Apple Simirenkovec

Apple Simirenkovec (Malus domestica Simirenkovec) – a winter cultivar of the domestic apple for the late-winter consumption period. Obtained at the Mliiv Research Institute of Horticulture of the Forest-Steppe of Ukraine in 1950 from a cross of hybrid seedling 564 (Boiken x Calville Snezhnij) with the cultivar Renet Simirenko.

It is a high-growing tree, crown broadly rounded, dense. Type of fruiting is mixed. Strong scaffold branches depart from the trunk at an angle of 50-80 degrees. Bud vigor is medium, shoot-forming capacity above average, reserve shoot-forming capacity high. Fruits primarily on ring spurs and short spurlets.

Flowering and fruiting. Blooms in mid-late terms, abundantly, produces pollen of fairly high quality, with viability of 48-64%. Fruit set from open pollination is high — 10-21%.

Best pollinators: Antonovka obyknovennaya, Zarya Podolya, Jonathan, Rovesnik Gagarina, Rubinovoe Duki.

The cultivar is early-bearing and productive. On rootstock MM.106 it begins fruiting in the third to fourth year after planting. Cropping periodicity is weakly expressed. Rapidly increases yield: seven- to eight-year-old trees produce 35-50 kg, 10-13-year-old trees produce 60-110 kg (26.0-45.0 t/ha) of fruit.

Fruits — from medium to large (140-210 g), of medium uniformity, flat-round or round-conical, light green, with faint whitish-green subcutaneous dots. Skin thin, smooth, elastic, glossy. Flesh greenish-white, dense, juicy, of good sweet-and-sour flavor (4.1-4.3 points).

Ripening and storability: harvest maturity of fruits occurs at the end of September, consumer ripeness in December. In storage fruits keep until the end of January, in a refrigerator until March.

Winter hardiness zone: 4a (-34°C)

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: Seedlings are preferably planted in spring before budbreak 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 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 granulated double superphosphate (250-300 g per planting hole) can also be added.

Diseases and pests: resistance to scab and powdery mildew is average.

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 required. Whitewashing of apple trees is applied in the 5th-6th year after planting the seedling. In the spring-summer period nitrogen fertilization and moderate watering are necessary. Feedings are applied after flowering, then after fruit drop, and the last one at the end of August - beginning of September.

Pruning is carried out in two ways: thinning and shortening. For shortening, remove half of the upper parts of 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 sap flow begins. Summer pruning (pinching) can also be used. Requires normalization of flowers and fruitlets.

Propagation: the cultivar performs well on medium- and low-vigor rootstocks.

Use: fruits are mainly consumed fresh.