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| Courtesy Wikipedia - Antonovka Apples |
I recently discovered and ordered 2 small seedling trees which originated from Russia and Poland. They could be great for our altitude in the Rockies.
This apple is called Antonovka. It consists of several varieties, but the Common Antonovka is usually grown in the U.S.
After learning of the apple, I did a lot of research which motivated me to try them where I live at 8,000 feet altitude. I have been attempting to grow apples for the last 7 years without any success. I can grow flowering crabs but nothing else. Anyone interested in growing apples in the home landscape may want to consider trying out the Common Antonovka variety.
In doing my research on Antonovka apples, here are some of the things I found:
1. A chance seedling was first recorded in 1826 as originating in the Kursk region or Western Russia.
2. Antonovka apples grow well in USDA hardiness zones 3-8 and bear fruit early.
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| Courtesy Gardening Know How |
3. This easy to grow and care for tree is a centuries-old favorite used for fresh eating, baking and canning. It is also well liked for use in cider.
4. It is a tasty, tart fruit right off the tree, having high acid, with flavor that mellows after time in storage. The skin can be from light green to yellow with russet overtones. Allow the fruit to fully ripen to avoid tartness.
5. Learning how to grow Antonovka apples provides a crop of the large, delicious apples in a few years. Planting small trees provides a crop more quickly than starting from seed, approximately two to four years. However, the tree grows true to seed, meaning it will be the same as the tree from which the seed was obtained.
6. Antonovka fruit trees are often used as a rootstock to add cold hardiness to other apple types that can be grafted in. Trees of this specimen have a long taproot, making it sturdy and drought tolerant.
7. It is a vigorous, upright tree, and is a spur bearer (fruit is produced on short, knobby shoots called spurs that develop off the main branches).
8. Tends to produce best every other year with heavy crops. Very cold tolerant and produces the best fruit in cool climates -- down to Zone 3 -- though the harvest tends to be later.
9. Planting and growing this tree aren’t different from growing other apple trees. Many plants, including apple trees, start out by sending down a taproot from which lateral, or fibrous, roots grow. The taproot stops growing, and the lateral roots branch out in all directions away from it.
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| Courtesy Wikipedia |
10. This variety likes soil that is more moist than most apple trees, but soil should drain well so it doesn’t stay soggy.
11. Plant with other apple trees, as it needs a partner for pollination. Some people grow crabapples as a pollinator.
12. Continued Antonovka apple care includes having to water and fertilize regularly as the tree becomes established.