of ornamental plants in Ukraine. At the dacha, of all types of agricultural work, she prefers harvesting, but for this she is ready to regularly weed, pull, shed, water, tie, thin out, etc. I am convinced that the most delicious vegetables and fruits are those grown with your own hands!
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Convenient Android applications have been developed to help gardeners and gardeners. First of all, these are sowing (lunar, flower, etc.) calendars, thematic magazines, and collections of useful tips. With their help, you can choose a day favorable for planting each type of plant, determine the timing of their ripening and harvest on time.
Diseases and pests
Most of all, this variety is afraid of scab. For the purpose of prevention, you can use chemicals based on sulfur or copper sulfate.
In addition, saffron pepin can be affected by the codling moth. For protection, it is best to treat it with Metadione, Zolon or Tsidial 25 days after the end of flowering. The manipulation is done three times per season.
If the plant is attacked by apple scale insects, you need to use Nitrafen until the first buds appear. And to prevent the appearance of the flower beetle, gardeners recommend using Votafox and Karbofos, carrying out treatments during bud setting.
Also, various herbal decoctions or infusions are excellent against various pests; they can be made from red pepper or horsetail.
Where can I buy?
seedlings of this variety in specialized stores and experimental stations , where you can be guaranteed that the planting material meets the qualities you need.
Nurseries in Ukraine
In Ukraine there are a huge number of nurseries where you can purchase seedlings of Pepin saffron, for example:
- Green Market;
- Intensive nursery of the Matsenko family;
- Garden.
Advantages and disadvantages
Gardeners highlight the following advantages of the Pepin saffron variety:
- good self-fertility, especially in comparison with many other apple trees;
- the yield is always stable, there are no periods of stagnation;
- the presentation of the fruit is preserved for a long time;
- apples easily cope with transportation without spoiling;
- Fruits can be stored for 200 days or more without loss of quality;
- if the apple tree has suffered from various types of damage, recovery will not take as much time as other types of wood;
- Crop shedding is extremely rare.
This plant is not without its drawbacks. The main problems include the following:
- the plant needs regular pruning, otherwise the apples will be small and begin to crumble;
- relatively small fruits;
- the variety is vulnerable to scab;
- the apple tree does not like frosts and droughts, suffering greatly from them;
- wood is extremely demanding to care for;
- With age, the harvest may no longer be as tasty and aromatic as it used to be.
Spreading
Saffron pepin is one of the most common varieties both in Russia and in the CIS countries. It is zoned for the North-Western, Central, Volga-Vyatka, Central Black Earth, North Caucasus, Middle Volga, West Siberian and East Siberian regions of Russia. It can also often be found in Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Armenia, Lithuania and Estonia.
Widely distributed on private plots.
Based on the Pepin saffron apple tree, breeders have developed about 20 varieties, among which the most famous are Altai Dove, Altai Velvet, Gorno-Altai, Autumn Joy, Cherry, Druzhba Narodov, Zavetnoe, and Souvenir Altai. All new varieties have been regionalized.
Landing
When caring for Pepin saffron planting, special attention should be paid. In terms of timing, it is better to do these manipulations in the fall or spring, and in the latter case the seedling will take root better, which helps it survive the winter. When planting in autumn, the plant needs additional preparation for frost. The most important thing is to pre-prepare the soil.
When selecting a planting site, you need to take into account the following nuances: it will not be possible to replant the seedling, it does not tolerate it well, and you should also choose a place with solid soil that is illuminated by the rays of the sun. Low amounts of light cause the apple to shrink in size and affect the taste. The most optimal soils are: floodplain, leached black soil, loam.
When planting an apple tree in the fall, you will have to worry about preparing the soil in August. For fertilizer in this case, 40 grams of potassium salt, 50 grams of superphosphate, 5 kilograms of manure or compost are used. The fertilizer is carefully distributed throughout the entire area. Then the soil is dug up to mix with the prepared fertilizer.
If planting is planned for spring, then the pit is prepared in the fall. A pit is formed with a depth of about a meter and a diameter of about one and a half meters. The soil is dug up, adding 7 kilograms of compost, 450 grams of ash and 250 grams of azofoska. The prepared pit is covered until spring.
Before planting, the roots of the young plant are moistened with an insecticide solution. This will save the apple tree from parasites.
