Among many peach varieties, Cardinal is particularly distinguished by its delicate and aromatic fruits of excellent taste. Amateur gardeners from the south of Russia and Ukraine have already gained quite successful experience in growing them in their plots.
Peach Cardinal - an American variety of delicious taste
Cardinal (Cardinal) - a mid-early table variety of peach bred in the USA with very sweet and juicy fruits. On the territory of the Russian Federation it is not zoned, but it is very popular among amateur gardeners of the southern regions, as well as in Ukraine.
Peach Cardinal - An American mid-early variety with delicious fruits.
This is a heat-loving southern variety with low winter hardiness, severely damaged by frost already at -20ºС. To the north of the Kiev region, its cultivation is successful only in greenhouses.
The cardinal is a self-fertile variety and can produce crops without a pollinator, provided that the weather is warm and warm during flowering. In areas with a mild climate, bears fruit annually. Each tree gives up to 30-35 kilograms of fruit ripening in late July.
Warm sunny weather during flowering is necessary for a good harvest.
Fruits are rounded or slightly flattened from the sides, yellow with a thick carmine-red blush, slightly pubescent, have a mass of 130-140 grams and a juicy yellow flesh. The bone is only partially separated.
Cardinal peach fruits are intended for fresh consumption in the region of its cultivation, they are very tender and do not tolerate long-distance transport.
In a mild climate, the peach Cardinal bears fruit annually and is very plentiful
Advantages and disadvantages of the Cardinal variety - table
| pros | Minuses |
| Juicy and aromatic fruits of great taste | Poor transportability |
| Relatively early ripening | The bone is not completely separated from the pulp |
| High self-fertility | Very prone to leaf curl, due to which young trees often die without chemical treatments |
| Not affected by powdery mildew | Low winter hardiness |
Features of planting, growing and care
Peach Cardinal is quick-growing and gives the first crop 2-3 years after planting, but its trees are short-lived and rarely live longer than 15-20 years.
Peach is a very photophilous tree that grows best in hot and dry climates. Excessive moisture provokes outbreaks of dangerous diseases. Soils are most suitable light sandy loam with neutral acidity. On heavy clay soils, drainage is mandatory.
Peach planting - step by step instructions
In the Black Sea regions, peach is best planted from late September to mid-October, and in the Kiev region and similar climate regions - from late March to mid-April. The distance between the trees should be 3-4 meters. How to plant:
- Dig a hole with a diameter of 60 centimeters and a depth on light soil of 60-70 centimeters, on heavy clay 70-80 centimeters.
You can dig a landing hole in advance
- If the soil is clay, pour crushed stone into the pit with a layer of 10-15 centimeters for drainage.
A layer of crushed stone at the bottom of the landing pit will provide the necessary drainage
- Evenly mix the ground from the pit with a bucket of completely decomposed humus and a glass of ash.
- Pour a little of this ennobled land to the bottom of the pit.
When planting under the roots of a seedling, you need to pour a layer of fertile soil
- Place a seedling in the pit.
- Carefully spread its roots to the sides.
In the pit, the roots of the seedling should be evenly spread to the sides
- Using a stake and a landing board, fix the seedling so that its root neck is 3-5 centimeters above the ground.
A landing board is needed to fix the root neck of a seedling just above ground level
- Gently fill the pit with earth.
- Pour a pair of buckets of water from a watering can with a divider.
The planted tree must be carefully watered with water from a watering can
Peach Orchard Care
Young peach trees should be formed with a vase-shaped crown without a central conductor, which is cut completely immediately after the formation of 3-4 strong branches, uniformly directed in different directions.
When trimming a peach, the tool must be sharpened and sanitized, and all cuts immediately smeared with garden varieties.
Peach trees form in the form of a vase without a main trunk
In spring, the soil in the garden must be dug up with fertilizer in such a dosage for each square meter:
- 55-75 grams of superphosphate,
- 35-40 grams of potassium sulfate,
- 25-45 grams of ammonium nitrate.
During the season, the soil in the garden must be kept clean from weeds and regularly loosened. In an arid climate, it is necessary to water 2-3 buckets of water per square meter of the trunk circle 2-3 times a month if there is no rain. With a water shortage, drip irrigation is preferred as the most economical. After mid-August, watering is no longer needed.
Drop watering is indispensable in arid regions with water shortages
Diseases and pests of peach and how to deal with them
The Cardinal variety has increased resistance to powdery mildew, but suffers very much from curly leaves.
The main peach pests:
- peach aphid
- eastern peach moth,
- acacia false shield,
- fruit tick.
It can sometimes be affected by leaf-eating caterpillars of moths and silkworms.
The main diseases of peach:
- curly leaves
- fruit rot
- kleasterosporiosis.
Diseases and pests of peach - photo gallery
- Moth caterpillars make peaches wormy
- The underside of leaves is the aphid's favorite habitat.
- Acacia pseudoscutum affects young peach branches
- Fruit mite - a subtle, but very dangerous pest
- Leaf curl is the most dangerous peach disease
- Kleasterosporiosis affects peach fruits and leaves
- Rainy weather contributes to fruit rot development
Peach treatments calendar against pests and diseases - table
| Processing time | Drug name | What protects |
| In early spring when buds open | Actellic | Aphid, false shield, tick |
| Before flowering in the pink bud stage | Chorus | Curl of leaves, claustosporiosis, fruit rot |
| Immediately after flowering | Actellic | Aphids, false shields, ticks, moths and other butterflies |
| 10 days after flowering | Chorus | Curl of leaves, claustosporiosis, fruit rot |
Affected fruits should be regularly collected and destroyed, and drying branches should be cut out with the capture of a healthy part and burned. In autumn, it is necessary to collect and burn fallen leaves and dig the soil under the trees.
My relatives in the Krasnodar Territory, tired of the numerous and not always effective sprayings with the preparations recommended for private owners, switched to a single treatment in the autumn with the highly toxic professional DNOC preparation, successfully replacing all amateur chemicals from pests and diseases at once. They believe that a single spraying after leaf fall with a strong preparation, following all the instructions on the packaging, dosages and precautions, does less harm to health and the environment than repeated treatments with different chemicals on green leaves. Of course, under peach trees, they do not plant anything, there is just bare land. And the trees themselves have finally become clean and healthy.
Reviews
Cardinal curly is afraid. True, this year it’s too small for me, it usually weighs 120 - 200 grams.
Nikko
//forum.vinograd.info/showthread.php?t=1917&page=65
Cardinal - the flesh is yellow, the peach itself is red, very juicy, sweet.
Oh yeah
//www.sadiba.com.ua/forum/showthread.php?t=2363&page=3
In the winter of 2012, the Cardinal, Erlyn Glove, Redhaven, Crimson Gold froze.
saskrokus
//dacha.wcb.ru/lofiversion/index.php?t17714-250.html
To grow a good crop of sweet and tasty peaches The Cardinal is not an easy task, but quite achievable for a hardworking gardener.
