Spartan apples: how to ensure proper tree care?

Spartan

Modern dietetics pays special attention to wonderful fruits - apples, which occupy a significant part in the menu for various purposes. Spartan apples are one of the most popular fruits for fasting diets.

Apples have always been a desired dessert on the table of princes and peasants, but several decades ago they became the main vitamin product in childhood, during the restoration of the body, for athletes and people working under conditions of increased physical activity. Thanks to the work of breeders around the world, today more than 60 hybrid varieties are cultivated in various climatic zones of the world, among which Spartan occupies a special place.

Content:

Description of the variety Spartan

Thanks to the work of Canadian breeders in the first decades of the last century, one of the most popular varieties today appeared in our gardens - “Spartan”, a hybrid of American McIntosh and Yellow Newtown apple trees. Today it is considered a real veteran of domestic horticulture, one of the first foreign varieties released in the Soviet Union, in particular in Ukraine.

Today it is successfully grown in the northern and northeastern regions of the country.

The main characteristics of the variety, allowing even inexperienced gardeners to recognize it among others:

  • Compact characteristic crown of spherical shape, fruits in the form of clusters are located in ringlets, shoots are dark cherry in color, strongly drooping, leaves are dense, leathery, deep green
  • The fruit is small in size, round, with a ribbed apex. The surface color is yellow with pronounced crimson or bright pink spots
  • Surface apple coated with a significant layer of natural wax, which gives it an almost purple hue and makes it ideal for storage and transportation

When choosing a variety of Spartan apples, gardeners pay special attention to the characteristics of the pulp. It has a wonderful white color, high density and pleasant taste. The combination of sweetness with a pleasant, fairly strong aroma creates a unique charm and makes the variety attractive to buyers. The chemical indicators of the fruit are as follows: sugar at least 10.6%, acids up to 0.32%, vitamins of group “C” about 4.75 mg/100g.

Advantages of the variety

In order to fully characterize the variety, the many benefits of the widely cultivated tree should be studied:

  • Fruiting of Spartan begins in the third or fourth year, very rarely in the fifth, it belongs to early-bearing varieties
  • Flowering is early, abundant, friendly, pollination occurs easily, even in cool spring
  • The fruits have excellent taste and contain a large amount of vitamins, in particular ascorbic acid.
  • The variety is distinguished by high yields, which are unstable under unfavorable weather conditions. Up to 10 years – from 15 to 35 kg, from 12 to 15 years – up to 75 kg
  • Spartan apples are distinguished by high transportability, durability storage without loss of quality from five to seven months. In spring they are quite high quality and tasty

Spartan

The variety has high immunity to scab and other diseases. In addition to numerous advantages, Spartan has some disadvantages. This is insufficient resistance to frost and prolonged precipitation. The older the tree, the smaller the fruits become with each harvest. To maintain a stable yield level, proper annual pruning of trees is required.

Features of cultivation and where they grow

Spartan trees love abundant sunlight; planting in a well-selected and prepared site on a hill allows for stable harvests. The best months for planting would be mid-April or the first days of September. Features of cultivation:

  • The hole for planting should not be deep - up to 0.6 m, stones are placed at the bottom as drainage, filled with compost, a composition that includes 250 g of superphosphate, 100 g of ash and universal fertilizers for fruit trees
  • Fill with water to dissolve and soak the mineral salts. After landings re-water during the week, in the evening
  • Four feedings are carried out throughout the year - in mid-April, during the flowering period, in June, and after harvesting the fruits in September.

Apple tree Spartan

This variety has high requirements for systematic pruning. The crown is formed in such a way as to ensure the growth of trees and strengthen the remaining branches. To prevent fruit rot, codling moth and cytosporosis, spraying with solutions of Skor, Horus, Fundazol, and Tsimbus is used. Originally in Spartan’s homeland, in Canada the variety is used for commercial cultivation; in our latitudes it is cultivated for consumer purposes.

In addition to the northern and eastern regions of Ukraine, farmers and gardeners in central Russia and Belarusian Polesie receive good harvests.Thanks to its resistance to diseases and generous yields, Spartan has become one of the most popular crops in gardening farms and in amateur gardens.

Picking time for Spartan apples

The readiness of fruits for harvesting is determined in the most proven way. Pressing your finger on the side of the apple should leave a slight indentation. If it is missing, then it is too early to harvest. This variety is most preferable for storing apples for a long time. They are collected in the last days of September; it is best to choose a cool, dry, sunny morning.

It is important to avoid moisture, which reduces the quality and shelf life. By following all the basic principles of growing, collecting and storing Spartan apples, they will delight you all winter and more than half of spring with their unique taste, amazing aroma and wonderful appearance. They will decorate any, even the most formal table.

Video about preparing seedlings for planting:

SpartanApple tree Spartan