Apricot Varieties and Their Cultural Characteristics

There are 10 species of apricot in the world, including 9 species in China: common apricot, Siberian apricot, Liao apricot, Tibetan apricot, purple apricot, Zhidan apricot, plum apricot, Zhenghe apricot and plum apricot. Among them, common apricot, Siberian apricot, Liao apricot and plum apricot have many varieties and types. Common apricot is the most widely cultivated species in the world.

Variety classification

The fruits of excellent fresh varieties should have the characteristics of large fruit, attractive and gorgeous appearance, thick and juicy pulp, fine fiber, sweet and sour taste, rich aroma and so on.

The fruits of fine preserved, canned and dried varieties should have the characteristics of medium size, yellow or orange flesh, consistent pulp color, less juice, hard and dense pulp, low and fine fiber, high acid content and enucleation. The fruit of good jam varieties should have the characteristics of high pectin and pectic acid content, yellow, orange or white pulp. The fruit of excellent juice varieties should have the characteristics of more juice, high juice yield, yellow, orange or white pulp, not browning and so on.

Most of the varieties used both for fresh food and processing in China belong to this category. It is characterized by high sugar content, medium juice, thick flesh, sweet and sour palatability and aroma, which can be processed and eaten fresh.

The fruit of excellent variety should have the characteristics of benevolence, fullness, sweetness, rich in fat and protein, and high kernel yield.

This kind of variety has the advantages of small fruit shape, thick pulp, high sugar content, free kernel, sweet kernel, and can be dried and removed. Cultivation characteristics

Apricot trees have a strong ability to adapt to soil and topography, mostly planted on hillside terraces and hills, and can grow normally on mountains of 800 to 1000 meters. It can grow on loam, clay, slightly acidic soil, alkaline soil and even in rock crevices. Apricot trees have strong cold tolerance, can withstand the temperature of-30 ℃ or lower, and can also bear high temperature. The highest temperature of 43.4 ℃ in summer can still grow and bear fruit normally and the quality is good. Apricot trees are not resistant to waterlogging, and the water on the ground will rot and die in 3 days. In places where stone fruit trees such as apricot, peach, plum and cherry have been planted, apricot orchards can no longer be built, otherwise replanting disease will easily occur, which will lead to poor growth and poor quality of the trees, and dead trees will lead to the failure of the orchard. Self-flowering sterility or self-flowering seed setting rate of most apricot varieties is very low, so pollination trees must be configured to obtain high and stable yield. In general, the ratio of main varieties to pollinated varieties is 3 ∶ 1 to 4 ∶ 1. The seedling propagation of apricot is mainly propagated by grafting. The commonly used rootstock is mountain apricot, that is, Siberian apricot, which is widely distributed in North China, Northeast and Northwest China. It has cold resistance, drought resistance and strong affinity with apricot, which can improve the drought resistance and cold resistance of apricot trees. And it has dwarfing effect. Using common apricot as rootstock, because of its tall body and stout branches, it begins to bear fruit and enters the fruiting period a little later, but it has a long life. In some areas, mountain peach, plum and plum are used as rootstocks, most of these rootstocks have weak affinity with apricot, and the survival rate of apricot is low. The planting density of apricot should be determined according to variety, soil fertility and management level. The row spacing of general fresh varieties ranging from 2 m × 4 m to 3 m × 5 m is suitable, with 40 to 80 trees per mu. The suitable plant-row spacing of kernel varieties is from 2 m × 3 m to 3 m × 4 m, and 110 plants are planted per mu. The processing variety should take the density between the two.