Apple tree Lobo - an old variety. Of course, now it can no longer be called one of the best, but still many gardeners keep Lobo in their plots. She has earned popularity for her loyal service for many years, endowing her hosts with delicious, beautiful apples.
Description of the apple Lobo
The apple tree of the Lobo variety has been known for over a century: in 1906, the variety was obtained in Canada from the Macintosh apple tree by pollination with a mixture of pollen from apple trees of other varieties. In our country, the variety has been in state tests since 1971, and in 1972 it was registered in the State Register of the Russian Federation and recommended for use in the Central Black Earth region, in particular, in the Kursk and Voronezh regions. The beauty of apples, their taste and large size fell in love with domestic gardeners, and Lobo is planted not only in the Black Earth Region, but also in other areas and regions with a similar climate. Lobo variety is popular in private and industrial gardens and neighboring states.
Apple tree Lobo is registered as a winter variety, but there is a slight hitch: we now consider winter trees as apple trees, the fruits of which are stored at least until spring. Unfortunately, this does not apply to Lobo: three to four months after the harvest, which is carried out in late September or early October, apples become "cotton", lose their taste and disappear. Therefore, it is generally accepted that Lobo is an autumn-winter variety.
The apple tree Lobo is tall, the crown is not thickened, wide-round. At first, the tree grows very quickly, reaching large sizes in a few years, then its growth is seriously slowed down. In connection with the rapid growth of the crown of young trees, it may first have an oval shape, and subsequently it is rounded. The shoots are even, of medium thickness, the leaves are emerald green, large. Apples are found both on the glove and on the fruit rods. Flowering occurs in May.
Lobo has strong shoots, but it can be difficult for him to keep large yields without backwater
Winter hardiness is above average, but periodically in severe winters (when frosts reach -30 aboutC) the apple tree may freeze. However, a correctly pruned tree is quickly restored and continues to grow and bear fruit. It suffers drought normally, but does not like extreme heat. Often affected by powdery mildew, resistance to other diseases, in particular to scab, is average. The scab is more affected by the leaves, it is transmitted to the fruits to a lesser extent.
The apple tree is mature, the first apples can be tasted for the fourth year. Lobo's yield is stable and very high: more than 300 kg of apples are harvested annually from an adult tree. Table apples are quite large: on average they weigh 120-150 g, individual specimens grow up to 200 g. The shape is from flat-round to conical, with a large funnel, there are barely noticeable ribs. The main color of the skin is yellow-green; the integumentary coat that is present on most of the fetus is raspberry red. There are numerous grayish dots and a bluish wax coating. Subcutaneous points are clearly visible on the entire surface.
Lobo's fruits are large, beautiful, smooth
The flesh is fine-grained, juicy, its color is practically absent. The taste of apples is sweet and sour, characterized as very good, the aroma is ordinary apple, there is a caramel flavor. Tasters evaluate the taste of fresh fruits at 4.5-4.8 points. Apples ripen almost at the same time, and it is difficult to eat a fresh family for the whole family for its shelf life. Fortunately, it is suitable for all types of processing. Apples perfectly withstand transportation, and therefore are grown on an industrial scale.
Thus, the Lobo apple tree has a lot of advantages that are clear from the description of the variety, but there are several serious drawbacks, in particular, relatively low disease resistance and a short shelf life for the fruit variety. In addition, because of the very high productivity, the tree necessarily requires supports during the fruiting period, without which the branches often break.
Planting an Lobo apple tree
Since Lobo grows as a large tree, the distance to the nearest trees, bushes or a house must be maintained at least four meters. Landing can be planned for spring and autumn. In the spring they try to plant one-year and two-year-olds; it is better to plant a three-year-old in the fall. For the autumn planting of the apple tree, a hole is dug 1-2 months before it, for the spring - in the fall.
Planting seedlings of this variety is carried out in the traditional way. Areas with light loose soil, without stagnation of water and close (less than a meter) location of groundwater are selected, protected from cold piercing winds. The ideal soil is light loam or sandy loam, therefore, if the soil is clayey, they dig it up in advance with the introduction of river sand. In the case of sandy soil, on the contrary, a little clay should be added. It is advisable to dig a plot of at least 3 x 3 meters in size: that’s exactly how much space in a few years the roots of the apple tree will conquer.
Acidic soils necessarily lime. In addition, when digging, it is worth immediately adding 1-2 buckets of humus for each square meter, a liter of ash and 100-120 g of nitrofoska. When digging, the rhizomes of perennial weeds are carefully selected and destroyed. The best way to prepare the site, if there is time, is to sow green manure (mustard, peas, oats, lupine, etc.), followed by mowing the grass and planting it in the soil.
