Most fruit trees do not tolerate cold well, so scientists are constantly working on breeding new varieties that are adapted to our climatic conditions. This also applies to apricots, which today everyone can grow in their own garden with a little effort. One of the excellent varieties that have managed to gain popularity among residents of central Our Country and the Moscow region is the Lel apricot.
Description
Apricot Lel is a seedling in the second – third generation, which was obtained by specialists L. A. Kramarenko and A. K. Skvortsov from free pollination in 1986. The originator of this apricot variety is the Main Botanical Garden. For the first time in documents, this wonderful variety is found, starting in 2004, in the State Register for the Central District. If we talk about the description of trees of this variety, then they are of medium size, capable of reaching a height of three meters.
Also, the apricot of the beautiful Lel variety has a beautiful compact crown. The tree of this variety is characterized by moderate, unhurried growth. Such an apricot has annual, slightly branched shoots, and its flowers are small in size, can reach 3 cm in diameter. In the autumn season, the leaves of the Lel apricot acquire a beautiful red color and its various shades.
The variety has round, slightly pressed on both sides, fruits that can weigh about 20 g. According to the description, the fruits of these fruits have an orange skin, they do not have a blush and an edge, they have a pretty sheen. Also, the apricot variety with the name Lel is distinguished by a sufficiently dense and elastic pulp, which is also orange in color.
The fruits of the Lel variety are very tasty and juicy, they have a harmonious combination of sugar and acid, for which the variety received a high expert assessment during tasting – 5 points.
The chemical composition of apricots is as follows – 16% dry matter, 8% sugars, 8% titratable acids. The potassium content in the fruits of this variety is 6 mg per 2 grams. The stone tends to separate well from the pulp. The variety of this apricot, like the fruits of the Alyosha variety, has a large stone, which is approximately 8 – 417% of the total fruit, which is almost the only obvious drawback of this variety.
This beautiful apricot variety is distinguished by an early period of fruit ripening, but nevertheless they appear on the trees much later than the Alyosha or Iceberg varieties.
It has an average, sometimes high, yield, which by no means can be called excessive. In general, this apricot variety can be called stable and moderate in all its inherent indicators. Also, the fruits are well preserved under certain conditions. This excellent variety of fruit tree has good winter hardiness and tolerates frost normally. Fruiting occurs on all types of shoots. Grafted plants of the Lel variety begin to bear fruit three years after vaccination.
Taste and application
The variety of this apricot will give its owner delicious juicy sweet fruits. Although the fruits themselves have a very modest size and a very large bone, they are ready to forgive these features for their refined taste. 
In small, elegant apricots, there is a huge benefit for the body – they are able to stimulate appetite, act refreshingly, positively affect the cardiovascular system, and much more. Apply their dry extract in the form of granules and dragees – they help with anemia. To do this, they are soaked in distilled water at a temperature of about zero, after which the extract itself is separated and processed.
Apricot juice is useful for liver diseases and hypertension. Diet canned food for children is also prepared from fruits. The composition contains fatty oils that are used for the manufacture of cosmetics and in terms of quality they are not inferior to peach and almond oil. Raw apricot fruits should be consumed by everyone with hypovitaminosis, disorders of the nervous system, and so on. At home, compotes, preserves, jams are made from them, and they are used to make delicious pastries.
Peculiarities of growing
So, you have already read the reviews of experienced gardeners on specialized sites and purchased this particular variety of apricot tree. But how to plant and grow it in your garden? The place for planting your fruit tree should not only be sunny and open enough, but also high – because it is in the lowlands that cold air accumulates. 
Take care of a suitable soil – it must have a good air permeability.
Even a short-term flooding of the root system with water can be detrimental to the culture. Clay soils are not suitable for a tree, on rain-fed chernozem crops they give a poor harvest, on sandy soil they can get burned in the summer and grow old early. Therefore, it is best to plant apricots on loamy, sandy, light loamy or neutral ground.
It is necessary to plant a fruit tree in the spring, after which watering is required in an amount of approximately 20 – 30 liters. Thus, favorable conditions for growth and development are created for culture. 
From above, the seedling should be mulched with sawdust, peat chips or other materials. For the full development of the tree, regular watering is also extremely necessary. Especially in May, when he has a period of intensive growth. You also need to water the apricot a couple of weeks before the fruit ripens.
For the winter, it is not necessary to make shelter for culture. To protect against rodents, it is advised to tie the spruce branches with the needles down to the trunks. In autumn, after the rainy season, be sure to whiten the tree trunk and large branches. Whitewashing will protect against sunburn. Of top dressing, sodium sulfate is recommended, and the culture also greatly needs the elements of iron, boron, and manganese. Under young trees, it is not advised to make a lot of nitrogen-containing dressings, especially in the second half of summer. In order to prevent long growth of shoots during a protracted warm autumn, from August the trees should be watered with a solution of ash – usually about 5-10 buckets are enough.
You can not deeply dig the soil in the near-trunk circle, as this can cause irreparable harm to the root system. Black fallow is considered to be the best soil maintenance system today, from time to time it is permissible to use green manure crops. It is also important to prune the shoots of the fruit crop in time and form the plant correctly at a young age, which will be the key to its successful cultivation. For this, a sparse-tiered formation system is used.
Video “Planting an apricot”
The video shows the process of planting an apricot seedling in the ground from “A” to “Z”.
