Apple trees and pears are almost always one of the first trees planted in the garden, and the only difference is the choice of variety, in which each gardener follows personal preferences. In this article, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the basic characteristics and rules of cultivating a pear of the ancient French variety Abbet Vettel (or simply Abbot), which, along with many Russian varieties of culture, has a lot of advantages.

Description and characteristics of the variety Abbot

Presumably, the first trees of the abbot self-pear pear appeared in France in the 15th century and since then have spread not only in their "homeland", but also outside it - especially in Italy and Spain. In the territory of the Russian Federation, the variety is less common, but those who have already tried to grow it on their sites, probably will not refuse to repeat this experience.

Did you know? Pear wood is characterized by high strength, which is why it is used in the manufacture of musical instruments, kitchen appliances and even rulers for architects, since all such products will be durable and not deformed.

The trees of the “abbey” pear are medium-sized (up to 5 m in height), with a wide crown, shaped like a pyramid. The first fruit harvest can be obtained already in the fourth year after planting seedlings and it will be large (up to 250 g), oblong-pear-shaped fruits. Under the thin, slightly roughened green-yellow peel, there is a milky-colored pulp, characterized by high juiciness and aroma.The taste of ripe fruit is sweet, with a light spicy finish. They can be kept fresh for up to four months, but for this they need to be placed in a cool and dark room. Trees reach maximum fruiting closer to eight years of age. In general, stable fruiting lasts for 10-15 years.

Advantages and disadvantages of the variety

Like any other variety, the Abbot has its strengths and weaknesses, which directly affect the choice of gardeners.

• The advantages of this pear include the following characteristics:
• good presentation of the fruit;
• excellent taste, the sweetness of ripe pears;
• the possibility of long-term storage of pears, in comparison with many other varieties;
• transportation without loss of commodity characteristics;
• high resistance to popular ailments: scab, black cancer, bacteriosis, rot;
• self-pollination.

• The disadvantages of this pear:
• low frost resistance of the plant, but this problem can be solved by organizing a winter shelter.

Rules for choosing seedlings for planting

Choosing the right seedling is the first step to getting delicious Abbot pear fruit. One- or two-year-old young plants, with a well-developed and healthy root system, take root best, so you should pay attention to such instances first.

Important! Before planting the pear on the site, it is better to keep the seedling in a cool room, without shaking off the land lump. To maintain an optimum level of humidity, it is possible to additionally wrap the rhizome with moist material, and for long-term storage, pour the rhizome with wet sand, peat or sawdust.

Upon close inspection also pay attention to the condition of the stem part, after all, like roots, all branches must be resilient, without the slightest sign of rot or damage by insect pests. This also applies to uniformly green leaf plates, on which there should be no spots or holes from pests.

Optimal conditions for growing abbot pears

Having chosen the abbot pear seedling, it's time to look at a suitable site for its planting, performing all the preparatory activities on it. Planting of young plants itself should be carried out in accordance with the recommended terms and technology of the procedure, which will ensure a stable crop in the future.

Selection of a place for landing

Abbot Vettel belongs to mid-sized varieties, which means that for one tree you need at least 9-10 m² of free space. With the mass cultivation of fruit trees, the ideal pattern for planting pears of this variety is 4 m between adjacent trees and at least 5-6 m between the rows themselves. The site should be in a well-lit place, protected from drafts and sudden gusts of wind. In addition, when choosing a territory, it is advisable to give preference to options with a low level of groundwater occurrence, which will prevent waterlogging of the soil and decay of the root system of the pear.

Did you know? In order to choose a really sweet and juicy pear when buying, you should focus on the aroma of the fruit: if the smell coming from them is pleasant and palpable, then the pear itself will be very tasty. In the absence of aroma, the selected pears are either not ripe or stored in an air-gas environment that helps to preserve only their appearance and not their taste.

Suitable soil

Soil for pear Abbot can be any, the main thing is a neutral level of acidity and a sufficient amount of nutrients in the composition. Humus has been added to depleted loamy or sandy loam substrates since autumn, at the rate of 1 bucket of organic matter per 1 m² of territory, and too acidic soils can be sprinkled with lime (0.5 kg per 1 m²), thereby normalizing these indicators.

