European plum Round Early Fruit

A variety of folk selection. Selected from the collection at Pavlovsk Experimental Station of VIR (Pavlovsk, Leningrad Region). Introduced into the State Register in 1959 for the North-West region.

Medium-sized tree, 2.5-3 m tall, with a broad, moderately dense, well-leaved crown. Bark on the trunk is gray-brown and slightly rough. Branches are thin, branching at an angle of 30-40° to the trunk. One-year-old shoots are slightly curved, medium-thick, reddish-purple on the sun-exposed side. Leaf blade is round-oval, with a pointed apex and a heart-shaped base, small (7 x 3 cm), dark green, slightly concave near the base, with a wavy margin toward the apex. Texture is leathery, medium-thick, glossy surface, without hairs on top and rarely slightly hairy on the underside. Margins are coarsely doubly toothed. Petiole 9-13 mm, with anthocyanin coloration on top. Stipules are one, rarely two, small, sessile, yellow-green. Bracts are small, awl-shaped, light green. Flowers are medium-sized, bloom in the second half of May. Flowering lasts 8-10 days. Flowers and fruits form on shoots from the previous year. Growth shoots are located at the periphery of the crown.

Fruits are round, weighing 8-12 g, dark blue with a purplish tinge and a slight blue bloom, with small dots over the entire fruit surface. Flesh is yellow, finely textured, sweet-sour, juicy, good quality. Skin is relatively thick and tough, does not separate from the flesh or separates poorly. Pit is small, oval, separates easily from the flesh. Fruits contain 13.8-15.6% dry matter, 8.7-9.9% sugars (including up to 2.9% sucrose), 1.45-1.51% acids, 17.6-20.8 mg/100g vitamin C. Fruits are consumed fresh and processed into jams, jellies, and compotes.

Trees are self-sterile. Best pollinator — Red Early Fruit. Trees begin fruiting 3-4 years after planting in the orchard. Fruits ripen in the second half of August. Fruits are produced annually. Yield is 10-15 kg per tree, up to 25 kg per tree in favorable years. Fruits do not crack, but drop off when ripe.

Plants are cold-tolerant, but in severe winters suffer significant damage (up to 4-5 degrees). Affected by aphids, leafrollers, fruit borers, "carpet scales", "milky sheen", and fruit rot (in certain years severely).

Advantages of the variety: early fruiting, early fruit ripening, good yield, good fruit quality, good pit separation, versatile fruit use.

Disadvantages of the variety: significant winter damage in severe winters, insufficient disease and pest resistance, mandatory presence of pollinator varieties, poor skin separation from flesh.