They dig a large hole for planting an Lobo apple tree: up to 1 meter in diameter and a little less in depth. Drainage is laid at the bottom of the pit (a layer of 10-15 cm pebbles, gravel, expanded clay), then the excavated fertile soil layer is returned to it, after thoroughly mixing it with fertilizers. Take 2-3 buckets of humus, a bucket of peat, a liter can of ash, up to 250 g of superphosphate. Immediately you can drive a strong stake, protruding outward at 80-100 cm (depending on the height of the future seedling) and, with dry soil, pour 2-3 buckets of water.
When digging a landing pit, you need not be too lazy: Lobo requires a larger pit than other varieties
The landing process itself looks traditional:
- The seedling is soaked for at least 24 hours in water (or at least the roots), after which the roots are dipped in a clay mash: a creamy mixture of clay, mullein and water.
If in the autumn a seedling is bought with leaves, they must be carefully cut
- So much soil mixture is taken out of the pit so that the root system is freely located. Set the seedling so that the root neck is located 6-7 cm above the ground, in which case it will then fall and will be flush with the ground.
The correct location of the root neck is one of the main conditions for success.
- Gradually fill the roots with the excavated soil mixture. Periodically, the seedling is shaken so that there are no air "pockets", and the soil is crushed by hand, and then by foot.
It is important that all roots are firmly pressed to the soil.
- After filling the roots with soil, they tie a sapling to the stake with a soft twine with a free loop and pour 2-3 buckets of water: the root neck will drop a little to the desired level.
Among the methods of tying the most reliable - the "eight"
- A near-stem circle is formed, making a roller for subsequent irrigation, and mulch it with any loose material. In the spring planting, a layer of 2-3 cm is enough, in the autumn, you can immediately sprinkle more.
For mulching, humus, peat, straw and even small chips are used
- If planted in spring, the lateral branches are immediately shortened by a third, during autumn planting it is better to transfer the operation to spring.
Even the one-year-old is slightly shortened when planting, and then a crown is formed for several years
2-3 buckets of water - the approximate norm, the amount depends on the condition of the soil and weather. If water is absorbed quickly, it is necessary to add more, but so that it does not stand in the trunk circle.
Features of cultivation and subtleties of care
The main concerns when growing Lobo apple trees are the same as in the case of other varieties, but some of its features must be taken into account. So, due to the low disease resistance of the variety, preventive treatments of the crown with fungicides in spring and urea in the fall are mandatory. Due to the ability of the Lobo apple tree to freeze in harsh climatic regions, it is carefully prepared for winter (they carry out snow retention operations, mulch the trunk circle, tie the trunks and bases of skeletal branches with coniferous spruce or spanbond). High yield Lobo requires skilled pruning and installation of backwater during apple filling.
The rest of the adult Lobo apple tree is looked after in the same way as any average late-ripening apple tree, characterized by high annual yield and large tree size. This is a relatively drought tolerant variety, so if the summer is normal, it rains from time to time, Lobo is rarely watered. It is especially important to keep the soil moist during flowering, the formation of ovaries and the intensive growth of fruits.
If the trunk circle is kept under black steam, periodic cultivation with the removal of perennial weeds is necessary, if grass is mowed under sodding as it grows. Mandatory abundant winter watering of the apple tree shortly before the onset of frost. After this watering, the trunk and the bases of skeletal branches are whitened, which is good protection against sunburn in late winter and early spring.
Growing trees under sod has its advantages, but you can’t let the grass overgrow, periodically you need to approach with a scythe
They begin to feed the tree in the third year after planting, but if the plot was fertilized before digging the planting hole, a lot of fertilizer is not required at first. Up to 300 g of urea is scattered under an adult tree every spring, even before the snow has completely melted, and after drying the soil, 3-4 buckets of humus are buried in shallow ditches. 2-3 weeks after the end of flowering make liquid top dressing: 2-3 buckets of mullein infusion (1:10). After dropping the foliage in the autumn, 200-300 g of superphosphate are closed with a hoe in the near-stem circle.
Formative pruning is carried out annually in the first 4-5 years after planting, then only sanitary. The crown of the Lobo apple tree is not prone to thickening, so it is not difficult to form it. It is important to correctly select 5-6 skeletal branches from the lateral branches present on the young tree, and remove the rest. Skeletal branches are placed evenly around the trunk and the main thing is that they should not initially be directed to it at an acute angle: when loaded with apples, such branches break off in the first place.
If there are few correctly located branches, from the very beginning, while the Lobo tree is young, the existing ones are given an almost horizontal position, tied to hammered pegs.
At the annual sanitary pruning, damaged and broken branches are cut out, as well as those that grow clearly in the wrong direction: inside the crown or vertically up. Since Lobo is prone to disease, a thorough putty of all wounds with garden var is strictly required. A tree of this variety is able to bear fruit for many years, therefore, if after 20-25 years it seems quite healthy, and the annual growth is already small, it is worth rejuvenating it, greatly shortening the old shoots.
