Plum 'Vengerka Donetsk'

Obtained: seedling from open pollination of the purple Renklod

Plum Vengerka Donetsk – a popular mid-season cultivar. Obtained at the Donetsk branch of the Institute of Horticulture UAAN by breeder L.I. Taranenko. It is a medium-vigour tree with a spreading crown of medium density. Bark on main branches and trunk gray, peeling. Branches grow from the trunk at a right angle. Shoots glabrous, smooth, curved, gray-brown in color, with many lenticels. Buds medium-sized, conical, brown, growing at a 45° angle to the shoot. Leaves obovate, medium, dark green on the upper side and light green underneath, corrugated, shortly acuminate, coarse, slightly pubescent. Leaf blade straight with a rounded base. Leaf margins finely serrated. Petiole short, strongly pigmented, slightly pubescent. Two glands, small, brown. No three-leaf structures.

Blooms in early May. Flowers solitary, double and triple. The cultivar is self-fertile. Fruits on spurs (shortened shoots) and on one-year-old long shoots. Yield regular, medium. From a 6-10-year-old tree one can harvest 25-30 kg of fruit.

Fruits medium and above medium, weighing 25-30 g, 42.8 mm long and 32.2 mm in diameter, oval in shape. Skin medium-thick, purple-brown with a strong waxy bloom. Subcutaneous dots small, numerous, barely noticeable. Cavity narrow, deep, apex pointed. Suture small, barely noticeable. Pedicel straight, medium in length and thickness. Flesh juicy, yellow, of good sweet taste. Juice colorless. Stone medium, free, elongated-saber-shaped, constituting 7% of the total fruit mass. Fruits ripen in the first decade of August and until early September. Begins bearing in the 3rd-4th year after planting as one-year-old trees.

Tree longevity varies depending on the rootstock – on woolly cherry rootstock trees are weak-growing and not long-lived (12-15 years). On apricot and plum rootstocks trees are of medium vigor and the service life reaches 18-20 years.

Hardiness zone: 5-9. Freezing of fruit buds is observed only in severe winters or with sharp temperature fluctuations.

Location: recommended to plant in sunny, warm sites. Requires fertile and well-drained soils. The tree is drought-resistant, especially on apricot rootstock.

Pruning: tolerates pruning well.

Diseases and pests: in epidemic years disease damage up to 2 points, pests up to 3 points.

Propagation: propagated by grafting.

Use: the cultivar can be used in intensive-type orchards. Fruits are for dessert and table use, can be used for all types of processing. Fruits contain 19.75% dry matter, 14.07% sugars, 0.93% acids, 6.51% ascorbic acid.