Perhaps there is not a single gardener who is not familiar with such a variety of apples as "Pepin Saffron." Many gardeners and fruit lovers simply prefer this variety as the most beautiful, fragrant, tasty, wholesome and versatile, because its fruits in any form retain impeccable taste. If you decide to plant in your garden a couple of apple trees "Pepin Saffron", our article will be very useful for you. In it we will closely get acquainted with this variety, find out what makes it stand out from the rest of this fruit, weigh all the pros and cons of growing these apples in our country house, and also reveal the secrets of planting and caring for their seedlings.
Breeding history
Recalling the history of the creation of this variety, it is worth paying tribute to the scientist breeder I. V. Michurin. It was he who in 1907 brought a wonderful variety, which was later called "Pepin Saffron" and recognized as one of the best experiments of the great scientist. This species of apples appeared by crossing hybrids "Pepinki Lithuanian" and "Chinese Golden" with the variety Renet Orleans. 
Today, these apple trees grow in all regions of our country, as well as in the CIS countries.
Did you know? I. V. Michurin suggested that this variety would be excellent for hybridization. And guess. With the participation of this variety, more than 20 improved varieties of apples were bred, including the Altai Dove, Friendship of Peoples and Autumn Joy.
Biological features of the variety
And now let's find out in more detail how the Pepin Saffron apple tree looks, below you will find a description, as well as photos of trees and the fruits themselves.
Tree description
Trees grow to medium sized. They have a lush, deciduous, dense round-oval crown. Twigs and shoots are long and thin, grayish in color, often heavily omitted. The leaves are small, oval, with a pointed tip. They are green, but due to strong pubescence they are distinguished by a silvery shade.
Fruit Description
Fruits are the main advantage of these apple trees. Fragrant, sweet, juicy, they often have a symmetrical round-conical shape and medium size. The weight of one apple is from 80 to 140 g. The skin is smooth, shiny, yellow in color, with a bright scarlet rich blush on which you can see a lot of small white dots. 
The flesh of apples has a dense, crispy, delicate structure and a creamy matte color. It has a rich sweet-sour taste and delicate aroma. The stem is thin and flexible.
Pollination
Apple variety "Pepin Saffron" refers to self pollinated varieties. However, to increase the yield, you can use the cross method with varieties such as "Slavyanka", "Antonovka", "Welsey" and "Calvil Snow".
Gestation period
Pepin Saffron is a winter (and even late winter) variety. Harvest usually begin in September and October. Fully ripened apples can be considered a month and a half after harvesting. That is, the peak of their maturity comes in the winter.
Important! The first time the Pepin Saffron apple tree begins to fructify is relatively late - 5-7 years after planting.
Yield
This grade very fruitful. The harvest period takes 2 months - September and October - and reflects the following indicators: from young (up to 10 years) trees, up to 75 kg of apples are harvested per season, and up to 200 kg of pure apples can be harvested from apples that have already turned 12 years old. fresh, healthy harvest. A case was recorded when, in the city of Orel, with a 50-year-old apple tree, "Pepin Saffron", in a year managed to get four hundred kilograms of apples. 
Frost resistance
Thanks to the participation of "Chinese Gold" in the creation of this variety, it has good frost resistance. Frozen Pepin Saffron can only in frost conditions in the middle lane.
But the unique regenerative ability of these trees provides them with full rehabilitation and high yield already in a short time after the end of the cold weather.
Apple varieties with red fruits for your garden: "Champion", "Cinnamon striped", "Berkutovskoe", "Currency", "Sun", "Zhigulevskoe", "Medunitsa", "Silver Hoof", "Orlik", "Streyfling" , "Dream", "Gloucester".
Storage and transportation
Apples "Pepina Saffron" are distinguished by their long shelf life compared to their other relatives. For this variety, it is up to 223 days.
They perfectly retain their presentation and taste characteristics until March (and even April). And thanks to its dense pulp and strong skin, great for transporting over long distances.
It is better to store the harvest in wooden or plastic boxes, separated from each other by paper or tracing paper, at a temperature from 0 to 2 ° C. 
Disease and Pest Resistance
This variety of apples is quite resistant to diseases, but its weak points are scab and fungal diseases. In the rainy year, the owners of these trees should take care of protecting their green pets from this scourge in order to preserve the harvest.