Step-by-step planting instructions
- Make a hole 80 centimeters deep and 1 meter wide.
- Organize a small slide at the bottom.
- Immerse the apple tree there and dig it in.
- Compact the ground with your feet.
- Drive a couple of stakes along the edges of the hole and tie up the tree.
- Fill the ground with a bucket of water.
Technology of planting seedlings
Before moving on to studying the technical features of planting the Pepin saffron apple tree, it is worth purchasing a high-quality seedling, choosing the right time to perform the procedure and deciding on a specific location on the site.
How to choose seedlings for planting
In this case, both annual seedlings in the form of a one and a half meter twig and biennial specimens represented by branched plants (usually the branches are directed to the sides, at an angle of 45–90°) are suitable for planting in the garden.
In order not to be mistaken in the variety and quality of the selected seedling, you should buy it only in specialized stores, whose sellers will be able to provide all the relevant quality certificates.
When examining yourself, special attention should be paid to the root system of the plant (it should not have any damage or growths) and the above-ground part, which includes not only the shoots, but also the leaves on them. A high-quality tree is always resilient, with bright green wood under the bark and elastic small roots.
You can verify this by lightly scratching the bark on the shoots or the skin on the roots with your fingernail. The grafting site also deserves special attention: ideally, it is located at a height of 7–9 cm above the root and is clearly visible on the trunk.
Optimal time for planting
Considering the mediocre frost resistance of the Pepin saffron variety, it is better to postpone its planting on the plot until spring, when the threat of return frosts has passed, and the buds have not yet bloomed on the planting material itself.
In the southern territories, autumn planting is also acceptable, however, in order to increase the chances of a young tree for successful adaptation, it is advisable to carry out the procedure several months before the expected frost, and with the arrival of winter, be sure to cover the seedling with spruce branches or a layer of mulch.
How to choose and prepare a place for planting
Good development of the planted tree and a further abundant harvest of its fruits are possible only under the most suitable cultivation conditions. The planting site plays an important role in this matter, therefore, when purchasing a seedling of the Pepin saffron apple tree, it is advisable to prepare in advance for it a flat and well-lit area with moderate humidity of the substrate.
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This apple tree does not tolerate wetlands, so low-lying areas with close groundwater should be avoided (the best option would be a depth of no closer than 2.3 m to the surface).
As for the composition of the soil mixture in the selected location, the apple trees of the described variety feel good on loamy, sandy loam, floodplain soils and leached chernozem soils, with an acidity not higher than 6.0 pH.
To better incorporate fertilizers into the soil, it is better to distribute them over the surface before digging the area.
With the arrival of spring, the soil in the chosen location is dug up again, and then planting holes with a diameter of 100 cm and a depth of 75–85 cm are organized.
At the bottom of the pit you should lay a drainage layer of broken brick or expanded clay (no more than 3 cm in thickness), add 1 kg of river sand, peat and humus to the soil, as well as 1 tbsp. l. nitroammofoski. The finished planting hole is covered and left to “infuse” over the next two weeks.
Landing technology
The process of planting an apple tree of the Pepin saffron variety is not much different from planting other varieties of the crop.
It involves performing several actions:
- Organizing a soil mound in the center of the planting hole.
- Place a support peg about 1.5 m high (drive in 10 cm from the center point).
- Place the selected seedling with careful straightening of the roots and their uniform distribution over the surface of the substrate.
- Cover the rhizome with soil, but only so that the root collar is at a height of 3–5 cm above the ground.
- Compact the soil in the tree trunk circle and abundant watering of the seedling (at least one bucket of water should be consumed per plant).
The size of the planting hole is 100 cm wide and 85 cm deep.
At the end of planting, you can mulch the soil with sawdust or peat, spreading it over the surface in a 5-centimeter layer.
Care
In the future, the apple tree will require careful care. It needs to be regularly watered, fed, the soil loosened and weeds removed. Watering is carried out according to the following scheme: 10 liters per adult from spring to autumn, starting from the budding stage, taking into account the weather. These events are held on average twice a week.
Loosening and clearing weeds is extremely important. Loosening is carried out the day after watering, and weeds are pulled out as they grow. In the autumn, the tree needs to be whitened and the damage treated (with garden varnish).
You cannot make beds under apple trees, since an adult tree lowers its branches almost to the ground, especially if a lot of crops have formed.
