Mespilus on the windowsill
Carefully separated the seeds from the shell, kept them for half a day in a solution and planted in small clay pots, using a soil mixture for flowers. Shoved three seeds in each (suddenly not all will rise?), buried them literally 1 cm, watered, covered the top with plastic and put in a warm place. As the top layer of soil dries, I sprayed it with warm, well-maintained water from a spray gun.
My medlar sprouted in just a month and a half, released two leaves and reached for the sun. By the way, almost half of the seeds sprouted, and I had to carefully plant some of the bushes in separate pots. And only later I learned that in this way the seeds do not germinate, because plants grow weak (if they grow at all)), do not flower and do not bear fruit. But I didn’t know that at the time, I wanted to see what kind of medlar it was. By the way, it has never bloomed since, but when I grew up, it began to look very decorative.
I read on the Internet that medlar sprouts need to be shaded, so for a couple of weeks I put pots with seedlings in partial shade. And when my plants released another 2 leaves, put them on the windowsill. Six months later, the fruit of my experiment grew to 30 cm.
What to do? I gave some of the plants to my friends — my girls were happy. I left myself 5 bushes, transplanted them into beautiful floor vases and now in the summer I put them on the loggia, and in the winter they return to my apartment, where a bright place is equipped for them.
The types of medlar
There are two varieties of medlar, which sometimes confuse even botanists. One types is Eriobotrya japonica (Loguat), which is an evergreen tree (rarely a shrub).
It belongs to the Rosaceae family and its fruit is shaped like an Apple. And the taste is something between a pear and a cherry, with a small amount of sourness. Eriobotrya japonica lives only in the South, blooms in autumn, and gives fruit in spring.
Mespilus germanica (also called Common medlar), which is more loyal to the climate.
Mespilus germanica is a deciduous fruit tree (or shrub), also in the Rosaceae family. Therefore, I will tell you about growing Mespilus germanica on a dacha plot, as it is more resistant to different types of climate.
Medlar is the decoration of your garden
Mespilus germanica is very beautiful. Its spreading branches are covered with long dark green leaves, which in autumn play a crimson glow, unusually decorating the garden. It blooms in spring, producing single white (less often — pink) flowers with bright red centers, very similar to the flowers of the rosehip.
The fruit of an adult tree is quite large, like an average apple.
The fruits have a large shiny stone inside, they are very dense and extremely delicious. Imagine a grated Apple mixed with quince pulp and powdered sugar. That’s about the taste of Common medlar. Moreover, its fruits are very healing.
But the fruit will only become sweet and soft after being stored for 2-3 months in storage.
Then they become softer, filled with vitamins and are suitable both for food and for various preparations (jams, jellies and others), and the smell is just awesome!
Where is it better to plant Common medlar?
In favorable natural conditions, Common medlar can grow up to 8 m. But when artificially planted, it does not grow higher than 3 m. When you begin to select a place and plant it in your garden, proceed from the size of the medlar in the adult state. Choose a well-lit place, because in the penumbra it is not as productive as in the light.
Mespilus germanica prefers neutral or slightly acidic soils and does not tolerate stagnation of ground water in the area of the root system. Therefore, in those areas where the water table is only 1 m below the soil level, it is not necessary to plant it. In any case, choose a higher place for it.
Growing Mespilus germanica
Mespilus germanica seedlings can be grown from ordinary seeds. To do this, they must be pre-stratified (kept in the cold for 3-4 months). In natural conditions, the seeds germinate only for 2-3 years after they get into the soil, and their shell will naturally break down. But we don’t want to wait that long, do we? — so let’s speed up the procedure. Before laying out the seeds for stratification, place them for 5 hours in a 3% solution of sulfuric acid, and then rinse thoroughly.
With such processing, the cultivation of medlar will not be a problem, and its seeds, planted in the fall in the open ground, will already sprout in the spring. Just do not forget to soak them for a day in warm water before landing, and after landing, it is desirable to mulch the ground with peat, sawdust or just cover with plastic wrap. You can also plant seeds for seedlings in a closed room, wait until they grow to 25-30 cm, and only then place them in a pre-planned place in the cottage.
Planting medlars
Although Mespilus germanica is not as fastidious as Eriobotrya japonica, it still likes well-drained loose soil.
- To plant medlar seedlings, take 1 part of deciduous earth, turf, humus and sand.
- Dig holes that are 1/3 larger than the size of the clod of earth on the root system of the seedling.
- Carefully place the seedlings in the holes and sprinkle them with a pre-prepared soil mixture.
Care for medlar
Care for medlar is no different from the care of ordinary fruit and berry crops:
- Moderate watering, without waterlogging the soil;
- Removing dry and damaged twigs;
- Forming the crown the way you need it;
- Fertilizing with standard mineral and organic fertilizers 2-3 times per season. By the way, medlar seedlings should be fed more often: 1 time in 3 weeks, a solution of mullein together with organic fertilizers.