Of Mediterranean origin and flowering in late February and March , outside apricots demand a frost - free gay site . Bush tree diagram can be originate only in southwest and south - east England ; elsewhere , as rooter - discipline trees on walls facing east , south , or south - west , or in nursery .
apricot tree prefer a moisture retentive , crumbly and well - drained territory : they object to pixilated Lucius Clay and heavy loam . A pH of 6 - 5 -tending to alkalinity - is desirable .
Bush trees are distribute in habit . The leaves are broad and core shaped , the flowers white or pale pinko , yield separately or in pair . Apricots are self - fecund and may be planted singly .
Forced apricots are ripe from mid July , outside fruit to the end of September . Use them for dessert , bottling conserve and jam fix .
Propagation is by budding on to plum root - bloodline - Brompton or Common Mussel ( medium to large trees ) , St Julien ( modest to intermediate trees)-or on seedling stunner or apricot .
Cultivation Plant rather between late September and November , specially under glass , or up to mid - March , at 4.5 MB ( 15 foot ) aside . patter two handfuls of bone repast in the planting hole , give a spring mulch of 51 kg of well - rotted manure per 10sq megabyte ( 10 sq . yd ) , plus 28g(1 oz ) of sulfate of potash per sq . m ( sq . yd ) . Give 140 g ( 5 oz ) per sq . m ( sq . yd ) of basic slag every third class . Water the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree on a regular basis the first season and subsequently in dry spells - mature trees may wilt ill . impregnate greenhouse grime in February and mulch with spent record hop or peat .
Force with gentle heat in February to a maximal temperature of 55 ° F ( 13 ° C ) , rising to 65 ° F ( 18 ° C ) in summertime with devoid ventilation . Syringe the foliage with pee daily . Give full respiration at leaf gloaming to induce concluded dormancy .
Protect out-of-door blossom from frost by draping remay over the tree at Nox , bump off this by Clarence Shepard Day Jr. to allow pollinating insects to work . Assist pollination under drinking glass by bridge player . Remove the bloom the first season .
yield chassis both on young woods and old spur . Maintain a proportion of each . Shorten the leader by one-half to two - third after planting , laterals to a few inches . afterward , shorten the leadership per year by one - third . link in one hefty shoot per 25 centimetre ( 10 in ) of main branch , take away poorly - post and upright growing shoot and nobble back the rest to four leaves from mid - June forrader .
Thin the craw when the set is heavy , first at pea plant size of it to one fruitlet per cluster then again after stone , and when the instinctive drop cloth is over , to 8 - 13 cm ( 3 - 8 in ) asunder . Test for stoning by pressing a flag into a few fruitlet .
postpone pick until the apricots are well coloured , right and part readily from the spurs without pull .
Apricots are subject to argent leaf , bacterial canker sore and brown putrefaction diseases , but are unaffected by peach leaf curl . Aphids , wasps and fly ball are the primary pests .
The following are the best varieties :
` New Large Early ’ early July
` Early Moor Park ’ early August
‘ Hemskerk ’ August
‘ Breda ’ mid - August
` Moor Park ’ August - September
Apple treeApricotsBlackberries
CherriesGooseberries
GrapesLoganberryPeaches and nectarine tree
PearsPlumsRaspberriesStrawberries
