The apple tree has several advantages: high productivity, unpretentiousness to the soil, frost resistance, not difficult to care for. Thanks to this, it is one of the most sought-after fruit trees, especially in central Russia. Sometimes her life goes beyond the centenary. Such a centenarian is of course a rare instance. As a rule, the life cycle of an apple tree is 50-60 years. But do not confuse it with active fruiting. It lasts much less. Of course, if you choose the right seedling, plant and care for it, the tree can bring a harvest of 20-30 years or more.
Apple tree life cycle periods
All life apple trees are divided into three periods. They replace each other, characterizing the changes occurring with age.
First
The cycle includes the initial development, when the tree builds up the root system, vegetative parts and enters the fruiting season. This is usually from 1 to 15 years.
During this period, it is very important to follow all the rules for care.
Second
This cycle includes a time of active fruiting and a gradual decrease in the pace of development. He passes in 15-50 years. Moreover, if the crown is improperly formed, it is not enough to take care of the tree, thickening will impede the growth of young shoots, the fruits will be smaller, and the apple tree itself will undergo various diseases. If you do not resume care, it runs wild and degenerates. But in time done sanitary and shaping pruning can restore the culture.
Anti-aging pruning
This procedure greatly affects the life span of a tree and its yield.
As a rule, it is carried out in the fall. Adult apple trees rejuvenate after 20 years, if they do not bear fruit. Dry broken old big branches are removed, those that are directed to the crown and interfere with the young processes. They open, as it were, the center of the crown, leaving only those aspiring upwards, just on them young fruiting branches will form.
Third
This is the final cycle. The tree gradually stops its growth, the branches making up the crown dry and die. In this case, the apple tree can suddenly stop bearing fruit or this will happen gradually. The old plant can no longer be restored, it is reasonable to uproot such trees.
Uprooting Board of Old Apple Trees
Correctly removing the old tree to make room for the young is a very difficult task.
For this:
- The trunk of the apple tree is dug in a trench, so that it is possible to chop off the large thick roots of the old tree.
- After that, the trunk is rocked and overturned.
- Then the remains of the roots are chopped off and removed, the trunk is sawn.
If it is not possible to fall down a tree, use another passive method:
- They cut the apple tree.
- Drill holes in the stump.
- They fill in nitrogen fertilizer (urea, ammonium nitrate).
- They add it several times during the summer (this will accelerate the process of root decay).
After two years, the root system of the stump is so destroyed that undermining it is easily removed from the ground.
All these periods are rather arbitrary, as they depend on a number of factors.
Factors Affecting Life Span
There are several reasons that affect the longevity of an apple tree:
- place of growth;
- varietal affiliation;
- tree care.
Region
Its life depends on the place where the apple tree is grown. In more southern areas, the duration is much longer, up to 100 years or more. In the middle lane, it does not reach 70 years. In the North, where severe conditions are 40.
Grade
Varietal differences affect the life cycle.
For example: apple trees that are early-growing, that is, those bearing fruit at a very early age, live less than late-growing varieties.
Coloniform early and abundantly begins to bear fruit, but lives no more than 20 years.
Care
The tree care process is very important. Starting from planting every year, it must be properly shaped, fertilized, protected from pests and diseases.
The effect of selection on the age characteristics of apple trees
In the old days, when apple trees were grown from seeds, without the use of vaccinations, they had greater vitality and lived up to 200 years. The specimens grown from seeds have important characteristics:
- disease resistance;
- winter hardiness;
- unpretentiousness to the soil.
But having a number of positive endurance properties, although they subsequently yield good yields, they only begin to bear fruit by the age of 10-15, when the root system and crown have fully developed.
Hybrid varieties yield a plentiful harvest as early as 5 years, but their life expectancy does not exceed 20 years, since an apple tree that has not yet been formed spends a lot of energy and energy on fruit formation, quickly depleting and wearing out.
In the process of selection, various varieties of apple trees adapt to a different climatic zone, different from their homeland. This leads to the appearance of early ripening varieties, which are smaller in size and their life expectancy is halved.
It turns out that selection that does not take into account the biological characteristics of the tree greatly reduces its age component. Knowing all the factors affecting the yield and life span of a tree, you can choose which is more important.
