Peach is deservedly considered one of the most delicious southern fruits. Many gardeners would like to grow a crop of its fruits on their site, but this is not so easy, because peach is a very capricious plant. Gourmet Collins variety is one of the most suitable for amateur gardening.
Peach Collins - an early variety with dessert fruits
Collins is a table variety of peach of North American origin. As of October 2018, it is not registered in the State Register of Varieties of the Russian Federation, but is often grown in amateur gardens in the south of Russia and Ukraine.
A distinctive feature of the Collins variety is the extended flowering and fruiting periods. The flowers are bright pink, flowering trees are very beautiful.
Blooming peach decorates the garden
The variety is self-fertile, does not need pollinators. It is considered an early variety, in the Crimea and the North Caucasus, the ripening of its fruits begins in the first - second decade of July and lasts about a month. Productivity without irrigation reaches 150 centners of fruit per hectare, on irrigated lands up to 200 centners per hectare.
Peach Collins - An Early North American Variety
This is a table variety intended for fresh consumption. The fruits are beautiful and very tasty, weighing 120-160 grams, rounded, gently pubescent, with yellow-orange flesh. The peel is removed with difficulty, the bone is semi-detachable.
Peach Collins - a table variety with delicious fruits
Advantages and disadvantages of the Collins variety - table
| pros | Minuses |
| Large, beautiful and very tasty fruits | The bone and skin are poorly separated from the pulp |
| Autonomy | Poor winter hardiness |
| Good transportability | Extremely susceptible to leaf curl and claustosporiosis |
| High resistance to powdery mildew |
Features of cultivation and subtleties of care
Peach is a short-lived plant by nature, even in ideal conditions it bears fruit no more than 15-20 years. But the first fruits can be tasted in 1-2 years after planting.
Peach trees bear fruit early
Collins is a typically southern, slightly winter-resistant variety that noticeably freezes even in short-term frosts below -20ºС. Its successful outdoor culture is only possible south of the Kiev-Kharkov-Rostov-on-Don-Astrakhan line. In more northern areas, amateur planting is possible in wall-mounted unheated greenhouses on the south side of buildings.
To plant a peach you need an open sunny place. It can grow on almost any soil except wetland, brackish and carbonate.
Peach can easily withstand heat and drought, and in regions with a humid climate it is especially severely affected by diseases.
Planting a Collins peach - the best dates and step-by-step instructions
In the industrial cultivation zone (Crimea, North Caucasus, Lower Volga region), it is best to plant a peach in late September - early October. Spring planting is also possible in March - April, always before the buds open. In the more northern regions (Chernozemye, central regions of Ukraine), spring planting is preferable to autumn. The distance between the trees when planting is at least 3-4 meters.
The procedure for landing:
- Dig a hole with a depth and width of about 60-70 centimeters. Fold the ground of the upper and lower layers separately.
For a peach, a landing pit 60-70 cm deep is enough
- Drive a strong stake in the pit for tying.
The ground of the upper and lower layers is folded separately
- Pour to the bottom a drainage layer (10-15 centimeters) of broken brick.
- Pour the soil of the upper fertile layer into the pit.
- Put a board across the pit and tie the seedling to the stake so that the root neck is 3-4 centimeters above the soil level.
The root neck should be fixed at a height of 3-4 centimeters above the soil level
- Spread the roots of the seedling in different directions.
- Mix the ground layer with a bucket of well-decomposed humus and fill up the hole.
- Carefully pour 2 buckets of water under the seedling.
After planting, seedlings must be carefully watered.
Peach Care for the Season
Peach orchard care consists of regular weeding, loosening of the soil and timely watering if necessary. The most economical drip irrigation. Estimated water consumption of 20-30 liters per square meter of the trunk circle when watering 2-3 times a month during spring and the first half of summer. Excessive watering, especially at the end of summer, is harmful to peach.
Drop watering is the most economical
Fertilizers should be applied in the spring when digging the soil in the following doses per square meter of the trunk circle:
- 30-40 g of potassium sulfate,
- 50-80 g of superphosphate,
- 20-50 g of ammonium nitrate.
The crown of young trees is formed in the form of a bowl or fan without a pronounced central trunk. To do this, 3-4 strong and strong branches are left in the seedlings, directed in different directions, and the central conductor is cut out.
All slices, even the smallest ones, in a peach are necessarily covered with garden var.
Diseases and pests of peach and measures to combat them
Compared with other fruit crops, peach is most susceptible to the invasion of a variety of pests and diseases.
According to my Italian friends, experienced farmers, it is basically impossible to grow a high-quality harvest of marketable peach fruits without treatments with potent chemicals. Therefore, peach trees should be planted in the garden as far as possible from garden beds, spicy greens and delicate berries such as raspberries and strawberries.
The most common peach pests:
- eastern codling moth
- peach aphid
- red fruit tick.
In some years, it is also damaged by different types of scale insects, pseudo-scutes, earthworms, weevils and various leaf-eating caterpillars.
The most dangerous peach diseases:
- curly leaves
- kleasterosporiosis,
- gray fruit rot.
The Collins variety is highly resistant to powdery mildew, but is very affected by curly leaves and kleasterosporiosis.
Diseases and pests of peach - photo gallery
- Eastern codling mars peach fruit
- Red fruit mite - a dangerous pest that causes leaf drying
- Aphids breed especially abundantly on the underside of leaves
- Curly leaves - a dangerous disease, one of the causes of death of young peach trees
- Gray fruit rot is especially rampant in wet weather.
- Kleasterosporiosis causes damage to peach leaves and fruits
To combat numerous pests and diseases of peach, it is most advisable to use the potent drug DNOC, which is both an insecticide against insects, an acaricide against ticks and a fungicide against diseases. It should be used only in the fall after falling of leaves, strictly according to the instructions on the package. If this drug gets on green leaves, young shoots, flowers, buds and buds that open, they cause burns and dry out. DNOC is toxic to humans, therefore, when spraying, it is imperative to comply with all safety requirements (clothing, gloves, safety glasses, respirator). One autumn spray with this drug is enough for the whole next season. Before chemical treatment, it is necessary to collect and burn all dried mummified fruits, cut and burn all dried and diseased branches, and dig the soil in the area.
Reviews
I have been growing the Collins variety for over 20 years. I will add the "Disadvantages": the fruits are not one-dimensional, the seed does not separate from the pulp (cracking is also "present" on my site). The variety is characterized by a short rest period.
Shtorich
//forum.vinograd.info/showthread.php?t=9405
My "collins" begins to ripen on July 1, ends in the 20th. And there were a lot of small fruits. The first were large. Probably it was necessary to normalize well, or maybe something with pollination is not right. The taste is excellent, sweet, juicy.
Zlata C
//forum.vinograd.info/showthread.php?s=ec3a9d33f11c34de16b53b261988d1e5&t=9405&page=2
In addition to standard fruits, there are so-called “babies” - small, very pubescent, very sweet - reminiscent of peas in grapes. In my opinion, the problem is pollination. And the point is not that you need a pollinator of another variety (there are many different varieties in my garden), but normal conditions for pollination are needed so that insects can fly. And then in our steppe, the wind during flowering is such that it blows away all the bees, then it is cold.
Nikolay_Erimizin
//forum.vinograd.info/showthread.php?t=9405
Peach is a very tender, moody and thermophilic plant. Only with good care and favorable soil and climatic conditions is it possible to get a high yield of its wonderful tasty fruits.