Carrying out preventive measures against scab
Such a wonderful variety as pepin saffron is not very resistant to a disease such as scab, so prevention against it should be carried out annually. Symptoms of this disease include: the appearance of brown spots on leaves and fruits. An unpleasant consequence of the disease is a decrease in the amount of nutrients in the fruits and a decrease in the yield of trees.
According to amateur gardeners, excellent prevention against scab is the following:
- Timely pruning of fruit trees.
- In the fall, compost fallen leaves into the soil.
- Spraying tree trunk circles with a solution of 10% ammonium nitrate.
- During the period of bud break, in areas with high air humidity, spray with a 3% solution of Bordeaux mixture.
- In dry areas, use a 1% solution of this product.
In order to get a good harvest of apples every year, you need to work hard. Caring for apple trees takes little time and minimal costs, but the reward for your efforts will be the beautiful and tasty fruits of saffron pepin. It is rich not only in vitamin complex, but also in a lot of useful microelements that will help protect you and your family from many diseases in the autumn and winter.
Feeding
For fertilizing, it is recommended to use organic matter in the fall and mineral preparations in the spring. The principles are as follows: nitrogen content is applied over the frozen soil, and phosphorus-potassium is added from the moment the budding begins until the apples are filled. Frequency – once every couple of weeks. Fertilizing begins when the plant is 2-3 years old.
Average prices
The cost of a seedling depends on the age of the tree:
2 years – 500 rubles.- 3 years – 700 rubles.
- 4 years – 1500 rubles.
- 5 years – 2800 rubles.
- 7 years – 7500 rubles.
- 8 years – 9500 rubles.
- 9 years – 10,500 rubles.
- 10 years – 15,000 rubles.
The average price for 1 kg of apples is 90 rubles.
Trimming
The Pepin saffron apple tree is pruned in autumn and spring. In the autumn, it is required to get rid of diseased and weak shoots, which can provoke the spread of viruses and fungi in winter.
In the spring they do formative pruning. They do this for about 4 years from the moment of disembarkation. They get rid of old branches that are no longer capable of producing ovaries, branches injured during wintering, as well as branches growing inside the crown, thereby shading the harvest in the summer.
Please note: when performing these manipulations, you need to remember that you cannot cut off more than a quarter of the crown mass. If you ignore this rule, you can simply kill the apple tree.
Features of cultivation in the regions
Moscow region
In the Moscow region, the Pepinka apple tree is grown without any special agrotechnical measures, because climatic conditions and soil resources fully meet the requirements of this variety. The only point you should pay attention to is the acidity of the soil.
Advice! If necessary, it is worth adding lime compounds to the soil.
Ural and Siberia
For regions with harsh climates, there is a special zoned subspecies of Pepin saffron , which is endowed with such qualities as frost resistance, adaptability to sudden temperature changes and harsh wintering.
A frost-resistant subspecies of Pepin saffron has been bred for the Urals and Siberia.
Reviews
Georgy, Zhukovsky : I have several apple trees growing on my site, but most of all I like the saffron Pepin variety. I planted a couple of trees a long time ago, and for the past 5 years I have been collecting fairly large harvests. I like that there is no periodicity in fruiting, it always occurs consistently. Of course, you have to take care of the tree, sometimes it freezes, but every time it recovers well. The taste of the fruit is excellent, and they are also stored for a very long time. I don’t eat it myself, I sell it.
Oksana, Cheboksary : My grandmother planted the Pepin saffron apple tree at our dacha. Since childhood, I remember the pleasant taste of apples, which you simply cannot tear yourself away from. Now the tree is already old, the taste of the harvest has noticeably deteriorated, so we planted several seedlings. They recently gave us some fruits, the taste is just like the one from childhood. We live in a warm region, the plant overwinters well.
Olga, Tver : A neighbor once gave us a couple of buckets of beautiful apples. We tried it and found it incredibly tasty. They asked for the variety - it turned out it was Pepin saffron. Now we are planning to purchase several seedlings and plant them on our site.
History of selection
The variety was obtained thanks to the work of I.V. Michurin.
First bred in 1907 by pollinating the southern Reneta d'Orleans with pollen taken from a seedling obtained from two parents: Chinese and Pepinka Lithuanian.
The goal of such complex work was to develop an exhibition variety with beautiful, long-lasting fruits.
