Fruit trees
Priam apple
Malus domestica Priam
Priam apple (Malus domestica Priam) – a cultivar of the domestic apple (genus Malus, family Rosaceae). Bred by crossing the immune seedling 610—2 (F2 26829—2—2 x Golden Delicious) x McIntosh with Jonathan (according to another version developed using seedling No. 821 of Malus floribunda, the cultivars Rom Beauty, Golden Delicious, Jonathan and their hybrid seedlings) in the USA; trials were conducted in France and England. Introduced into cultivation in
It is a vigorous tree with an oval, dense crown. Scaffold branches depart from the trunk at a wide angle, their tips directed upwards. Bud excitability is medium, shoot-forming ability is high. Crops on ring fruits, fruiting spurs, and the ends of one-year shoots.
Flowering and fruiting. Blooms at mid-season. Pollen viability is low—10.7—17.6%. Fruit set from open pollination — 9—16%. The cultivar is precocious; in the seventh to eighth year in the orchard yield is 40—44 kg per tree, in full bearing — 80—140 kg per tree. However, fruiting becomes alternate. Fruits are medium-sized (100—120 g), uniform, oblong-conical in shape, greenish-yellow with a bright red diffuse blush on almost the entire surface. Skin thin, tender, elastic, glossy. Flesh yellowish, of medium density, fine-grained, very tender, juicy, good flavor (4.3 points).
Maturation and storability. Harvest maturity occurs 5—10 September. In ordinary storage fruits keep for 2.5—3 months, in a cold store — 5 months. At the end of storage they swell. Transportability is high.
Pollinators: immune - McFree (19%), Prima (19%), Florina (17%), non-immune - James Grieve, Welsey
Hardiness zone: 4
Site: prefers sunny, wind-sheltered locations. Does not tolerate waterlogging or very dry sites. Groundwater should lie no closer than
Planting: it is preferable to plant the seedling in spring before bud break or in autumn 1–1.5 months before frosts. The planting hole should be at least 80x80x100 cm; spacing between seedlings should be calculated depending on the mature crown size (not less than 5–
Diseases: the cultivar is immune to scab, moderately resistant 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-borer, oak-leaf silk moth, sapwood borer, western unpaired bark beetle, green apple aphid, winter moth, kazarka, ringed silk moth, red-gall apple aphid, red apple mite, blood aphid, leaf-mining moth, unpaired silk moth, common pear psylla, fruit moth, fruit and subcortical leafroller, the striping inchworm, rowan moth, currant leafroller, shoulder-striped cutworm, fruit striped moth, apple blotch scale, psylla, apple tortrix moth, tortrix 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 freezing and rodents is necessary. Trunk whitewashing is applied in the 5th-6th year after planting the seedling. In spring and summer ensure nitrogen fertilization and moderate watering. 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; for thinning, remove the whole shoot or branch. The optimal period for pruning is early spring – March-May. Apple trees planted the previous autumn should be pruned before sap flow begins. Summer pruning (pinching) can also be used.
Propagation: propagated by seed (in autumn - freshly collected, in spring after 1.5-2 months of stratification), by grafting and by layering.
Uses: consumed fresh, used for juice production, and for dried fruits