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“Khoroshavka Winter”, “Oslamovskoye”, “Winter Red” – this is the name of the late winter variety “Jonathan” (or “Jonathan Gold”), bred in America at the end of the XNUMXth century. Since the middle of the twentieth century, when it was zoned for a colder area than the state of Ohio, where it originally grew, the Jonathan apple tree has received a record distribution throughout Ukraine and the North Caucasus. Colder winters are detrimental to apple trees of this variety, but their fruits are perfectly stored and transported, so beautiful and tasty apples can reach their admirers until spring.
Historical information
Apple trees of this universally loved variety came to us from North America. They say that the material for the work of breeders was two now firmly forgotten varieties – Aesop and Spitzenburg. The work was carried out in a fairly warm state of Ohio. Winters are warm there: the temperature rarely drops below zero, and the summers are long and hot. Under such conditions, the new variety overwintered well, the fruits were not in a hurry to harvest “before frost”.
The taste qualities of the fruits, their elegant decorativeness haunted the breeders who wanted to zone “Jonathan” for cultivation much further north. The works of scientists were crowned with success. Since 1954, these apples can be grown in areas with a winter temperature of -15 degrees.
“Jonathan” has remained a tempting raw material to work with, so scientists continue to experiment with it. Based on it, such well-known varieties as “Jona Gold”, “Jonared”, “Aldared”, “Prime”, “McFrey” and many others were bred.
Description and characteristics of the variety
When describing this variety, attention is often focused on its precocity. So, apples can be eaten already in the 4th or 5th year, in the 6th year the entire crop is allowed to ripen (it can be from 15 to 18 kg of apples). Every year the apple tree grows, the yield increases, for example, a ten-year-old tree gives an average of 40 to 85 kg. There is a known case of obtaining 490 kg of apples from an adult tree.
The lack of moisture or nutrients in the soil will certainly affect the number and size of fruits.
Trees don’t grow too tall. The descriptions state that the branches are located at an acute angle to the trunk, but the weight of the fruits and age make them slightly lower down, so a wide spreading crown is obtained. The bark is greenish-brown.
The leaves are oval, slightly elongated, with raised, slightly wavy edges. Their color is green, but because of the strong silvery pubescence, it is found in different descriptions – “green with a bluish-silver bloom”.
The botanical description calls this variety self-pollinating, but with natural pollination, no more than 3% of fruits are tied, with artificial – up to 7%.
The ovaries form much better if “Idared”, “Mekintosh”, “Golden Delicious”, “Spartan”, “Uman Winter” grow on the plot (own or neighboring).
The fruits of this variety are very beautiful – round or round-conical with a smooth smooth surface, with a deep funnel and a closed cup. Glossy shiny apples have a greenish-yellow color, which fills with a bright red blush as it ripens. Many apples turn almost completely red by the time they are harvested, with subcutaneous dots visible. The pulp is juicy, fine-grained, light cream or yellowish in ripe fruits, white-greenish in unripe ones. The taste is wine-sweet dessert with a barely noticeable sourness, and the aroma is gentle, unobtrusive. The description itself makes you want to bite off a piece of an apple. The fruits can hardly be called large, they reach 100–140 g.
Mid-September is the best time to harvest. The thin skin of apples turns out to be strong and elastic, it protects the fruit from mechanical damage. The stalk holds the apple firmly, preventing unwanted falling off of the fruit. These factors undoubtedly contribute to the fact that most apples are perfectly stored until the end of winter, and under special conditions – until the end of spring. They are easy to transport.
The fact that the fruits of this variety are so well stored and transported, largely explains its popularity.
Among the shortcomings, susceptibility to powdery mildew and low frost resistance are noted. Indeed, when the temperature drops to -20 degrees and below in winter, the bark of a tree can freeze slightly and become covered with scabs. And powdery mildew affects young leaves, shoots or even fruits with a lack of moisture, crowded plantings (crown thickening), excess nitrogen to the detriment of potassium-phosphorus fertilizers. But to the scab “Jonathan” shows amazing stability, it is not terrible even in the rainiest summer.
Peculiarities of growing
The apple tree should be planted in a sunny place, so that all the annulus, spears, annual growths and fruit twigs on which the ovaries form can receive a sufficient amount of sunlight and fresh air. “Jonathan” grows well on sandy loam and loam, but it needs to be fed at least once every few years with potassium-phosphorus fertilizers, compost or rotted manure (you can replace it with bird droppings).
If you want to settle in your country house “Jonathan”, remember how often in your area there is a winter temperature below -15 degrees. If this does not happen, feel free to go to a nursery or a specialized store.
Choose a seedling no higher than 80 cm without any damage and growths. It is better to plant an apple tree in the spring, the end of April is perfect. For the first year or two, it is better to shade the seedling from direct sunlight. In the second year of a tree’s life, it is necessary to begin to form its crown, from now on pruning should become annual.
Care consists in moderate watering, top dressing, spring pruning, prevention of fungal diseases. In order to protect the tree from powdery mildew as best as possible, you need to remove leaves and fallen fruits, prevent them from rotting under the tree, and regularly dig up the amniotic circle. As a preventive measure, spraying with Bordeaux mixture is used. If, nevertheless, the fungus has settled on young leaves (and the branches should be regularly inspected), you will have to treat the tree with special preparations according to the instructions. “Skor”, “Topaz”, “Fundazol” – all these chemicals give good results in the fight against powdery mildew. Just do not need to treat the tree with the same preparation from year to year – its effectiveness decreases.
At especially low temperatures, the trunk and skeletal branches are insulated, they can be tied with special material (it should allow the tree to breathe) or use coniferous branches, reeds.
Storage and processing
Apples of this variety are grown not only in private farms for personal needs, but also on an industrial scale. The harvest is wonderfully preserved. If you put it in storage in a refrigerator or a special room where the temperature does not rise above +3 degrees, and the humidity remains at the level of 85-95 percent, then such conditions will slow down the ripening of fruits, and they will remain until spring in the same condition that they were. thwarted. If the temperature is higher, the ripening process will not stop, the apples will become softer, and spotting, characteristic of this particular variety (dark bitter spots on the skin), may appear. But they will still remain until February.
The fruits of “Jonathan” are universal in use – they are eaten fresh, canned, used in the preparation of table wines, wonderful preserves, jams, marmalades, juices and mashed potatoes are prepared from them. They are very tasty as fillings for pies, are involved in the preparation of sauces. All this is due to the large amount of sugars and the delicate structure of the fruit.
Video “Planting the apple tree” Jonathan “
In this video, the author shows how to properly plant an apple tree seedling. For demonstration, the variety “Jonathan” was taken.
