The Rozhdestvenskoye apple tree was bred quite recently, in 1985, by the All-Russian Research Institute for Breeding Fruit Crops. This variety received such a festive name because its fruits reach full ripeness just on the eve of Christmas. Despite the relative youth of this variety, every year it becomes more and more popular with gardeners.

Characteristics of the variety

The trees of this variety are not very tall, they can rather be classified as medium-sized. They differ from representatives of other varieties in high growth rates. This is especially noticeable in the first years of life: the growth of annual seedlings can reach 70 cm. The shape of the tree crown is broad-pyramidal. The branches of the tree are quite strong; they extend from the main trunk almost at right angles. The leaf is wrinkled, oval in shape with a pointed end. The color of the leaf is matte.

Compared to other varieties, this variety has the following advantages:

  • an apple tree can grow equally well on different types of soil;
  • high yield every year;
  • increased immunity to most diseases, for example, such a terrible disease for an apple orchard as scab does not pose any danger to a representative of this variety;
  • sufficiently high winter hardiness;
  • dessert taste, abundant yield and good keeping quality of apples.

The apple is medium to large in size. The average weight of the fruit is 150 g. The ripe fruit has a glossy sheen on the skin and dense pulp with a high content of juice. The apple can be stored for quite a long time, but by the end of storage it becomes soft.

Apple tree Christmas

In the description of the Christmas apple tree, attention should be paid to such a feature as an extended ripening period. It begins at the end of September, but the full maturity of the apple does not come until mid-October. You can store fruits until early February. During the New Year holidays, they can be used to decorate a festive table.

Important! The reproductive phase of an apple tree begins in the fifth year after planting in open ground. The variety has a high yield and bears fruit every year. There are no noticeable fluctuations in the direction of increasing or decreasing the yield.

The flowering time of the apple tree depends on the climatic conditions. For example, for the gardens of the Oryol region, a favorable period is the second or third decades of May. For other regions, it can be shifted to one side or the other.

It is not difficult to grow a winter-grade apple tree on a garden plot if two necessary conditions are met: choose the most suitable place for the tree, and then from time to time protect it from pests.

Landing features

Breeders consider late spring to be the optimal time for planting an apple tree in open ground. The place where it is planned to plant an apple orchard should be well lit. The tree can develop in the shade, but if there is a lack of sunlight, there will be problems with the quality of the crop. The composition of the soil does not particularly affect the growth of the tree. There is only one requirement for the structure of the soil - it should be light and loose so that the root system does not experience a deficit of moisture and oxygen. If the area is heavy, clayey soil, it should be diluted with sand.

Apple Lobo

Apple trees of this variety are planted in a wide hole, the bottom of which is previously covered with peat. The seedling is placed on a peat layer. Before you cover it with earth, you need to spread the roots.

Important! When planting an apple tree, the root of the seedling cannot be shortened, since the tree may die.

Care of a young apple tree

The Christmas apple tree does not need abundant watering. Moreover, excess moisture depresses the root system and negatively affects the development of the entire plant. In the first years of life, it is desirable that the soil around the seedling is always slightly moistened. During prolonged rains, the soil around the apple tree must be loosened to avoid stagnant water. Sometimes, for this purpose, ditches have to be dug around the tree so that the water runs to the side.

Young tree care

Apple tree Bryanskoe

Complementary feeding at this time should also be moderate. For the first time, the tree is fed immediately after planting. The second feeding can be done as early as next year in the spring.

The apple tree, like all other fruit trees, needs fertilizers containing the basic elements necessary for the development of the tree. First of all, these are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. But you need to carefully fertilize the apple tree in the first years of life. Excessive content of these elements in the soil does more harm than good.

Every spring, with the onset of warmth, excess branches are cut off on the apple tree: frost-bitten and broken branches. They can be easily distinguished from healthy ones as they lack young swollen buds. Then the branches are removed that began to grow inside the crown, as well as those that are directed upward. Pruning not only forms the crown of the tree, it also increases yields.

Important! In the first years of life, when there is an intensive growth of the plant, pruning is of particular importance for it.

The Christmas apple tree belongs to frost-resistant varieties. But, nevertheless, mulching the soil will not harm it, but, on the contrary, will help the plant more easily adapt to the upcoming frost.

Rozhdestvenskoe does not have the ability to self-pollinate, therefore, in order for a fruit ovary to form after flowering, it needs pollinating varieties. Cross-pollination requires the following conditions:

  • the flowering of Rozhdestvensky and the pollinator must occur every year at the same time;
  • trees should be no more than 50 m apart from each other.

The varieties Orlik, Imrus, Antonovka can be pollinators.

Advantages and disadvantages

Apple-tree Aport

The obvious advantage of the Christmas apple tree is immunity to pests and various fungal diseases. This variety has a special vf gene that makes the tree immune to scab.

The fruits of this apple tree have an attractive appearance and a peculiar dessert taste. They can be eaten fresh or used for processing. The large amount of pectin in these apples makes them suitable for making jam or marmalade.

Harvest

Just like any other fruit crop, in addition to the undoubted advantages, the Rozhdestvensky variety has some disadvantages. Among them, the following are especially noticeable:

  • tendency to shedding fruits during fruiting;
  • extended ripening period;
  • loss of taste of fruits during long-term storage. By the end of storage, apples become soft and unattractive in appearance.

Despite some disadvantages of the Rozhdestvenskoye variety, its prospects are obvious, since what other varieties can boast that the harvest will last until the New Year holidays ?!