Most experienced gardeners prefer to grow winter varieties of apples. This is explained very simply – winter apple trees have more advantages than summer ones. For example, they can be enjoyed all winter, until spring. On the territory of the countries of the post-Soviet space, a number of very good varieties of winter apple trees have been bred. One of them is the Bogatyr apple tree; that is what will be discussed in this article. In addition to getting acquainted with the description of the general characteristics of the culture, a description of the pros and cons of apples of the Bogatyr variety will also be presented.
Description
All- Research Institute of Genetics and Breeding of Fruit Plants. I. V. Michurin is one of the leading institutions in its field of science. It was there that breeders were able to breed the Bogatyr apple variety by crossing the common Antonovka and Renet Landsberg. And the apple tree itself is often used by breeders to breed other varieties. It is zoned in some regions of the Federation (in the Central, North-Western and several other regions), it is also common in Belarus and Ukraine.
Let’s start the characterization of the Bogatyr apple tree with a description of the tree. Young apple trees are vigorous, grow up to 4,5-5 meters. The rounded or conical crown of trees is rare, but spreading, it can be up to 6 meters wide. This form is largely formed with the help of branches: the lower, most powerful branches come out almost at a right angle from the trunk, and those that are higher – at about a 45-degree angle. Oval buds, tightly pressed to long curved red-brown shoots. The leaves are oval, thick, dark green. The edges of the leaflets are bent slightly upwards, curved along the central line, there is a crenate serration. The flowering of the plant is friendly, during this period the plant is covered with white-pink flowers of medium size. The Bogatyr apple tree is an early-growing variety, it can bear fruit already for 4-5 years.
The fruits deserve special attention, so let’s proceed to their description. Apples of the Bogatyr variety are very similar to the fruits of most winter ones, both in appearance and in taste. They are medium in size (about 120-150), but there are large specimens weighing about 200 g or more. Bogatyr apples are rounded, slightly sloping towards the calyx, have a wide base. The ribs are clearly visible. At a removable maturity, the fruits are yellow-green in color, with prolonged lying they begin to turn yellow. Sometimes a bright red blush forms on the sides of apples (appears as stripes on the sunny side).
Apples are smooth, with white and dense pulp, crispy. They are not very juicy, but fragrant, pleasant sweet and sour taste. According to the description, Bogatyr apples contain a sufficient amount of nutrients: dry matter more than 12%, sugars – a tenth, the average for winter apples of vitamin C, titratable acids, macro- and microelements.
Advantages and disadvantages
If you carefully look at the description of the characteristics of the Bogatyr apple tree, you can find that the variety has no obvious shortcomings, but there are not so many advantages either. This is confirmed by the reviews on various forums: they are often positive or neutral-positive, there are very few negative ones. But first things first. Apples are very tasty, but there are other advantages. It is easy to guess that the transportability and keeping quality of fruits is very high (almost all winter apples have these characteristics better than summer varieties). They can be stored for up to 200 days without much loss in quality. One of the main trump cards is the yield of the Bogatyr apple tree: more than 10 kg of fruits are harvested from plants about 50 years old, 15-75 kg can be harvested from trees older than 90 years. The culture is well resistant to scab.
The Bogatyr apple tree takes root well in many regions, but sometimes the lack of winter hardiness of the culture becomes an obstacle. Often, the disadvantages of this variety include insufficient coloring of the fruits – when plucked from the tree, they are still greenish in color.
Using
Since the Bogatyr apple tree belongs to winter varieties, the fruits are used in the same way as most other species – they are consumed fresh. They are stored for a very long time, so they are harvested in reserve and put into use already in the second half of winter, at the beginning of spring. But this is not the only way to use them – they are also perfect for making jam or juice.
Video “Apple Bogatyr”
You can see a young apple tree with immature fruits; a brief description of the variety is given.
