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The sight of low-growing fruit trees, hung with delicious fruits from top to bottom, never ceases to excite the imagination of even experienced summer residents. And the columnar Sapphire pear is a magnificent specimen for every garden catalogue.
Description of the Sapphire columnar pear
The Sapphira variety is the oldest among columnar pears. This is a neat tree, no more than 2-3 m high, in the form of a column - a central conductor, overgrown with short fruiting branches. The leaves are large and rounded. It blooms in the first ten days of May, and by mid-September it already pleases with pears ready for picking. Like all columnar varieties, Sapphira begins to bear fruit early - in the 3rd year.
All options for seed rootstocks from serviceberry, quince and, in fact, pear, will not give the expected result, and the result will be a poorly formed, low-yielding pear tree.
Characteristics of pear fruits
The columnar Sapphire variety has a peculiarity - noticeable heterogeneity in weight. The fruits range from very small (50-70 g) to quite decent sizes (up to 350 g). The outer color is green with a slight yellowness and a pink-burgundy blush on the southern side. The shape of the fruit is classic, pear-shaped. The pulp is white with a creamy tint, juicy and sweet and sour at the stage of biological maturity, which occurs by the beginning of October.
Pros and cons of the Sapphire pear variety
The advantages and disadvantages of any type of fruit tree can only be revealed in practice, by growing it on your own plot. And, nevertheless, the obvious advantages of the Sapphire columnar pear are as follows:
- The tree does not grow higher than 2.5 m, which greatly facilitates seasonal care and harvesting.
- Sapphire pear is resistant to the scourge of all pome crops - scab, as well as bacterial burn.
- You can actually taste the first fruits already in the 3rd year of the plant’s life.
- With proper care, by the 6th year of life, maximum yields of this crop are achieved - from 10 to 15 kg.
- The columnar Sapphira pear occupies a minimum of usable space, so it is ideal for small intensive gardens.
But at the same time:
- Columnar trees are short-lived, their optimal lifespan is 10 years, maximum 15. Already from the 8th year, the yield begins to decline.
- Sapphire pear is ready for consumption 2 weeks after picking, but it is not stored for a long time. Moreover, if harvesting is delayed, the taste of the fruit begins to deteriorate, although the pears themselves can hang on the branches for quite a long time.
- The weak point of all columnar trees is the lower part of the trunk, where the graft is made. It is necessary to work extremely carefully with the seedling when planting, providing it with good support.
- The winter hardiness of the Sapphira variety is stated at a level of -25 ° C, which is clearly not enough for most areas of the middle zone, so the columnar pear needs winter shelter.
- The Sapphira pear needs a pollinator variety because it is self-sterile.
Optimal growing conditions
For a columnar pear, you need to choose a quiet place, protected on the north side by the wall of a house or outbuilding from the piercing winter winds. A common planting practice is several trees in a row along a fence or as a hedge separating the garden from the vegetable garden.
Planting and caring for Sapphire pear
Growing any plant begins from the moment it is purchased, therefore, first of all, you need to buy the right seedling from a reliable seller, be it a nursery, an online store or a private entrepreneur. And when choosing columnar varieties, they approach it with redoubled care, carefully double-checking all available information.
Landing rules
Columnar pears are usually planted in trenches 50 cm deep, maintaining a distance between adjacent specimens of at least 0.6 m. Drainage made of expanded clay or broken brick is laid on the bottom, and covered on top with a fertile mixture consisting of humus, peat and sand, taken in equal proportions .
The planting soil is well moistened to a slurry state and, having straightened the roots, the seedlings are placed in the trench. Fertile soil is added from above to the level of the root collar, compacted around the stems and watered again from a watering can.It is advisable to immediately mulch the top layer to maintain a constant level of humidity.
Watering and fertilizing
The root system of the columnar pear is more superficial than that of traditional varieties, so it requires regular, abundant watering. Mature trees are watered at least 2 times a month, using 4-6 buckets of water per 1 m² of tree trunk area. Young columnar pears need irrigation much more often, as a lack of moisture will lead to stunted growth and development of the plant.
It is possible to obtain a decent harvest from a columnar pear only if the crop is intensively fed throughout the growing season. Each gardener has his own feeding options, developed over many years of experience, but for beginners it is easier to adhere to the following scheme:
- Nitrogen fertilizing of the tree trunk with one of the preparations (urea or ammonium nitrate) at the rate of 50 g per 1 tree. It is done in early spring when the buds are swelling.