To do this, often use chemicals, which include copper sulphate and sulfur. Pepin Saffron also has moderate resistance to the moth.
To combat these pests, it is advisable to use insecticides, as well as various decoctions and tinctures, for example, based on horsetail or red pepper.
Did you know? These apples will be a wonderful and original decoration for a New Year tree. With their appearance and shape they resemble fiery, yellow-red balls and perfectly complement the fabulous image of the New Year's beauty.
Application
Apple tree "Pepin Saffron" leaves a lot of positive feedback about its harvest, as it gives the fruit of universal significance. In addition to the fact that the apples of this variety are delicious in their original form, they are perfect for making jams, compotes, jams, juices and fruit purees, jam, marmalade, all kinds of candied fruits.
They make fragrant drying. These apples are also very tasty in the wet form.
If you have a spacious freezer in your house, you can save the apple harvest by freezing.
All pros and cons
Before becoming the owner of an apple of this variety, it is worth weighing all the advantages and disadvantages.
pros
- Regular fruiting.
- High yield.
- Ability to self-fertility.
- Unique restorative ability.
- Suitability to transport over long distances.
- Excellent taste of the fruit.
- Beautiful appearance and versatility of apples.
Minuses
- Require a caring and careful attitude.
- The density of the crown, which requires constant thinning and pruning to avoid falling of fruits.
- Fruits are not large in size, often medium or small.
- Vulnerability to scab.
How to choose seedlings when buying
If you do decide to start a couple of apple trees "Pepin Saffron" in your garden and now go to the store for saplings, we will tell you how to make a quality and successful purchase.
First of all, we recommend that you purchase seedlings in specialized stores, where, if necessary, you can be provided with a certificate of product quality. What you should pay attention to:
- Sapling age. The best seedling is a year or two. There are usually no ramifications on it, or if there is, then 2-3 branches growing in different directions at an angle of 45-90 °.
- Seedling height should not exceed 1.5 m.
- Freshness and healthy appearance. Of course, the presence of mechanical damage is excluded. The wood under the bark should have a bright green color, the root should be supposedly moist and resilient, and the seedling itself - resilient and attractive in appearance.
- Graft. This is another prerequisite when buying a healthy seedling. The place should stand out well on the trunk and be at a height of up to 10 cm from the root.
Important! Saplings with well-blossomed, densely growing leaves are not recommended to buy.
Planting apple seedlings
Now, choosing and purchasing suitable seedlings, you can start their planting. 
Optimal timing
Planting apple seedlings can be practiced both in spring and autumn. In the spring, rooting passes well, and the future tree will better “survive” the winter. In the autumn, it is necessary to specially prepare a seedling for wintering. The main thing is to plant in the prepared soil, which we will discuss in more detail below.
Choosing a place
When choosing a place, several factors should be taken into account: it is better if the place is immediately permanent, since the Pepin Saffron apple tree does not like transplants, and also it is a well-lit place with firm, not swampy soil. In case of insufficient lighting there is a risk of getting small, not very sweet fruits. For this tree, leached chernozem, floodplain and sandy loamy soils, as well as loams, are suitable.
Site preparation
If planting of an apple tree will occur in the fall, the soil under it should be prepared at the end of summer. For fertilizer prepared area of 1 square. m we need following:
- 6 kg of compost (or manure);
- 60 g of superphosphate;
- 30 g of potassium salt.
If planting is planned for spring - again, it’s worth preparing the site in the fall. To do this, dig the so-called "landing pit". This pit is a pit with a size of 1.5 m and a depth of 1 m.Earth is connected to the following componentsand:
- 200 g azofoski;
- 400 g of ash;
- compost or mullein.
This mixture is filled up with a "pit", covered and left until spring.
Seedlings preparation
Before planting, the roots of seedlings can be soaked in a special insecticide solution, for example, Aktar. This is necessary in order to protect them from pests. You can also just soak the roots in plain water to revive them and prepare them for rooting the tree.
Process and landing scheme
When planting it is important not to deepen the seedling much in the ground. His neck should remain at a height of 6-7 cm.
The process itself is as follows:
- Prepare a pit with a diameter of 1 m and a depth of 0.7 m (at the bottom of the pit you need to make a slide)
- Sapling with macerated, straightened, whole and healthy roots immersed in a hole and bury. The soil is well rammed with feet.
