Podruga

This late-winter variety was obtained at the Krasnoyarsk Fruit Experiment Station by N.N. Tikhonov and A.S. Tolmacheva through crossing Borovinka with the early variety Hatanga-3499 (Siberian Apple × Korobovka).

The variety is recommended for the East Siberian region. Gardeners also cultivate it in Kemerovo, Novosibirsk, Omsk, and Tyumen Oblasts. It performs especially well in the forest-steppe subzone of southern Krasnoyarsk Krai, in the Shushensky District, on the right bank of Krasnoyarsk city.

Medium-sized tree. Moderate density and leafiness, round crown. Smooth, brown bark. Bears fruit on simple and complex ring buds and fruiting spurs.

Medium-length, straight shoots, round in cross-section, reddish-brown, hairy. Buds are few, small, barely noticeable. Buds are pressed, medium-sized, conical, smooth. Leaves are small, egg-shaped, long-pointed, with serrated edges, dark green with a bluish tint, hairy. Leaf blade is slightly concave. Petiole is short, thin, hairy. Stipules are medium-sized, lanceolate. Flower buds are small, elongated, hairy.

Flowers are large, small-cup-shaped, white, fragrant. Petals are inversely egg-shaped, overlapping. Stigma column is medium. Hairy coverage is weak. Stigmas are positioned at the same level as stamens.

Fruits average 20-30 g, maximum 35 g. Shape is round, slightly narrowing toward the calyx. Skin is smooth, oily, shiny, with a bloom. Color is greenish-yellow; the covering of the fruit is mostly blurred and striped, pinkish-red, turning light-yellow in storage. Pedicel is usually short, thin, straight, occasionally angled. Calyx is small, narrow, acute-conical, without rust. Calyx is closed, rarely half-open. Receptacle is medium-sized, wide, slightly grooved. Subcalyx tube is short, narrow, funnel-shaped. Axial cavity does not connect with seed chambers.

Flesh is yellowish, firm, juicy, slightly fibrous. Flavor is tart-sweet, with a hint of spice and mild aroma. Chemical composition of fruits: dry matter — 18.94%, total sugars — 9.9% (8.36–11.4), titratable acids — 0.91% (0.45–1.38), ascorbic acid — 16.06 mg/100g (9.20–20.0), vitamin P — 125 mg/100g (106–231).

Harvesting period: September 1–10. Storage duration until April, sometimes until June.

Fruits remain firmly attached on the tree. Fruit transportability is good. Half of the fruits are first-class.

Fruits are excellent fresh, make excellent compotes, good juices and puree.

Self-sterile. Best pollinators: Lada, Foniark, Pepinich Red Yar, Zhivinka.

Early-bearing and high-yielding. Fruit production begins at 4–5 years. Average multi-year yield: 57 centners/ha; maximum 123 centners/ha. In favorable microzones at the 'Udachny' collective farm, yields are significantly higher — 150 centners/ha, maximum 200 centners/ha. The variety produces fruit annually at first, then every 2–3 years after a good harvest, followed by a year without fruit.

Winter hardiness among large-fruited half-cultivars is good. In the critical winter of 1968/69, when the sum of negative temperatures was -2926°, minimum temperature -41.8°, soil temperature in February -48.4°, no plant death occurred. Flower buds were well preserved. Recovery capacity is high. In 1968, during flowering at temperatures of -1.5°, -3.2°, -4.0°, 39.2% of flower buds survived. Resistant to scab, moderately resistant to drought.

Advantages of the variety: long-term consumption of fruits fresh, high quality of processed products, tree resistance to drought, fruit and leaf resistance to scab.

Disadvantages of the variety: small fruits.