Dates for boarding

The specific timing of planting a pear of the described variety depends on the climatic region of its cultivation: in the central or southern part of the Russian Federation, both spring and autumn planting of young plants is allowed, but in the northern territory it is better not to risk and plant pears only in spring, when the threat of return frosts passes. During winter planting, immature seedlings may not take root even after proper winter shelter is organized.

Landing technology

Planting the Abbot pear begins with the preparation of the site (at least two weeks before the procedure) and provides for its cleaning of weeds, digging, leveling and organizing planting holes with a diameter of 80 cm (with a depth of 100-120 cm). For spring planting, such pits are prepared either in the fall, or two weeks before planting and left for a while, allowing the soil to settle.

The landing technology itself provides the following actions:

1. At the bottom of the organized hole, it is necessary to lay a drainage layer of broken brick and form a small mound of soil, and such a height that the root neck of the seedling does not go deep into the soil, but is slightly above the surface.
2. Then, drive a support stake into the center of the pit.
3. Place the selected plant on the knoll, gently spread its roots and fill them with soil, making sure that there is no free space between the individual roots.
4. Add the required amount of substrate and compact it.
5. Tie the seedling to the selected support with a twine, knot in the form of the number 8.
6. Make a near-trunk circle, pouring in a circle a low roller from the ground.
7. Water the plant abundantly, spending at least 3-4 buckets of water on one tree.
8. Once the moisture is completely absorbed, put a layer of mulch from humus or peat.

Video: planting pear seedlings

Additional fertilizer or watering in the first few weeks is not required, however, with regard to humidity, it is better to monitor the state of the upper soil layer in the near-stem circle - in dry times you will have to periodically moisten the earth.

Landing rules

Despite the fact that the whole process of planting the Abbot pear is carried out according to the general implementation scheme, some rules in this case will be especially important. First of all, it is worth paying attention to the following nuances:

• fertilizing the site with phosphorite flour and superphosphate (in granular or powder form) even at the stage of autumn preparation;
• when planting a seedling with a closed root system, it is placed in the hole along with the soil, simply filling up a fresh substrate;
• the drainage layer must be at the bottom of the landing hole, especially when groundwater is close to the surface;
• when planting, the root neck of the seedling should always remain above ground level;
• for better stability, it is desirable to tie the trunk of a young plant to a wooden stake driven alongside;
• after completion of the planting process according to the diameter of the trunk circle, it is useful to organize a roller from the ground, making a five-centimeter recess next to it for better irrigation;
• if possible, pears of the described variety are best planted next to the apple trees, leaving at least 4–5 m of free space between the trees.

All these actions allow you to accelerate the adaptation of a young plant to new growth conditions, which will positively affect its development.

Abbat Pear Care Rules

Soon after planting the Abbot pear, the process of further long-term care begins, which combines several basic actions: watering, fertilizing, fertilizing, pruning and even whitewashing, each of which has its own characteristics.

Watering

The described variety is characterized by high resistance to drought, so the pear does not need frequent heavy watering. Humidification of the soil under a young seedling is performed once a week, but an adult tree can be watered only 3-4 times during the entire growing season. However, in the latter case, weather conditions play an important role, therefore, with prolonged drought, the number of irrigations will have to be increased (soil moisture is especially important during the laying of fruiting buds and the formation of fruits). One adult tree can account for up to 15 liters of water heated in the sun, which is poured into a hole formed around the trunk circle.

Top dressing

After planting the Abbot pear on the site, the fertilizer of the tree will be needed only in the third year after planting. Typically, the earth is enriched with organic nutrients, introducing rotted manure or humus into the trunk circle 2-3 times a year (mainly in autumn).

Important! In the case of root fertilizer with organic substances, it is necessary to water the pear in advance, which will prevent a burn of the root system.

