Apple 'Edera'

Apple Edera (Malus domestica) is a late-winter, intensive cultivar of domestic apple (Malus domestica). The cultivar was obtained at the Institute of Horticulture of UAAN in 1984 from a cross between the cultivars Rubin and Priscilla. Breeders: V.P. Kopan, K.N. Kopan, L.D. Boldyjeva. Entered into the State Register of Cultivars of Ukraine in 2001. In 1997 it was submitted for state variety testing. The cultivar is recommended for cultivation in Polissia and the Forest-Steppe.

It is a fast-growing tree with a broad-pyramidal, medium-density crown. Bearing type is mixed. On a medium-vigour rootstock it begins fruiting in the 3rd–4th year after planting, fruits annually, which is due to the intensive setting of fruit buds on one-year-old shoots. Shoots are thick, straight, brownish, densely pubescent.

Fruits are medium to large, weighing 160–220 g, uniform in size, broadly conical, ribbed over the entire height, greenish-yellow in color, with a raspberry-red blurred blush over most of the fruit surface. Flesh creamy, fine-grained, of medium firmness and juiciness, with a light aroma, harmonious sweet-and-sour taste (4.5 points). Skin of medium thickness, smooth, dry, glossy. Fruits contain: dry matter 11.98–12.84%, sugars 9.02–9.96%, organic acids 0.52–0.68%, pectins 0.38–0.59%, vitamin C 4.79–7.92 mg/100 g of fresh mass. Yield of an 8-year-old tree: 4-118 – 38-47 kg/tree (28–35 t/ha). Harvest maturity occurs in the second–third decades of September, consumer maturity in January. Can be stored in refrigeration for 7–8 months. Transportability is high.

Winter hardiness zone: 4a (-29°C).

Site: prefers sunny, sheltered-from-wind locations. Does not tolerate waterlogging or very dry sites. Groundwater should lie no closer than 2.5 m from the surface. Not demanding regarding soil, but prefers fertile, fresh soils.

Planting: The seedling is preferably planted in spring before bud break or in autumn 1-15 months before frosts. The hole should be at least 80x80x100 cm; the spacing between seedlings should be calculated depending on the crown size at maturity (at least 5–6 m). The seedling is backfilled with a soil mixture consisting of leaf soil, humus and sand in a ratio of 1:3:2; a little peat and granular double superphosphate (250–300 g per planting hole) can also be added.

Diseases: monogenic resistance to scab (Vf gene from Malus floribunda-821) and stable tolerance to powdery mildew.

Pests: hawthorn circular moth, hawthorn moth, brown fruit mite, upper-surface fruit moth, apple blossom weevil, oriental fruit moth, pear sawfly, pear tube-maker, oak-leaf silk moth, sapwood borer, western unpaired bark beetle, green apple aphid, winter moth, kazarca, ringed silkworm, red-galled apple aphid, red apple mite, blood aphid, leaf-mining moth, gypsy moth, common pear psylla, fruit moth, fruit and subcortical leafroller, peeler geometrid (inchworm), rowan moth, currant leafroller, blue-headed cutworm, striped fruit moth, apple blotch-like scale, psyllid, apple moth, apple moth and leafroller, apple codling moth, apple clearwing, apple-plantain aphid, apple sawfly.

Care: in the second year after planting it is necessary to apply a complete mineral fertilizer (phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium). In winter protection from frost damage and rodents is necessary. Whitewashing of apple trees is applied in the 5th–6th year after planting the seedling. In the spring–summer period it is necessary to provide nitrogen fertilization and moderate irrigation. Fertilization of the apple is carried out after flowering, then after fruit drop and the last – in late August - early September.

Pruning: is performed in two ways: for thinning and for shortening. For shortening, remove half of the upper parts of the shoots, and for thinning – remove the shoot or branch entirely. The optimal period for pruning is early spring – March–May. Apple trees that were planted the previous autumn should be pruned before the start of sap flow. Summer pruning – pinching – can also be applied.

Propagation: propagated by sowing seeds (in autumn – freshly collected; in spring – after 1.5–2 months of stratification), by grafting and by layering.

Use: a promising cultivar for intensive commercial and amateur horticulture in the conditions of Polissia and the Forest-Steppe of Ukraine. In breeding it is used as an oligogenic donor of resistance to scab, precocity, high marketability and excellent taste qualities of the fruits. Main purpose – consumption fresh during the winter period.