Golden Delicious has been very popular for many years. But not everyone knows the secrets of the variety and interesting facts. Let's take a look at the history of the variety with the characteristics of the plant, the patterns of cultivation and care of the "golden" apple.
Breeding history
The apple variety Golden Delicious was bred in 1890 in America, South Virginia, as a result of random crossing. To study the qualities of a new tree plot with it was purchased. The result was the breeding of many new varieties, the basis of which was the "Golden Excellent" (this is also called the apple). Now it is popular in many countries of the world. 
Did you know? The wild apple was first cultivated in antiquity on the territory of modern Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The selection was started and successfully continued by the ancient Greeks. For them are listed 40 varieties.
Biological features
Winter variety. Fruits can be stored until May-April.
Among the advantages of the variety: yields are high, fruit ripening is early, transportability and storage at a high level, suitability for processing. Fruits do not fall off the tree. But the disadvantages are as follows: yields can be intermittent, the apple tree does not like drought and fruits with low moisture levels are poorly stored. The plant does not tolerate brown spotting.
Fruits are concentrated a lot beneficial substances: Ascorbic acid, P-active substances, pectins, ascorbic acid, sugar.
The variety "Golden Delicious" became the basis for the breeding of new varieties: "Jonagold" (addition of "Jonathan"), "Starling", "Royal Red Delicious".
On the basis of the variety "Red Delicious" in America, the late variety "Red Chief" was bred.
Tree description and pollinators
Description of the apple variety "Golden Delicious": tree of medium height, up to 3 meters high. An adult tree of circular form, wide, has a tendency to thicken. Crown young "Golden Delicious" cone-like. Apple tree fruits abundantly, and because the branches always descend above the ground. The shoots are not very thick, curved, light brown with a touch of green. Pubescence is weak. The bark of the apple tree is dark gray. The foliage is elongated at the end, oval and smooth. The color is bright green. The flowers are saucer-shaped, medium in size, white with a tinge of pink, pistil column pubescent. Fruiting mixed.
Better to plant next to "Golden Delicious" pollinators: "Delicious Spur", "Idared", "Melrose", "Jonathan", "Wagner Prize". The apple tree cannot pollinate independently.
Important! Pollinators need to be planted within a radius of 0.5 km from Golden Delicious.
Fruit Description
Apples are large or medium in size. Form rounded near the stem, like a cone. Peel with slight roughness, dry and dense. Color first light green, and then becomes yellow-gold with a small amount of brown pigmentation, sometimes with a dull rosy from the sun. Weight is variable, depending on the area of growth. For example, there may be about 140-170 g, sometimes less. The pulp is dense, white with a greenish tint color. Its color changes as a result of storage on a light yellow, and the dessert taste becomes spicy. Quality is not lost with proper storage all season. The aroma of the fruit is bright. 
Yield
Harvest is almost always high, although there is a tendency to periodicity. One tree can bring 60 kg of crop, and with very good care, 120 kg. Apples are in such quantity that they simply resemble grapes. Fruiting begins in the second year after planting.
The winter varieties of apple trees include "Antey", "Northern Synapse", "Medunitsa Zimnyaya", "Currency", "Lobo", "Orlik", "Bogatyr".
How to choose seedlings when buying
It is recommended to buy seedlings in nurseries or special stores. Sick and unsuitable samples can be sold on natural markets and even from private traders. Of course, to make sure the quality of the goods will never hurt. The quality is excellent if:
- roots are quite developed;
- a three-year-old sapling has 3-4 skeletal branches up to 60 cm long and roots up to 40 cm long;
- There are no signs of disease, damage, especially at the site of vaccination.
If you take an annual plant, you need to prepare for the independent formation of the crown.
A seedling can be bought with a clod of soil on the roots, and this will be a plus, as in this state the plant will take root faster. 
Rules for planting apple seedlings on the site
First you need to pay attention to the correct timing of planting a tree. Climate and soil also play an important role.
Optimal timing
Planting can be carried out in the fall, when there is no cold ground. Mostly this is October. If you had to do it in the spring, it is better to wait for warm April.
Choosing a place
On the choice of location depends on the health of the tree, and hence a good harvest. On the plot for the golden apple there should be a lot of sun, which is easy to achieve by planting a tree on the west side of the garden. A light loamy and carbonate-sody soil is preferable, in contrast to sandy and calcareous. Although for this variety, it can be any. But if the soil is clay, be sure to add sand.
Acidity should be absent or be in small quantities. Elevation and groundwater at a distance of 2 m from the surface is desirable. It is also important that pollinating apple trees grow nearby.
Important! Apple is a dietary product due to its 80-90% water content. It has a lot of iron, although it does not increase hemoglobin due to the form of digestibility. Half of the periodic table: phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, zinc, sodium, calcium, manganese, fluorine, iodine, molybdenum. Organic acids: citric, malic, acetic, succinic, folic, ascorbic, nicotinic, chlorogenic. Vitamins: A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9, C, E, K, Z, ZZ. Useful substances: pectin, carotene, starch, catechins, proteins and fats in small quantities, fiber, micro-and macronutrients.