In the spring, fertilizers of pears are performed using nitrogen-containing mixtures: urea, nitrate, ammonium sulfate (before the active growth and development of shoots), and then, using phosphorus-potassium mineral compounds, which are especially relevant during the flowering of trees and the formation of fruits. As for the method of introducing nutrients, it can be either root (diluted fertilizers are poured into the near-stem circle) or foliar when liquid mineral fertilizers are sprayed on the shoots and leaves of the plant.

Cropping and shaping the crown

Abbot pear does not need forming pruning and, in the absence of such interference, always forms a proportional and beautiful crown. However, this does not mean that sanitary and anti-aging pruning will be superfluous. Usually they are carried out twice a year:

• in spring, dead, diseased and frozen branches are removed from the trees;
• in the fall, the main task of gardeners is to remove "empty", non-fruiting shoots, though anti-aging pruning can be performed once every 2 or 3 years.

In addition, with age, an increasing number of abnormally growing shoots appear inside the tree, which only thicken the crown and limit the entry of sunlight into the fruiting branches. Of course, all of them are also subject to removal during the planned autumn pruning, and the places of the cuts are necessarily covered with garden varieties. It helps to prevent the entry of pathogens into the tissue of the tree through the resulting wounds.

Video: pear pruning

Whitewash

Timely whitewashing of pear trunks ensures protection of the tree from sunburn, frost, pests and even rodents, so most often the procedure is performed in the fall, before organizing a winter shelter. To prepare a whitewash mixture, 1 kg of clay is mixed with 2 kg of lime and the resulting composition is poured with a bucket of water. Having achieved complete dissolution of the components, a homogeneous mixture is applied to the tree trunk using a whitening brush.

Winter preparations

When growing varieties in the southern regions, adult plants do not need serious shelter, which cannot be said about trees growing in the middle climatic zone or in the northern regions of the Russian Federation. All activities related to the preparation of trees for winter cold include the following:

1. Mulching of the root neck with a layer of compost (the height of the mulch layer should be at least 30 cm).
2. Shelter with agrofibre (usually a tree trunk is wrapped with material).
3. Fixture of a heat-insulating layer (more typical for the northern regions of cultivation).

In the latter case, lapnik is the natural material for the procedure, which not only protects from the cold, but also protects the bark from damage by rodents.

Video: preparing pears for winter

Abbé Pear Variety Diseases and Pests

Abbot Vettel belongs to those varieties for which standard diseases and pest pests are practically fearless, however, it is still not worth completely eliminating the probability of their occurrence. The most famous problems in this case include:

• powdery mildew (linen) - a fungal disease characterized by the appearance of a powdery-white coating on the inflorescences and leaves of the plant, which after a while acquires a reddish tint. Damaged parts quickly dry up and fall off, which affects the abundance and quality of the crop. For preventive purposes, gardeners remove damaged leaf plates, followed by their burning, and treat the pears with a one percent solution of potassium permanganate. In the fight against the disease, systemic fungicides, for example, Fundazole or Sulfite, will be effective;
• scab- a fungal disease, manifested in olive spots on the inside of the leaf plates of a pear. All of them have a small velvet coating and eventually spread to other parts of the tree, in particular fruits. Among the main preventive methods, compliance with the requirements of cultivation agricultural technology, timely removal of dead pears is highlighted. To treat damaged trees, a solution of copper sulfate and lime is usually used, or spraying with a Bordeaux mixture is carried out;
• soot fungus - an ailment that affects exclusively the leaves and fruits of the Abbot pear, on which a black coating resembling soot forms over time. This disease is more dangerous for weak seedlings that are deficient in nutrients. Insects are the main carriers of the disease, therefore, the main prevention of such a fungus is based on the timely control of any pests and periodic treatments with the fungicides "Calypso" and "Fitoverm". The latter is often used to treat pears, only the dosage will have to be increased.

Of the pests, Abb's pear is occasionally "interested" in aphids and gall mites, sucking juices from the leaves of a tree. You can notice insects during a visual inspection of leaves and shoots, and to fix the problem, they usually use Actellik, Aktaru or other similar drugs. In general, the pear variety Abbot Vettel is a worthy competitor to domestic varieties and, under appropriate growing conditions, will be able to annually please the gardener with a stable and tasty harvest of juicy fruits.