Columnar apple tree Ostankino

Ostankino is a domestic variety of the dwarf apple tree. This culture needs special attention. With proper care and observance of the necessary conditions, it pleases the gardener with a rich harvest. Apples are consumed both fresh and processed (in the form of freshly squeezed or canned juice, apple jam).

This variety of columnar apple was bred in the Soviet Union by Professor V.V. Kichina by crossing the varieties Vazhak and Abundant in 1974. It was entered into the State Register later, in 2002.

The Ostankino variety is a semi-dwarf apple tree. The growth of annual seedlings is no more than a meter, and adult trees reach a height of no more than 2 m. The seedlings of this variety grow quite quickly. In favorable weather, the trunk increases by almost 10 cm per year.

The trunk is in the form of a column, the bark of the tree is dense. This allows the trunk to be stable even with a large crop. The dark green leaves are beautiful and long.

Advantages of the Ostankino variety:

• compactness,
• early maturity,
• a bountiful harvest,
• high quality fruits,
• disease resistance.

There are also disadvantages

• Need special care for the dwarf plant.
• Frequent death of the apical kidney due to freezing. For this reason, you need to choose from several long shoots, one main one as a guide shoot.

The Ostankino apple tree is considered early-growing, because already for 2 years fruits appear (about 5 apples). The peak fruiting of an apple tree occurs in the fifth year, then even a small tree can be harvested 6–8 kg. With proper care, the apple tree bears fruit well up to 15 years. After this period, it is necessary to update the apple orchard. Fruits ripen in autumn, suitable for storage in a cellar or refrigerator until winter.

The Ostankino variety is recommended to be grown in the regions of the Black Earth Center and Non-Black Earth Region.

The harvest of the Ostankino apple tree directly depends on the peculiarities of the weather and proper care. On average, one tree can harvest from 6 to 8 kg of apples per year.

Fruits grow to medium (150 g) and large (about 250 g). Apples have a good presentation. They are neat in shape, round, slightly flattened, symmetrical. Smooth skin of apples of greenish-yellow color with a purple-red blush on 2/3 of the apple or on the whole fruit.

The pulp is white in color, juicy and fine-grained. The fruit tastes sweet with sourness.

Semi-dwarf trees are distinguished by their compactness. Of course, due to its low growth (no more than 2 m in height), it is easier to shape the tree and harvest the fruit.

But columnar varieties require competent care.Trees of the Ostankino variety need a sunny place protected from the wind, as well as frequent abundant watering (2 or more per week), protection from the cold.

For good pollination and increase the yield, it is better to plant several seedlings of the Ostankino variety at once. Plants are planted in a row at a distance of 50 cm from each other, the distance between rows is 1 m.

When choosing seedlings, you need to pay special attention to the top. Top dryness is a bad sign.

For planting, it is necessary to prepare the soil in advance (at least 14 days in advance). It is necessary to add humus or compost to the ground in a 1X1 ratio. For acidic soils, you can add dolomite flour or fluff lime (1/2 cup).

During planting, you need to place the seedling in a pre-prepared groove as follows: the root collar should be level with the ground. Next, you need to sprinkle the straightened roots with earth. It should not be tamped, otherwise the earth will block air access to the roots.

It is better to tie the tree to a peg so that it does not swing from the wind. The trunk circle needs to be watered. The ground under the apple tree must be kept clean, it is better to cover it with mulch (hay, dry grass, straw). However, it is important to remove the mulch in preparation for winter, because it is a good place for pests to overwinter.

It is necessary to get rid of weeds in time, as they block the dwarf tree's access to moisture and take away the necessary nutrients. Excess grass near the trunk circle is removed manually, otherwise the surface roots can be damaged with a shovel.

The Ostankino apple tree, if properly formed, looks like a column. To do this, you need to do pruning in early spring before budding or in autumn, when the leaves fall off.

The fruit links should be shaped according to the following scheme: first you need to cut the side branches and leave the knots with a couple of buds. Next year, new shoots will appear from the preserved buds. Of the 2 shoots, keep horizontal. The vertical one should be cut off, leaving 2 buds on it. So on the shortened branch, 2 new shoots will grow again.

An important point: the top of the Ostankino apple tree does not need to be cut off. However, in the case of a frozen or dry top, this action is necessary. Otherwise, you can get an unkempt tree with a wide crown and a smaller harvest.

A feature of this variety is good fruit setting during apple blossom, even in bad weather, when the bees practically do not fly.

The apple tree of this variety needs different types of fertilization. Once every couple of weeks, starting from the time the leaves appear, you need to apply fertilizing with nitrogen content, for example, complex products for apple trees or urea diluted with water (50 g per 10 l). It is good to process the leaves with urea. Foliar dressing is recommended to be applied on cool and cloudy days.

Before wintering, you can leave fertilizer around the trunk. It is better to do this when the crop has already been harvested. To protect from the cold, the soil and the trunk of the tree are covered with spruce branches, while the branches are laid with needles to the ground. You can cover the tree with burlap or other material. In early spring, you need to remove all the shelters so that the earth warms up properly under the spring sun.

High frost resistance. The resistance of these apple trees to low temperatures is quite sufficient for the regions of central Russia.

This variety is not too susceptible to attack by pests, to a greater extent the apple tree suffers from aphids. Pest prevention begins in spring, when the buds open and aphids awaken.

For processing, it is recommended to use universal insecticides, because they help fight all pests. For example, you can use Karbofos, Aktara, Iskra and similar products. Processing is carried out every 1-2 weeks.