- Along the edges of the hole drive two wooden pegs. To them tie up a sapling for stamina.
- You can make small earthen rims around the hole.
- Fill the seedling with a bucket of water.
Important! When planting apple seedlings, the groundwater level in the soil should not exceed 2-3 m, and its acidity should be within pH 6.0.
Since this is a freedom-loving tree, one representative of the variety will need an area of up to 14 square meters. m. Do not plant trees too close to each other, this will prevent the penetration of sunlight to their branches and prevent the root system from developing freely.
Seasonal care features
Listening to the agrotechnical advice on care and observance of all the conditions for proper growth give a guarantee that your tree will be healthy and the harvest will be rich and of high quality.
Watering, weeding and loosening
Water the young sapling need in the morning and in the evening on 5 l of water at a time. The grown tree can be watered as needed and according to the condition of the soil. The main thing is to remember that at the time of the formation of fruits (and this is July-August), more water is needed than at other times. With the end of summer, watering is stopped.
After all the foliage has fallen, before wintering the root is plentifully poured for better preservation in the winter period. It is also possible to weed and loosen the earth around the trunk, if necessary, making sure that the soil does not become too hard and dry.
Fertilization
The variety "Pepin Saffron" loves high-quality soil and will be grateful for systematic feeding. Fertilizer is worth 2-3 years after planting the seedling. These should be potash and phosphate fertilizers.
There are certain periods when an apple tree needs specific fertilizer. For example, after flowering the soil is to feed bird droppings diluted with water (1 to 15), at the rate of 8 liters per tree. After the ovary has crumbled, the soil will need manure with water (1 to 3), 10 liters per tree. And since the beginning of autumn composting fertilizer will be useful, 7 kg per soil around one stem. 
Preventive treatment
For the prevention of diseases and attacks of pests, it is worthwhile to carry out the treatment with special preparations in a timely manner.
Here is a list of the most common apple pests and methods of preventing infection with them:
- Apple Blossom. To carry out the processing is the period of formation of buds. This insect is afraid of drugs such as Karbofos and Waterfox.
- Yablonnaya comma-like shield. Prevention is needed before the start of bud break. The drug - "Nitrafen".
- Codling moth. It is worth starting to insure against this famous parasite 20 days after the apple tree has faded. Here such preparations will help: "Tsidial", "Zolon", "Metadion". Processing should be carried out systematically every 12 days, 3 times per season.
For the prevention of scab treatment should be carried out three times: before bud break, during the growth of buds and 20 days after flowering. Such "medicines" will be needed: for the first time "Nitrafen" and iron sulphate; in the second - Bordeaux liquid 1%; in the last - "Kaptan", "Phtalan" and "Kuprozan".
Apple tree disease can be affected by powdery mildew, and from pests - aphid. Find out what to do in this case.
Pruning
Pruning branches - also a kind of prevention from grinding and dropping the fruits of apple trees. It should be done regularly, without letting the crown grow too thick. Autumn or spring will be suitable for this process. In the first year, 1-2 buds are cut from the central branch, and 2-3 from the rest. 
In subsequent years, thinning pruning pruning is carried out, a crown is formed, and dry or diseased branches are removed, as well as those that grow deeper into the crown.
Important! All cuts must be treated with garden pitch to avoid the unpleasant consequences of improper pruning. You can buy it in special stores.
Preparing for the winter
Before winter, saplings and trees should be a special way. prepareto ensure them a comfortable wintering. Sprigs of seedlings are tied together, and the tree itself is wrapped with paper or special material. With severe frosts, adult apple trunks can also be warmed. The hole around the tree sprinkled with manure, clean soil or ash 10 cm.
To protect against small rodents in the garden, you can set traps or scares. From the hares will help tying the trunk with fir branches or garden netting.
If the tree is older than 5 years, for the winter it can be whitened with a solution of lime and emulsion paint. This will protect the trunk and skeletal branches from frost. Now, knowing exactly what the apple tree of the Pepin Saffron variety is, what its advantages and disadvantages are, by understanding the characteristics of planting and caring for seedlings, you can decide for yourself whether or not this variety of apples is in your garden and in the table.
