Colon-shaped plums: planting and care. Pruning of a column plum

Even experienced gardeners do not all know about the column-shaped plums. Lovingly selecting the varieties for their site, most people are guided by the recommendations of friends and neighbors in the country. And those who have heard something about such trees, do not hurry to plant them in their garden: how many conditions they prefer, whether they will bear fruit in your territory, do not require special labor-intensive care ... It is better to give preference to proven years and generations Gardeners grades. To dispel all doubt should contribute to this article.

History of appearance

Trees with such unusual forms, including column-shaped plums, appeared very recently and, it may be said, by chance. In the sixties of the last century, that is, just over half a century ago, a breeder from America noticed on his apple tree an unusual branch growing up, abundantly fruiting and much thicker than its surroundings. Two-year attempts to multiply such a successful process have been crowned with success, and the first column-shaped apple tree, named "Vozhak" , was born. The profitability of this form of trees prompted scientists to engage in the breeding of other trees, resulting in the appearance of such pears first, and then - the column-shaped plums. So we can say that we should not give thanks for such successful and comfortable trees to breeders and not to genetic engineers, but to the nature that gave such a mutation and the observation of a single person.

Features & Benefits

What is attractive for such pyramidal trees, including the column-shaped plums? First of all, they are low, on average grow from one and a half to two meters, which greatly facilitates both the care of plants and harvesting. The second plus is an extremely underdeveloped crown. There are practically no branches in it. The crown is formed by fertile kolchatkami with spearmen, which give a very rich crop: ripe fruit tree is strewn almost closely to each other. The weight of fruit collected from one such plum ranges from six to 12 kilograms. And the tree begins to bear fruit from the second year of life, and up to seven years the yield increases every year. A few more years it stably keeps at the reached level, and upon reaching the age of 13-17 years the fruitability ceases, although the tree still lives for a long time. The absence of a lush crown is another attractive feature: the compactness of the trees allows them to be planted very close to each other. And an additional bonus can be considered the courage of their fruits: they do not deteriorate during transportation for significant distances.

The lack of column-shaped plums has only one: their seedlings are much more expensive than other varieties. On the other hand, investments pay off after the first harvest. And if you appreciate the convenience and ease of care, then in fact from the first day.

Plum Coliform: Varieties

So far there are very few of them. The choice for gardeners is very small - too recently appeared a plum column. The varieties grown on our open spaces have only three items in the list:

1. Blue Sweet is a very small tree with a crown diameter less than a meter, and a height of two. The fruits give purple and large, some weigh 70 grams. It has good resistance to colds, medium maturity and high yield. As a shortcoming, one can mention self-seediness: it needs a seeding of pollinating trees.
2. Plum Colon Imperial gives fruits with a more gentle and refined taste. By frost resistance and yield comparable to the Blue Sweet, but needs more abundant and frequent waterings. The color of the berries is often violet-pink, but there are also brownish-red. The fruit is larger than the usual plum, but somewhat less than the Blue Sweet (an average of 55 grams).
3. Mirabel. Less common variety; Has yellow fruits, ripening late. They make famous plum brandy and a wonderful jam.

How to plant

Planting a column plum is primarily determined by its small size. The trees are planted in rows with a distance of one and a half meters between them and centimeters 30-40 between the plums in one row. Before planting the soil is well fertilized, and mainly organic - good fruiting is possible only on rich soils. However, during planting, no additional fertilizing is done: the root system of trees is relatively weak, and the seedlings do not cope with excess food. The pit is excavated in such a size that all the roots can fit freely in it. For planting it is better to buy annual trees - they get accustomed quickly and confidently. More mature seedlings have already developed a root system, accustomed to certain soils, and after planting they get sick for a long time, and sometimes they die. After planting, the saplings are well spilled with water with rooting stimulators of root formation. It is also recommended to immediately treat them from garden pests and diseases: until the seedlings are rooted, they are very susceptible to both, and to others.

When to plant

In the southern regions, trees can be planted in early autumn. If you buy column-shaped plums for the Moscow region or even more northern areas, set a planting time for the spring, when the threat of recurrent frost will completely disappear, so that young trees will have time to get stronger before the winter.

Feeding rules

If you decide to have colonies on the site , the planting and care of them will not differ too much from similar procedures for ordinary plums. You need to feed trees three times a year. The first time this is done after the full bloom of the kidneys. Every subsequent time, fertilizers are introduced after two weeks. To fertilize 50 grams of urea (two matchboxes) are dissolved in a 10-liter bucket of water. Under each tree pours out two liters.

Cropping

Due to the peculiarities of their structure, these trees are not needed for regular pruning in order to form the crown. Sometimes you have to remove broken or otherwise damaged branches, but such cases can be attributed to force majeure. Pruning a column plum is performed in two cases:

1. Damage of the apical kidney on the main shoot. It is cut off, and the lateral is removed as the central one. Sometimes gardeners leave 2-3 shoots to find out what will be more successful to develop. Unnecessary after are used for the scion.
2. Aesthetic intentions: some gardeners prefer bushy forms. Then pruning in the first couple of years will be regular. However, this formation can significantly reduce the fruitfulness of the tree.

Care

Colon-shaped plums are rather unpretentious trees. In watering, they need the same regime as the usual "brethren". Treatment from pests is also not much different from other trees in the garden. Attention should be paid to three points:

1. Young column-shaped plums, planted in autumn, often blossom in spring and can even tie fruit. However, the undeveloped root system and young age are not yet suitable for crop formation - the tree is heavily depleted, becomes vulnerable to diseases, and in the following years it will be in vain to expect from it the multiplicity. Therefore, all the ovaries in the first two years after relocation to the site with such drains must be removed.
2. The crop weight for the drain-columns is still quite large. Therefore, trees, even adults, need support during fruiting. Especially this applies to those in which the fruits are formed mainly from one side (for example, planted along the fence or the wall of the house). Unbonded branches can break, and the entire "column" can be deformed and begin to develop one-sidedly.
3. Despite the frost-resistance, before the winter, the column-shaped plums need additional care: the ground between them is mulched (usually sawdust of coniferous trees), and the trunks are wrapped around rodents. Especially strongly in this need neofrechshie seedlings. If they do not provide such a shelter, they may not live until spring.