Apple 'Rosavka'

Apple 'Rosavka' (Malus domestica) – a cultivar of the domestic apple from the genus Malus, family Rosaceae. The cultivar was obtained in 1949 at the Mliiv Experimental Horticulture Station named after L. P. Symyrenko by crossing the 'Delicious' cultivar with hybrid 7911 (Peppin of London x Reinette Landsberg). The cultivar has been included in regional trials since 1992 in the Forest-Steppe, since 1998 in the Steppe, and is also promising for Polissya.

It is a vigorous tree with a rounded or spreading crown. It flowers in early to mid-season. It fruits on fruiting spurs and ringlets, and fruit buds are also laid on the tips of one-year shoots. It begins to bear on the MM106 rootstock in the 4th year, and on seedlings in the 5th year after planting, quickly building commercial yield. It crops regularly; yield is high – 15-year-old trees give 400-600 t/ha.

Fruits are large, uniform in size, weighing 150-180 g, on young trees up to 210-290 g, oblate-cylindrical, slightly tapered toward the apex, weakly ribbed, with 5 convex ribs in the upper half. The skin is of medium thickness, firm, light green with a dark red, diffusely striped blush that covers most of the fruit surface. The flesh is creamy, firm, juicy, of good sweet-and-sour taste with a pleasant aroma. Harvest maturity occurs in the first half of October; consumer maturity is reached 1.5-2 months after harvest. In refrigerated storage fruits remain until July. They transport well.

Hardiness zone: 4

Site: prefers sunny, wind-protected locations. Does not tolerate waterlogging or very dry sites. Groundwater should lie no closer than 2.5 m from the surface. Not demanding to 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 planting hole should be at least 80x80x100 cm; spacing between seedlings should be calculated depending on the crown size of the tree at maturity (not less than 5-6 m). The seedling is filled 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: witch's broom, bitter rot of fruits, milky gloss, apple mosaic disease, pear ring mosaic, flyspeck of apple and pear, powdery mildew, true polypore, common canker of fruit trees, branch dieback, scab, rot of pome fruits, subcutaneous viral spotting, gummosis, rust, flattening of branches, glassiness (watercore) of fruits, Cytospora canker, black canker.

Pests: hawthorn tortrix moth, hawthorn moth, brown fruit mite, upper-surface fruit moth, apple blossom weevil, oriental fruit moth, pear sawfly, pear tube borer, oak-leaf silk moth, sapwood borer, western bark beetle, green apple aphid, winter moth, Ennomos species ("kasarka"), ringed silk moth, red-gall apple aphid, red apple mite, blood aphid, leaf-mining moth, gypsy moth, common pear psylla, fruit moth, fruit and subcortical leafroller, "striped" geometer moth, rowan moth, currant leafroller, blue-headed cutworm (Noctuid), fruit striped moth, apple speckled scale, leafhopper, 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 against frost damage and rodents is necessary. Whitewashing of apples is applied in the 5th-6th year after planting the seedling. In the spring-summer period nitrogen fertilization and moderate watering are required. Feed the apple tree after flowering, then after fruitlet drop, and the last feeding in late August - early September.

Pruning: performed in two ways: thinning and shortening. For shortening, remove half of the upper parts of shoots, while for thinning remove the shoot or branch entirely. The optimal period for pruning is early spring – March-May. Apple trees 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 stratification), by grafting and by layering.

Uses: the fruits are consumed fresh, dried, canned, used for making compotes, jams, preserves, wine and cider. Flowers are readily visited by bees.