Site preparation and seedlings
On the site should not earlier grow fruit trees. When choosing a place, the following should be considered: it should be sufficiently illuminated, the land should be fertile, or it is necessary to provide for the correction of the barren with fertilizers, and the place should not be open to the northerly cold wind. 
Another important point: there should be enough space for a developing crown (3 m between the trees). To plant a plant, a pit 1 m wide and 1 m deep is prepared for 3 weeks or a month so that the soil can sit down and be compacted.
In "Golden Delicious" before planting pinch off the top and the kidneys with the upward direction. So you can prevent the growth of unnecessary shoots up. 5-6 buds with sideways left for the skeleton.
Process and scheme
In the prepared pit put fertilizers. For example, up to 1 kg of charcoal, up to 2 kg of superphosphate, 1 or 2 buckets of humus, as well as up to 15 g of potassium sulphate. Next in the pit put a number to hold the trunk. An apple tree with open roots should be dipped in a growth stimulant solution for approximately 1-2 hours.
When planting a tree, the root neck should remain above the ground at a distance of 5 cm. The pit is covered with earth, and the plant is shaken to evenly distribute the earth. Next, the trunk is tied to a peg and poured over 2 buckets of water. At the end, the top layer is mulched with humus and compacted slightly. Every 3 days after planting the tree should be watered using up to 4 buckets of water. 
Saplings with the earth or in containers just put in a hole and covered with earth.
Recall: the distance between the pits should be 3 m.
Seasonal care features
Cultivation of "Golden Delicious" forces gardeners to ration the number of ovaries and flowers, as the fruits shrink with a huge number of them. And branches as a result of overload break. But this technique is only one of many, whose task is a good harvest and the health of the tree. From seasonal care depends on what the taste and weight will be apples.
Did you know? Chisato Ivasagi, a Japanese, grew up on Earth in 2005: 1.85 kg of weight.
Soil care
After planting the trees need to especially carefully remove the weeds. It is necessary to water a tree several times a year, not forgetting, because this variety does not like drought. First watered before blooming buds, then after flowering at the end of 3 weeks, before harvesting for 3-4 weeks, and, finally, during the leaf fall.
To loosen the soil is important every spring, especially when the tree is young. Mulching is carried out after watering, planting, in order to increase the yield. To this end, occupy the area around the tree with green fertilizer. The radius can be from 30 cm to 1.5 m. It is good to sow nasturtium under the apple tree as a green fertilizer. 
Top dressing
To please the harvest, the soil is constantly fed with organic matter and mineral fertilizers. Every year make manure or compost. Manure is introduced in the autumn, sometimes with the addition of superphosphate and potassium salt. Twice a year, in the spring and autumn, nitrogen fertilizers are applied, it is possible superficially. The urea solution is considered to be a good top dressing for the beginning of spring; in summer, sodium is useful in the composition of any fertilizer.
Preventive treatment
- It is necessary to spray with "Topaz" for the prevention of powdery mildew, after flowering chlorine copper oxide is suitable. You can also feed the tree phosphate and potash fertilizers.
- Brown spotting can be prevented by watering the soil moderately and constantly, as well as digging the soil before winter.
- For the prevention of scab important sanitization of branches.
- Pests, like diseases, require careful prevention.
- Karbofos protects against green aphids. And you can save a tree from an apple mite, tearing off the old bark from it and spraying the place with the solution of Karbofos. Green aphids and apple mites can be disposed of by burning foliage.
- To prevent damage to the apple-colored beetle, the trunk and old branches are freed from the old bark.
- A 3% nitrofen prevents leaflets. Or you can use prophylactic in the period before the bud break.
Read also about how to deal with such a pest of an apple tree as the apple moth.
Cropping and crown formation
Regular crown formation is necessary, and the shape must be given spherical. The least that can be done is to do thinning, rejuvenation by pruning and sanitary care. First of all, it is necessary to remove strongly growing branches and vertical ones, separate last year. All this will allow the variety to be complete.
You can prune in the fall and spring. In the spring, in order to mainly remove frozen branches, and in the fall, dry and rotted. Even in summer, pruning is possible so that light is available to the fruit. After frost pruning can not be.
Protection against cold and rodents
They dig up the soil in late autumn, fertilize it and water it. Pristvolnye circles mulch. Young plants are whitened with clay, and old ones with lime can be added with copper sulfate and wood glue.
To protect against rodents and along the way for insulation, the trunk is whitened and covered with everything that can be useful: paper, cloth, burlap, branches of spruce. It is good to use polyethylene foam for pipe insulation. Before winter it is better to warm the plant. Although they say that it is cold-resistant, it still loves heat. During the thaw it is necessary to compact the snow in the diameter of the wheel circle.
Under the right conditions, Golden Delicious, which has conquered the whole world, each year will provide your family with sweet fresh fruits and a variety of preparations from them. Enjoy!
