Macintosh (apple tree): description, planting and care

Apple Macintosh is a popular garden tree of autumn ripening terms. Coming from Canada, this variety is characterized by fragrant sweet fruits with pronounced sour taste and pleasant sweet taste. Apples Macintosh - flattened-conical shape, with hardly noticeable ribbing; In sizes large and medium: the approximate weight of each is 150-180 grams. Pedicel short. Rind is thin, yellow in color with a green tint, easily separates from the pulp. Above - bands of color of blush, on large apples they are a dark purple hue. There is a gray wax coating and a large number of small subcutaneous points of beige color. Flesh of medium density, white (meets with red veins), juicy and tastes very tender. The advantage of the variety is its high keeping quality and transportability.

Macintosh appleapple: description

Trees of the Mackintosh variety are medium in size, with a spherical unbilled crown that diverges widely to the sides. The leaves are light green, small pubescence, broad ovate, with very even margins. The kidneys are convex, small, with a rounded apex. Winter hardiness is weak, as is the tolerance of scab. In the midst of such an infection, trees are able to completely lose their marketable appearance.

Tree from the distant 18th century

Macintosh is an apple tree that has its own history. In 1796 in the state of Ontario (USA, Canada), a John McIntosh bought a farm. During the measures to clear the garden, they found several apple seedlings. When transplanting to a new location, all the trees died, except for a single one, which became the ancestor of the Macintosh variety. His delicious apples delighted the owner until 1906.

Find for breeding

Mackintosh is an apple tree, which is a real find for breeders and formed the basis of such varieties as Spartan (in the intersection with Yellow Newtown), Glory to Peremozhtsam (with Papirovka), Amazing (with Renet Simirenko) and about six dozen varieties. In the US, with the participation of Mackintosh, the Priscilla variety, which is absolutely resistant to scab, was derived, which contains the gene Vf.

Macintosh is a very popular variety in New England and North America. A lot of local dishes are prepared on the basis of these delicious red-bellied apples, which are also included in the menu of children's educational institutions.

In Russia, the Mackintosh is zoned in the Lower Volga and North Caucasus regions, is classified as autumn varieties and is named somewhat differently: Horoshevka Autumn, Autumn Superb and Autumn Krasnobokoye. Most often in the gardens there is a clone of the described variety - the Mackintosh red, the main difference of which - in the cover color, extending to the entire surface of the apple.

Garden nursery, in which, in addition to Apple Macintosh there is a huge assortment of other varieties, will offer exceptionally high quality material for planting, which will justify itself in the future. Red fruits will become an ornament of any garden and a tasty joy for every person who tried them. Apple seedlings, the price of which is economically justified and will please every gardener, can always be purchased at the nursery for further cultivation on its own plot.

Apples Macintosh: tasty and healthy

Fruiting of young trees begins at the age of 6-7 years. Be sure to control the number of ovaries and fruits. With their overabundance apples will be small and underserved. Collection of apples is made at the end of September, with proper storage, the fruits remain fresh until almost the end of winter. Apples Macintosh are suitable for use both fresh and processed, in the form of jam, jam, jam, compotes and juices. Garden nursery always offers only high-quality material for planting, which completely justifies itself with proper care in the future. This is regular pruning, fertilizing and watering, especially at the initial stages of development. Apple seedlings, whose price is about 300 rubles per piece, are available to most gardeners.

Features of landing

Planting of apple trees is required to be performed in early spring (before bud budding) or in autumn (before frost) in pre-prepared pits with a depth of about 60 cm with a diameter of 1.0-1.2 meters. On sandy soils on the bottom of the pit it is recommended to lay a 10-centimeter layer of clay, compact it, on top - a 15-centimeter layer of plant remains. All the rest of the space must be filled with a mixture of extracted soil, peat and humus in equal parts.

Planting of the tree is done in such a way that the root neck above the ground is located at a distance of 2-4 cm. When it is buried, the tree will be bad and will take a long time to settle down, and may linger in fruit bearing for a long period. A young seedling is required to water abundantly (3-4 buckets of water). Next it is recommended to drive a peg to which to tie a tree.

When planting, it is important to consider the factor of proper tree placement. Since the apple Macintosh is a cross-pollen plant, it is recommended to plant varieties in one plot, the flowering of which occurs simultaneously with it.

Fertilizer activities

To increase the quantity and quality of the harvest, apple Macintosh is recommended to be fed. Under actively growing trees, once every two years, you need to add the rotted dung at the rate of 50-60 kilograms per hundred square meters. The given operation is made in the autumn period, more often in a complex with mineral fertilizers.

In spring, to ensure normal vegetation under the Macintosh apple, it is necessary to introduce nitrogenous fertilizers, such as ammonium nitrate or ammonium sulfate (at a rate of 3 and 5 kg per hundred weigher, respectively). In shallow grooves, excavated along the boundary of the tree trunk, it is necessary to fill phosphorus fertilizers to a depth of 35-40 cm.

Measures to protect the apple tree from diseases and pests are carried out in March with the use of 3% Bordeaux fluid. After the emergence of buds, as well as after the end of flowering, it is necessary to spray 0.5% with copper chloride.

As additional protective measures, we recommend the digging of soil with the removal of weeds, the cutting of dry branches and the conduct of chlorine lime disinfection .

Trimming

The prerequisite for the formation of the crown and the removal of dried and weak branches is pruning. Mackintosh is an apple tree, which in this operation needs, starting from the second year of planting: it is a pruning of the vertical shoot of the seedling. This action is aimed at stimulating the formation of lateral branches. In subsequent years, the increase in shoots of the previous season should be shortened by 30% of the total length.

Pest Control

Mackintosh is an apple tree, which can be affected by pests such as aphids, moth, sawfly, apple cedar. The most common way to deal with them is spraying trees with a 3% solution of nitrafen, 0.3% with a solution of carbofos, soap or tobacco. Against hibernating pests, "Olekulprit" is effective, 400 grams of which are bred in 10 liters of water.

Against the fruit mites in early spring or autumn, it is necessary to cut the affected branches, cut the sections with 1% copper sulphate and cover with garden vine.

With the approach of winter, it is required to carry out a number of measures aimed at increasing the ability of the tree to survive this cold period:

• Hillocking of stump-holes and mulching them with humus, peat or compost;
• Whitewash with chalky or calcareous trunk of trees.