How much does an apple tree live and what does it depend on?

Apple is the most common fruit tree on the territory of our country. The Greeks brought this culture to Europe, they learned about apples in Russia in the XI century.One hundred years later, the plant was already successfully grown and used. Of course, this tree was not yet as we know it at the present time, and many species simply did not exist. Today, the variety of apple varieties in Russia is entirely the merit of modern breeders.

Modern plants originate from their wild ancestors, which for a long time were “domesticated” by humans. Apple tree "Sivers" - a powerful tree with a trunk height of up to 14 meters, which once grew in the foothill regions of Kazakhstan and Central Asia, became the ancestor of all cultural species.

Today in the middle lane is the most common apple home - Malus Domestica. Depending on the variety, trees can reach a height of 2 to 7 meters, they begin to bear fruit in the second, fifth and even tenth year of life. As a result of hybridization, many varieties are self-productive, so they require cross-pollination with other similar species.

The apple tree belongs to the Rosaceae family, in which there are up to 60 different species, including the wild ones. Among them there are not only trees, but also large shrubs with a height of about 11-12 meters. By the way, they are used by man, and they are for forest shelter belts in arid areas.

Due to the fact that a tree has a lot of advantages, consisting in high yield, a certain unpretentiousness to the soil, resistance to cold and relatively simple maintenance, it is always in demand. And, of course, it is important for gardeners to know how long this culture lives.

On average, an apple tree lives no more than 40-50 years, hybrid cultures usually remain viable for about 30-35 years, but there are some cases when an apple tree can live up to 100-150 years. But the life span of wild varieties significantly exceeds the life cycle of cultivated plants, these species sometimes live to 200-300 years. To understand why there is such a big difference in time, you should consider all the circumstances affecting this aspect.

On how long the apple tree will live, as well, how many years it will bear fruit, affects a number of important factors:

• Different types of vegetative propagation can have the most direct influence on the periods of life and fruiting, in particular, the stocks - plants for vaccination, which increase the rate of early fruit and improve the yield of the crop. But it is known that skoroplodny grades, with all its advantages, have a lower life expectancy.
• Of great importance is the area where the apple tree is cultivated. In the northern regions, with prolonged exposure to cold, insufficient light and heat, plants die the first. In the middle lane with its temperate climate, trees, in most cases, can reach a cycle of 60 years. Long-livers are considered varieties growing in the south. Besides the fact that they live from 80 to 100-120 years, they can even bear fruit at such an adult age.

• Proper and regular care of a crop like an apple tree is very important. It is necessary to begin with a choice of the place most convenient for a tree - sunny, windless, with good soil and average humidity. Saplings are planted in accordance with all the rules of agricultural engineering, after which they need timely watering, fertilization, weeding, pruning. Sanitation from pests and diseases can also increase the life cycle of the plant.

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The life cycle of a tree can be divided into several important periods, each of which is characterized by its own characteristics, expressed in age-related changes.

• First stage - this is the growth of a sapling, the development of its root system, the formation of a crown with the subsequent flowering and the formation of fruits. In apple varieties of different varieties, it can last for 2-15 years. At this moment it is important for the gardener to follow all the basic rules of plant care. Basically, fruiting and longevity depends on it.
• Second period Lasts from 15 to 40-50 years with a gradual slowing down of vegetative growth. When the crown is too thick, weave side branches and other manifestations of insufficient care, the growth on young shoots ceases, which leads to the appearance of small fruits, diseases caused by lichens, a large number of root processes. If time does not take action, the tree can completely degenerate or run wild. For the restoration of culture will require formative and special sanitary pruning.

• Third cycle is the final. The growth of the tree stops, gradually begin to dry and die off the largest branches extending from the trunk and making up the skeleton of the crown. At the same time, fruiting may decrease gradually, or the apple tree will suddenly cease to yield. Such plants can no longer be restored, so it will be wise to uproot old trees by digging a ditch around them and shredding the largest roots. Then the trunk felled, remove the remaining root shoots.

It is known that the very first varieties of apple trees grown from seeds, rather than using grafts and rootstocks (i.e. grafts), were more viable and lived for 150-170 years. Perhaps that is why today many are trying to grow a tree from apple pits.

These trees have all the positive characteristics. - resistance to diseases, frost resistance, extraordinary unpretentiousness in relation to the soil. They are stronger and more durable in all respects, not counting excellent yields. But not everyone is ready to devote so much time to this activity, because it is much easier to buy a ready seedling and, having rooted it, after a couple of years, get a good harvest.

Complaining over the fact that the hybrid variety bears the greatest fruit, 20 years old, many people forget that short-lived fruit, in the literal sense, costs a plant life. Indeed, being, in fact, not formed to the end, a young apple tree begins to spend a huge amount of carbohydrates, amino acids and other plastic substances for the formation of fruits. As a result, the tree quickly depletes its stock and wears out.

Unlike hybrids, wild-growing crops of this species yield a crop only for 10-15 years, when all the necessary substances for fruiting have been accumulated, the root system and the aerial part are fully developed.

Also, when breeding, plants are often transported from one climatic zone to another, and, as a result, apple trees shrink in size, acquire the property of early ripening. Moving them to the eastern regions and Central Asia altogether leads to a decrease in the life span of up to 30 years.

So we can say that it is the cultivation of the important features of the tree and is the cause of the rapid decline in vital activity and the early death of artificially bred varieties of apple trees.

How to care for an apple tree, you will learn from the following video.