Video: young Lobo apple tree with fruits
Diseases and pests, the fight against them
Most often, the Lobo apple tree suffers from powdery mildew, somewhat less often from scab, but other diseases are also found. A good prevention of fungal diseases is to spray the tree with fungicides. In early spring, before the swelling of the kidneys, you can use a 3% Bordeaux liquid or a solution of iron sulfate of the same concentration, if a green cone has already appeared on the kidneys, take 1% Bordeaux liquid. In addition, it is important after removing the fruits to carefully remove all plant debris, including removing rotted and mummified apples from the tree, and spraying the foliage with a 5% urea solution.
Powdery mildew is difficult to confuse with anything
If prevention was not enough and the disease manifested itself, they should be treated. Powdery mildew, like on any other vegetable or fruit plants, looks like a white pubescent foliage, often turning to young shoots, as well as fruits. Over time, pubescence turns brown, the leaves dry and fall prematurely. The disease is treated, for example, with the Strobi, Skor or Topaz drugs according to the instructions; spraying is possible at any time, except for the flowering of the apple tree, as well as from the beginning of the ripening of apples and until they are picked.
Scab attacks trees in particularly wet seasons. It manifests itself in the form of black spots on the leaves and fruits. Lobo mainly affects the leaves, but this does not mean that the disease does not need to be treated: premature falling of leaves weakens the tree, and a neglected disease will deprive part of the crop. The disease is well treated with drugs Skor or Chorus, after flowering, you can use copper oxychloride. All of these drugs are relatively safe for humans, but they must be used strictly according to the instructions and always in special clothing and a respirator.
Edible apples infected with scab, but there is nothing to eat
Like all other apple trees, Lobo can be affected by fruit rot, but usually it is a companion of other fungal diseases, such as scab. Rotten apples should be removed and destroyed as soon as possible; special treatment is usually not required, but if the rot has become widespread, you can use the same Skor or Fundazole.
Of the diseases affecting the cortex, cytosporosis should be feared. The affected areas are covered with tubercles and at the same time dry out. In the initial stages, these sites are cut out and disinfected with 1% solution of copper sulfate, but if the disease is started, treatment is impossible.
Of the pests of the Lobo apple tree, the danger is basically the same as for apple trees of other varieties: bee-eater, codling moth and apple aphid. The flower beetle is able to destroy up to 90% of the crop, destroying the flowers already in the bud phase. It could be destroyed by insecticides, but during the invasion of the flower beetle they just can not be used. Therefore, they fight the pest mechanically: they shake it off on a bedspread on a cold spring morning and destroy it. It is important that the temperature is no more than 8 aboutC: It is in the cold that the flower beetle is numb. Shake the apple tree vigorously.
Flower beetle - representative of weevils
Aphid is one of the most famous pests of all garden crops. With a massive invasion, it can also destroy a young tree, and an adult can cause serious damage, since it sucks juices from young shoots and leaf bases. Fortunately, you can fight aphids with folk remedies if you start to do it on time. Infusions and decoctions of many herbs or onion husks help, and even better - tobacco with the addition of soap. Of the purchased drugs, Biotlin is the least dangerous; chemical aphid insecticides are used only as a last resort.
After aphids, the shoots stop growing, and may dry out
Larva of the codling moth ("worm") can consistently spoil several apples. You can’t do without a codling moth in private gardens, or you have to systematically spray trees, which amateur gardeners rarely do. But you have to fight it. Well help hunting belts, as well as the timely collection and destruction of carrion. In extreme cases, you can use the "chemistry", but long before the harvest.
Grade Reviews
The start date for Lobo consumption begins 10 days after eating the fruit. Lobo's juice is sweet enough and has one of the highest sugar-acid index.
Gardener
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I have Lobo about three or four years old. Freezing does not appear externally; I did not cut the shoots to check the freezing. Fruits in the third year. Garden in Rostov the Great. Lobo has one of the signs of a thick peel, which I do not like at all. The pulp tastes great
Bender
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This variety pleases me with its appearance. When Orlik leaves from the heat hang like rags on the forehead, they do not lose either color or turgor, which pleases the eye.
Ivan
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Last year, Lobo rested for the first time in fifteen years. This has already twice normalized the ovaries.
Nikolay
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I’m growing such an apple tree, Lobo variety. Considering that she planted a 1-year-old seedling, she grew 4 years, which means she is now five years old. This summer were the first apples. Two pieces. Tasteful ...
Melissa
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Lobo is a well-known old apple variety of medium-late ripening. Possessing significant shortcomings, it is still appreciated by gardeners for the high productivity of large beautiful fruits. It is possible to have a whole Lobo tree on a personal plot and to nothing, but to plant a branch in the crown of another apple tree will be very useful.