- After 3 weeks, nitroammophoska is added, slightly loosening the surface layer of soil. Consumption rate – up to 60 g per 1 pear.
- After 3-4 weeks, a second feeding with nitroammophoska in the same amount.
- In mid-summer, the columnar pear needs phosphorus; for this, superphosphate is added in the form of a solution to the circle around the trunk (1/2 tbsp for each plant).
- At the beginning of autumn, fertilize the leaves with potassium monophosphate or add potassium salt to the tree trunk at the normal rate.
Mulching with humus or compost in winter will not only protect the root system from freezing, but will also serve as food in the early spring.
Trimming
Under ideal conditions, the columnar pear does not need pruning at all. It is only necessary to pinch off excess side shoots in time, before they have time to become lignified. Fruit formations are usually shortened by literally 2-3 cm.
The main task when planting and wintering a columnar pear is to preserve the apical bud. In case of breakage or freezing, it is necessary to select a suitable side shoot that will replace the central conductor after cutting it. In early spring, mandatory sanitary pruning is usually carried out, during which thin, broken or frozen branches are removed.
Whitewash
The annual autumn whitewashing of the trunks of pears and other fruit trees is not just a tribute to tradition, but a very effective agrotechnical technique that allows the plant to successfully overwinter. Adding additional components to the whitewash will help protect the plant from rodents and other pests.
Dilute a bag of lime (2 kg) with water until creamy, add 50 g of copper sulfate, half a pack of wood glue, 1-2 packs of red hot pepper and a little birch tar, which repels various rodents with its smell. Mix an ampoule of any broad-spectrum insecticide into the mixture. Use the resulting whitewash to paint the trunks, choosing one of the clear November days for work. Due to wood glue, such a mixture will be more durable than conventional options.
Preparing for winter
An important stage in preparing a columnar pear for winter is the timely addition of potassium to the last autumn feeding. It is this element that accelerates the ripening of young shoots, including the apical bud, which is responsible for the correct formation of the crown.The best preparation for this is rightly recognized as potassium monophosphate, applied as foliar feeding.
The columnar Sapphire pear needs winter shelter for the central conductor, which can be done in various ways. One of the interesting options: wrapping the trunk with synthetic tights filled with sawdust, while its lower part is covered with spruce branches. The surface of the tree trunk circle is covered with geotextiles or mulched with dry humus.
Pollination
For a decent harvest, at least 2 varieties of pears must grow in the garden, approximately the same flowering period, since these trees are self-sterile. The varieties Lyubimitsa Yakovleva, Lada, Chizhovskaya are considered universal pollinators. For the Sapphire pear, the columnar Honey will be an ideal partner - they can be planted alternating, in one row. To increase the chances of a harvest, it is recommended to additionally spray flowering trees with honey or sweetened water to attract pollinating insects.
Productivity
You can count on a rich harvest of Sapphire pears only if the following conditions are met:
- at least 2 different varieties of pears grow in the garden;
- the columnar tree is correctly formed;
- watering and fertilizing are carried out regularly, according to the scheme;
- the columnar pear completely preserves its fruit buds in winter, which is practically impossible without providing shelter;
- and, finally, the acquired Sapphire pear really is such, that is, a real columnar variety.
If all requirements are met, the maximum yield from an adult plant will be 12-15 kg. In the first years after planting, while the columnar pear is very young, it is necessary to normalize the number of future fruits, leaving no more than 3-4 ovaries in the first year of flowering.Next year, leave 2 ovaries in each bouquet branch, and then look at the state of the crop.
About the first harvest from columnar pears:
Diseases and pests
As noted above, the columnar Sapphire pear is resistant to scab, fire blight and powdery mildew. But early spring preventative treatment of trees with copper-containing preparations before bud break is also highly desirable for disease-resistant varieties.
A number of insects, such as codling moths, leaf rollers, aphids, gall mites and many others, can cause considerable harm to a pear. At the first sign of pests, you need to take action by spraying the trees with suitable insecticides and acaricides. Caution in choosing a drug is especially important during the flowering and fruiting period; it is necessary to strictly control the waiting period, without using dangerous components shortly before harvesting.
Reviews of Sapphira columnar pear
Conclusion
The columnar Sapphira pear, when created with optimal growing conditions and proper care, can surprise with a combination of excellent health, excellent yield and harmonious taste of ripe fruits.
I pinched my Sapphira from the top immediately upon planting, the next year the side branches grew widely, I had to put up trellises, 20 pears, 350 grams each, ripened, very sweet, this year, for the 3rd year, it was all covered with fruits, they added trellises, it’s worth it.