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It is impossible to imagine any garden without an apple tree. Summer varieties are especially valuable, as they allow you to enjoy healthy fruits after a long break. After storage, apples of winter varieties lose not only their beneficial substances, but also their taste. It’s like a summer apple just plucked from a branch! Strong and aromatic, it just begs to be tasted.
In the middle zone there are no problems with the choice of summer apple varieties. There is a large assortment of them. All of them easily survive winters that are not too frosty. What should gardeners who live in places where winter temperatures of minus 50 are not uncommon? There are few varieties of apple trees that can withstand such frost, so each one is valuable.
But it is not enough to withstand extremely low temperatures. Great danger awaits trees at the end of winter, when the daytime sun slowly awakens the apple trees, and night frost can seriously damage them. Therefore, the ability to withstand low temperatures without loss must be accompanied by a full range of winter hardiness in all respects.
Apple tree winter hardiness parameters
They consist of the following components:
- resistance to frosts of the early winter period - in November and early December. If at this time the plant has not been fully prepared for winter and has not received proper hardening, frost even at -25 degrees is quite capable of destroying it;
- maximum hardening - the ability to resist extreme sub-zero temperatures in the middle of winter;
- the ability to survive frost during thaws, and not suffer from sunburn;
- resistance to severe frosts that came after a thaw.
Only an apple tree variety that is stable in all respects can be considered completely winter-hardy. It will grow successfully in areas of risky farming, and will also be suitable where it is extreme.
We present to you one of these varieties - Silver Hoof, its full description and characteristics. Reviews about this variety of apple tree are mostly positive, and the photo demonstrates the high quality of the fruit.
Description and characteristics
The Silver Hoof apple tree is the result of repeated crossings of large-fruited apple trees and the Siberian berry apple tree, known for its record winter hardiness. Having crossed the Snezhinka and Rainbow apple trees with each other, breeder L.A. Kotov, developed a new promising variety at the Yekaterinburg Experimental Station - Silver Hoof.
It was included in the State Register of Breeding Achievements in 1988. Regions for its cultivation:
- West Siberian;
- Volgo-Vyatsky;
- Ural.
In the latter region there are entire gardens in which it is the leading variety. Tests have shown that Silver Hoof is quite suitable for planting in the Non-Black Earth zone of Russia.
Features of the variety:
- The tree's growth vigor is average, the height of an adult tree is about 3 m, the crown is compact, round in shape;
- the skeletal branches of this apple tree have light bark with a yellowish tint; they form an angle with the trunk close to 90 degrees;
- young shoots have a reddish color;
- the leaves have a short petiole, almost rounded shape with slightly curved edges, slight pubescence, their color is light green;
- The following generative organs participate in fruiting in the Silver Hoof apple tree: last year's growths, spears and ringlets;
- The flowers of this boiling-white apple tree are medium to large in size and cup-shaped.
- Apples of the Silver Hoof variety can be tasted for the first time 3 or 4 years after grafting in the nursery, but the final taste of the apples appears after 2 years, at which time the apple tree begins to produce a stable harvest;
- Fruiting is annual, but only if there is a pollinator nearby, since the Silver Hoof apple tree is self-sterile; up to 160 kg of fruit can be collected from one mature tree - this is a lot, considering the average size of the crown. It is best to plant Anise Sverdlovsk as a pollinator;
Particular attention is paid to the fruits.
- In the regions for which the Silver Hoof variety is zoned, the first apples ripen already in mid-August; where it is warmer, much earlier.
- Their weight is average or slightly below average by generally accepted standards - about 90 g.
- The main color of the apples is cream, they are covered with an attractive red-orange blush, which occupies most of the fruit; the subcutaneous points are almost invisible.
- The apple is very juicy, has a bright rich taste with sweetness and acidity and fine-grained pulp.
- Silver Hoof apples contain up to 13 mg of vitamin C and up to 112 mg of vitamin P, which makes them very healthy. If you leave the apple on the branch until it is completely ripe, it begins to show through, as it becomes translucent and very beautiful.
- The shelf life of Silver Hoof apples is considerable for a summer variety - up to 1.5 months.They are consumed fresh, as raw materials for preparations, produce a lot of juice and can be dried, since their dry matter content is 13%. Fruits can be successfully transported without damaging them.
Presenting the description and characteristics of the Silver Hoof apple tree variety, you need to dwell on its resistance to diseases: the tree suffers from moderate scab, as well as fruit rot, so its cultivation will require attention and effort from the gardener, but it more than pays off with a good harvest of tasty, healthy and beautiful apples. To get it, you need to plant the apple tree correctly and take good care of it.
Apple tree planting
Before you start, you need to choose a quality seedling. Apple tree seedlings with a closed root system take root best, but only if they are grown in a container for no more than 2 years.
The tree simply will not grow to the size appropriate for the variety.
Sometimes unscrupulous sellers place an apple tree seedling in a container immediately before selling it. As a rule, the root system of the tree is severely damaged and it simply may not take root. What signs indicate this:
- The soil on the surface is uncompacted and loose.
- The apple tree seedling itself is easy to pull out of the pot; just pull the stem a little.
It is better to refuse to buy such a seedling. The Silver Hoof apple tree should be purchased from a nursery with a proven reputation. For an apple tree seedling with an open root system, you need to pay attention to the following points:
- In addition to a developed tap root, it must have suction roots, i.e.formed fibrous root system;
- the presence of dried or rotten roots is unacceptable. You can easily check this - when you remove the top layer with your fingernail, the bottom layer should be white;
- The bark of the apple tree should not be dry;
- A one-year-old apple tree seedling does not have side branches; a two-year-old apple tree, with a trunk height of about 40 cm, should have at least three side branches.
How it is done planting an apple tree Silver hoof? If several seedlings of this variety are planted, the distance between trees can be 4x4 m, since its crown is compact. When choosing a site, take into account the illumination - full throughout the day, as well as the groundwater level - no closer than 2 m. The optimal soil for planting an apple tree of any variety, not excluding the Silver Hoof, is loamy or sandy loam with a high humus content. Sandy soil can be improved by adding clay and peat, but it is not advisable to plant an apple tree in clay soil.
The planting hole must be prepared at least 2 weeks before purchasing a young Silver Hoof apple tree. It is enough to dig it with a diameter of 60 cm and the same depth. The top layer of soil up to 20 cm thick is laid separately. The algorithm for planting an apple tree will be as follows:
- fill the planting hole half or 2/3 with fertile soil mixed with ash - a half-liter jar per hole. This must be done in advance so that the soil has time to settle;
- an earthen mound is poured;
- straighten the roots of the seedling;
- sprinkle with pre-prepared top layer of soil mixed with humus;
- There should be no voids in the soil, so the seedling needs to be shaken a little to compact the soil.
If the Silver Hoof apple tree is planted in the fall, fertilizer is sprinkled on the soil in the circle around the trunk after snow cover is established.
- the roots of the apple tree seedling are finally covered so that the root collar is at soil level;
- trample down the earth in the tree trunk circle;
- watering is carried out - 2-3 buckets of water per hole, forming a side around the tree trunk for this purpose;
- When planting, place a peg on the south side of the apple tree trunk.
Care after landing
The tree trunk circle needs to be mulched, it should be watered once a week, this is done in the spring for 2 months, and in the fall - until frost. Subsequent care for the Silver Hoof apple tree consists of watering in dry weather, 3-4 feedings during the growing season, annual crown formation and treatments for diseases and pests.
Details of caring for young apple trees can be found in the video:
