Older varieties of apple trees are often forgotten, payingattention to new. But many of them are not inferior to fashionable novelties, and sometimes surpass them in some parameters. One of these varieties - Bellefle-Chinese apple tree.
Variety description
A tall tree with a wide rounded crown.It is formed by thick branches. Begins to give the first fruits in the sixth year of life. Apples are placed on last year's growths and fruit twigs. Their number is average. But every year it is almost the same. The apple tree produces crops annually. Fruits do not crumble and can hang for a long time on the branches.
The leaves are dark green or even dark gray, large, oval, covered with fuzz. Shoots light brown, reddish, also trimmed. Lentils on the branches are rounded.
Бельфлер-китайка – яблоня, которую в наше время grown on dwarf rootstocks. This allows you to significantly reduce the area under the tree of this variety, and in the saved area to grow other trees.
The Chinese Belle Flay is an apple tree of late summer ripening. Apples are kept in good condition for about two months. And if you store them in a cool place, you can lie down until January.
It is believed that Belfleur-Kitayka is an autumn variety for the middle band, and a late summer variety for the southern ones.
But her immunity to disease is weak. Apple tree Bellefle-Kitayka is affected by scab and powdery mildew.
Description of fruits
The fruits can be very large. The weight of one can even be 500 g! But their average weight is much less, but also impressive - 190 g. The apple is rounded, slightly elongated. The saucer is not deep.
Primary color is yellow.Cover color is very beautiful, pink. It is located on the fruit in strips or spots and gives the apple a very beautiful look, covering at least half the area. Bright subcutaneous spots - one of the signs of the variety.
The fragrant pulp of white color is filled with a large amount of sweet-sour juice. It is fine-grained and dense. The peculiarity of the variety is that its fruits have a spicy flavor.
When apples are plucked, their skin is light yellow.But the fruits are not yet ready for consumption. They are not ripe yet. In order for this to happen, you need to let them lie in a place with low humidity for two weeks. Gradually, as they mature, the color of the skin changes, and the apples become white with a bright pink blush.
Origin
The Chinese Bellfleur variety was obtained at the beginning of the last century from the crossing of an American apple tree. The Bellefleur is yellow with a Chinese large-fruited. And I. Michurin did it himself!
The variety was very popular inCentral Black Earth region, in the North Caucasus, in Ukraine and Armenia. Then there were new varieties of apple trees that are resistant to frost and disease. They forced the Chinese Bellefleur into the Caucasus, where it is grown now.
Productivity
The number of apples in this variety varies depending on the age and strip of growth. In the south, it is higher than in the middle lane.
The yield of young trees begins to grow after 15 years. And after 20 years, it reaches 200 kg / ha.
Frost resistance
The Chinese Belle Fler is an apple tree that is poorly adapted to winter frosts. That is why the area of its distribution was reduced to small areas.
Gardener reviews tell you how to get a frost-resistant tree. To do this, they advise you to pin a branch of this variety to a more frost-resistant trunk.
Pollinators
The Chinese Belle Flay is an apple tree that requiresexternal pollinator. They can be varieties Antonovka, Cinnamon striped, Autumn striped. Not the best, but acceptable are considered Pepin saffron and Slavyanka.
Diseases
Unfortunately, it is not resistant to scab appleBellefle Chinese Reviews gardeners say that the tree in this class can not be grown without proper treatment from the pathogens of this disease. In order to protect the apple trees from scab, gardeners advise planting them in elevated places. Air must flow freely between the branches.
Resistance to the disease depends on the nutrition of the tree. The Chinese Bellefleur is an apple tree, in which an excess of nitrogen fertilizer increases the risk of scab.
If the soil around the tree is acidic, usually itsdeacidify in the area of the trunk circle. But after a few years, the roots grow and penetrate into the soil, unsuitable for growing apples. This also contributes to the development of the disease. Because the size of the pit for planting an apple is better to dig as much as possible.
For the prevention of scab leaves under the treesclean in the fall. Used for making compost, falling asleep with a layer of not less than 7 cm. In this case, the spores of the scab causing the scab will not develop.
From chemicals can use“HOM”, “Skor”, “Chorus”, 1% copper sulphate. Good results are obtained by spraying Bordeaux liquid in early spring. But it should be carried out before the swelling of the kidneys.
Cultivation
Cultivation and care of apple varietiesChinese Bellefleur is largely associated with a tendency to scab infection. This is planting on a spacious elevated place, and digging around a tree trunk every autumn.
The pit for planting should be prepared more, with a depth and width of 1 m. The distance between the trees should be at least 4 m.
Planting
Saplings are quite high, the bark on them is dark brown. An interesting feature of the leaves - they grow almost perpendicular to the stem.
The time of planting this variety depends onon the composition of the soil in the place where the apple tree Bellefle-Kitayka will grow. Saplings in black soil or loam can be planted two weeks after the pit is ready.
When gardening, it is advised by gardeners to first lay out the bottom with moss and fertilize. They advise planting in such a soil the following year.
Soil mixed with fertilizers fall asleep to the bottompits, up to about half. Hammer peg that will support the tree. Pile a mound of the remaining soil, set a tree on it. Before that, its roots are pruned slightly, soaked in a clay mash. Establish a sapling, determining the location of the root collar. If the seedling with prischepy, then it is turned in the direction of the north. Fall asleep the rest of the earth, carefully sealing it.
Care
The tree after planting is regularly watered.The trunk and the thickest branches are treated with hydrated lime. This will protect them from sunburn. Pristvolny circle mulch. Over time, the layer of shelter may become thinner. Therefore, it must be added. Clean weeds.
Storage
Apples are sorted, selecting the same size.Stacking in boxes and set in a room with a temperature of about 0 degrees. So apples can be stored for several months, until January. Although more often this period is shorter until the end of November.
Bellfleur Chinese varieties can be transported over long distances. They normally carry transportation.
The large Belle Flay Chinese apples secrete large amounts of ethylene, which harms other products harvested for the winter. Therefore, it is advisable to store them separately.
Using
Now the Chinese Belle Fler is an apple tree thatused more to breed new varieties. It is grown for consumption only in the north of the Caucasus. And in the last century, it was spread in more northern regions.
Now some gardeners are using the propertyApple trees of this variety produce very large fruits. Therefore, they often cultivate the Bellefle-Kitayka apple variety to present them as their achievement at various exhibitions.
