Medlar is a genus of deciduous and evergreen fruit plants of the Pink family, a closely related quince. These compact trees or tall shrubs with dense spreading crowns are common in the subtropical climate of Europe and Asia. Due to its decorative qualities, medlar is widely used in landscape design, and its fruits are eaten.
Types and their features
All varieties of medlar belong to two main types of plants, differing in the external outlines of the crowns, the size of the leaves, and the characteristics of the vegetative cycle.
Japanese
A species of Eriobotrya japonica is called a sessex or lokva. Distributed on the Japanese islands, in southern China, Thailand, India, Iran and other areas with a warm, humid climate. Photophilous evergreen tree up to 6–8 m high with densely branched crown. The root system is superficial, shoots of adult plants penetrate to a depth of 70–80 cm, spreading up to 3 m in diameter. The trunks are covered with dark brown fissured bark.
Flexible long branches, slightly bent up. Young shoots are yellowish-red, with a slight pubescence. The leaves are simple petiolate, large, oval-elongated, with pointed tips: up to 30 cm in length and 7-10 cm in width. The plates are dark green leathery, with a shiny surface and pronounced feathery veins. The underside of the leaves is slightly lighter, velvety to the touch.
Japanese medlar blooms in October. The flowers are bisexual, regular in shape, with five white or yellowish petals, 1-2 cm in diameter. Outwardly resemble quince corollas. Blossom at the ends of annual shoots, collected in small brushes of 5-7 pieces.
Pear-shaped fruits, more rarely rounded, 4-6 cm in size, ripen in late April or early May. In unripe form, they are stiff, with white flesh, light green skin and 3-5 hard dark bones in the center. Mature become saturated yellow or reddish color, become soft. For long-term storage and transportation are not intended, as they quickly rot.
Japanese medlar does not tolerate cold, in temperate climates it is bred only in greenhouses. Crowns and fruit ovaries can withstand daily temperature drops of -10–15 ° C; in large cold weather, trees die.
The plant is not exacting to the composition of soils; it can be cultivated on any soil. Under favorable conditions, the culture lives up to 50 years.
German
The species Mespilus germanica is also called the Crimean and Caucasian medlar, and in places of distribution - Czech or Ezgil. The birthplace of the plant is Iran, from where it was brought to Europe. Various varieties of medlar are cultivated in the Caucasus, the Crimea and throughout the Black Sea coast, in the Mediterranean. In a temperate climate, this species can be cultivated, as it is deciduous and able to survive at winter temperatures up to -25 ° C. However, in regions with frost-free December, January and February, medlar develops and bears fruit better.
Trees of the Germanic species extend up to 5–7 m in height. The trunk and skeletal shoots are covered with dark gray bark. Branches densely branched, form a broad-egg, very dense crown. The outline of the plant is similar to an apple tree or quince. Shoots and petioles of wild medlar are prickly. In areas with frosty winters, the culture often grows in the form of shrubs. In strong prolonged cold, it can freeze under the root, but is quickly restored in the summer.
The leaves are dark green, leathery, smaller than the Japanese variety.. The length of the plate reaches 12–15 cm, the width is about 4 cm. The surface is slightly wrinkled, with a distinctly pinnate-mesh pattern. In autumn, the foliage acquires a brown-red hue.
Five-petal flowers, with white or pinkish corollas, up to 3 cm in diameter. Blossom in May. Fruits are rounded, with sepals remaining at the tips. The size of the wild Caucasian medlar is 2-3 cm, the cultivars are larger - up to 6-8 cm. The peel of ripe fruits is tan, thin, the flesh finally ripens after the first frost, becoming consistency like jam. The bones are round, solid, up to 0.8 cm in diameter.
As a related species, the German medlar is very photophilous and undemanding to soil nutrition.
Breeding methods
Like most fruit, medlar propagates in a generalized way, by vaccination, cuttings and layering.
Seedling
You can grow trees using seeds of ripe fruits. It is recommended to remove them from the pulp before planting.
- To accelerate germination, the hard shell of seeds is scarified, slightly filed with an emery or file. Then the material is placed in warm water for 2 days.
- The next step is stratification. In the south, bones can be buried for the winter in the garden, then in the spring they will begin to sprout. In cold regions, the seeds will simply die, so you need to do differently. Scarified material is mixed with sand or sawdust, placed in a box and taken out in a cool place with a temperature of about + 4-6 ° C. After 14-15 days, the box is brought into heat for the same period, and then again put in the cold. Stratification will ensure seed germination. If you plant them without preparation, seedlings will have to wait 2 years.
- The change is planted in separate pots, in a prepared soil mixture of equal parts of sod land, humus, peat and sand. A thick layer of drainage is poured at the bottom of the containers - about 10 cm. The bones are deepened by 2 cm. The surface is tightened with a film.
Sprouts usually appear in a month. During this time, seedlings are kept at a temperature of +25 ° C, evenly illuminating, regularly moistening the soil and ventilating the pots. Developing shoots can be cultivated as homemade, making bonsai from them. Medlar sprouted from seeds will be ready for transplanting into the garden in 3 years. If the crop is planned to be left in closed ground, in the summer it can be taken out into the air, and in the winter - it can provide peace by moving to a cool place with a temperature not exceeding +15 ° C.
Propagation by cuttings
An adult plant can be bred with pieces of lignified shoots with an age of at least 1 year. They are harvested in May or early summer.
- Cuttings cut into a length of 15-18 cm. Each of them should contain 2-3 internodes. Existing leaves are halved. The lower rods are cut at an angle of 45 ° to accelerate the formation of roots.
- Before planting the material in the nutrient mixture, the places of the cuts are sprinkled with crushed coal or ash.
- The soil for cultivation is prepared from garden soil of sand and peat in equal proportions.
- Deepen the cuttings by 4-5 cm, directing vertically. For several days, the pots can be covered with a glass dome to protect the plantings from drafts.
Daily planting moisturize. The root system in cuttings is formed in 30–40 days. Young shoots should be planted in open ground after it is sufficiently strong. Optimal - next year.
German medlar can be propagated by air layering. It is rarely possible to root them in home gardening: in 20-30% of cases, and shoots become stronger in the soil only after 2 years. Therefore, the method is rarely used.
By grafting, garden varieties are bred, strengthening healthy buds on apple or quince rootstock.
Outdoor cultivation
For cultivation in the garden, it is recommended to purchase seedlings in trusted nurseries or to transfer a bush sprouted by yourself.
Seat selection
For medlar, it is necessary to choose sunny, even areas with a deep occurrence of groundwater. The central areas of the garden are perfect: the trees will attract attention from afar. For group landings, the distance between the trunks should be taken into account. It should be at least 2 m. Heavy clay soils are undesirable. The soil should be loose, neutral or slightly acidic. Nutrition does not matter much.
Landing and transplanting
Pits with a depth and width of about 70 cm are prepared for planting. The volume of the root system and the drainage layer are taken into account. Wells should contain roots freely, about ⅓ of their volume should be left empty.
- Broken bricks, gravel or expanded clay are previously laid at the bottom 15 cm thick. This will protect the roots from getting wet during heavy rainfall.
- The soil from the holes is mixed with peat, sand and humus. At the bottom, it is desirable to put complex mineral fertilizer, then pour ¼ of soil.
- Trees are located in the center of the pits, gently cover the roots with earth. The neck should be flush with the surface.
- Near the plants, it is advisable to strengthen the support stakes, and after the first watering, tie them.
- The circles around the trunks can be mulched with sawdust or peat in a layer of 5 cm.
The rules for planting medlar are common to all fruit crops. Seedlings from closed ground are carefully transferred along with a lump of soil on the roots. Do this before the start of an active vegetation: at the end of April.
Correct cropping
In early spring, before the snow completely converges, they begin sanitary pruning. Frosty, sick, broken by the wind, growing inside the branches are cut. Do it from the first years after planting.
Crown formation begins at the age of 5–6 years. In the early years, medlar can grow very slowly, adding to a height of no more than 10 cm per year. Growing, flowering trees develop faster, become more resistant to the effects of cold weather. In mid-summer, young shoots are shortened by half the length, skeletal shoots - first by ⅓, in the second year - by ¼. Then they just keep fit.
Watering
It is often necessary to moisten young trees: once every 5 days, 15 liters of water for each trunk. In the rainy period - after 15 days. Adult culture requires additional watering during the dry period and during flowering.
It is unacceptable to wet the soil. It is recommended to water the medlar with scattered streams of water. Sprinkling crowns can be carried out at the same time. To maintain moisture in the soil, it is advisable to loosen it every week and update the mulch layer.
Top dressing
Fertilize trees should be at least 2 times a season. Young seedlings need top dressing more often: every 20 days. Liquid manure, phosphorus and potassium compounds, wood ash, bone meal are recommended. Organics and minerals alternate.
Diseases and parasites
Medlar is resistant to most known garden parasites and infections. Occasionally, gray rot or powdery mildew can affect the crown. For spring prophylaxis, plants must be treated with Bordeaux fluid.
When attacking leaf-eating caterpillars, scutes or mealybugs, the nests of the parasites should be hand-picked, then the crowns should be washed with soda or garlic infusion with laundry soap. Chemical insecticides are used carefully, but not during flowering and ripening of fruits.
The benefits of medlar
Exotic fruit contains bioactive compounds that are beneficial for health:
- ascorbic acid, carotene, B vitamins;
- selenium, phosphorus, iron, potassium, iodine and other minerals;
- tannins;
- Sahara;
- organic acids.
The pulp of medlar has wound healing, bactericidal, anti-inflammatory properties, removes excess fluid, stimulates digestive processes and bile secretion.
Fruits are useful for low immunity, anemia, high cholesterol, cholecystitis, bronchitis, urolithiasis, stomatitis, and intestinal disorders. For medicinal purposes, they are consumed raw, prepare decoctions and infusions.
Fresh leaves of medlar contain natural alkaloids, essential oils and tannins. They are used in traditional medicine and cosmetology.
Cooking Application
Raw medlar even in mature form retains rigidity. Its pulp is quite sour and astringent. Taste is significantly improved after freezing fruits. They become sweet and tender.
Medlar is used in its natural form as desserts, it is made from jam, jams, fruit drinks, alcoholic beverages, and added to confectionery, sauces, and national meat and vegetable dishes.