What just do not invent breeders to surprise people with their achievements. For example, you and I are accustomed to the standard yellow apricots, but it turns out that this is far from their only color variation.
Therefore, we bring to your attention the characteristic of apricot "Black velvet", the description of which is sure to surprise you.
Black Velvet: variety description
Unusual apricot varieties "Black velvet" was born thanks to the efforts of the Crimean breeders, who crossed the variety "American black" with ordinary cherry plum. As a result, it was possible to get a medium-growth tree, which begins to actively bear fruit in the third or fourth year after planting. The crown is flat, has a rounded shape and is distinguished by medium thickening.
Unusual dark purple fruits have a mass of 30 g. Apricot pulp "Black velvet" is two-colored: yellow in the center and pinkish closer to the skin, which is also one of the main distinguishing characteristics in describing the variety. The fruit is sweet-sour, very juicy and fragrant. Stone - medium in size and well separated from the pulp. 
Apricots ripen at the end of July, and after harvesting, they can be consumed fresh or canned. It should also be noted good transportable qualities varieties: you can safely transport the fruit in boxes over long distances without fear for their appearance.
Choosing the variety "Black Velvet" for growing in your garden, you should also be aware of its partial self-fertility. This means that in order to get a good harvest it is better to plant other apricot varieties nearby. As for endurance when creating unfavorable conditions, black apricot rather well (compared to other varieties) copes with winter frosts, has an average level of drought tolerance and is able to withstand many diseases.
Conditions for growing black apricot
As with the cultivation of any other apricot variety, in order to properly plant Black Velvet, you first need to deal with its preferences in terms of light and soil composition.
Where is best to plant "Black Velvet", lighting
Representatives of the described variety, as well as other apricots, will be able to actively grow and bear fruit only in well-lit places. That is, before landing you will have to determine the warmest and sunniest place of the site. Failure to comply with this requirement will lead to a decrease in the sugar content of fruits and a decrease in the total amount of the crop.
At the same time, apricot cannot be called a frost-resistant crop, therefore Do not forget to protect the place from the north and east winds.. In order for the Black Velvet apricot to grow and develop well, it is better to plant it near the house or other buildings on your site (for example, near a barn, a bathhouse, or between a house and a fence).
Did you know? The most successful place for the landing of the Black Velvet sapling will be a sunny area, on the north side, covered with a brick wall. When heated, it will not only be able to protect the tree from cold winds, but will additionally heat it.
Also, when choosing a place, remember that apricot basically does not like stagnation of water in the soil, so if there is a high probability of flooding in your area, then if possible you should drain or plant a tree on a hill. Otherwise, the plant will develop poorly or soon die. The groundwater level should be at least 1.5-2 meters to the soil surface.
Black Apricot Soil
The second, no less important issue when choosing a place for growing apricot varieties "Black velvet" is the composition of the soil at the landing site, which will also determine the characteristics of planting and further tree care. Best of all, apricot feels on light loamy or sandy soil, while heavy clay or sandy lands will most likely not be able to ensure proper development of the tree. 
If you do not have much choice and the soil on the site can not be called too suitable for apricot "Black velvet", then make sure that the soil in the pits is heterogeneous in composition. To achieve the proper effect, clay is mixed with peat and sand in equal proportions, and the acidity of the finished substrate should be close to neutral: not higher than pH 7.0-7.5. Values above this norm are more likely to lead to tree creeping, and the fruit will begin to crack the stone. Normalization of the acidity level can be achieved by introducing dolomite flour or other alkalizing substances into the soil.
Basic rules of landing "Black Velvet"
The process of planting "Black Velvet" can be divided into two main stages: preparation of the pit and direct placement of an apricot seedling in it. In this and in another case, there are specific features that cannot be ignored for the production of high-yield apricot.
Important nuances in preparing the landing pit
For planting sredneroslyh varieties, which include "Black Velvet", you need to dig a hole 60 x 60 x 70 in size beforehand, then put a drainage layer (for example, from gravel) on the bottom and lay out fertilizer (horse humus will be perfect for this role humus in combination with potassium chloride - 20 g and superphosphate - 30-40 g).
Important! Depending on the size of the root system, the dimensions of the landing pit can be slightly increased.At the bottom of the pit you need to drive a peg, to which you should later tie up the seedling. The very pit is dug 1-2 weeks before planting the apricot. As a result of the preparation, you should have a ready pit covered with a mixture of earth with fertilizers, and a low mound should protrude above the soil level.
How to plant a seedling "Black Velvet"
Planting seedlings of apricot varieties "Black velvet" should be carried out only with the arrival of spring (for bare root seedlings) and in the period from spring to October (when planting container plants). After placing the seedling in the pit and straightening its roots (you can immediately tie it to the peg with soft twine), start sprinkling them with soil mixture, but just keep in mind that the root neck should be 5-7 cm above the soil level. However, the whole procedure of planting apricot of this variety is no different from the landing of any other. Having filled a pit with a sapling with prepared substrate, it remains only to water the plant.
Important! Buying a sapling in the spring, you can immediately prune the branches, but you can not touch the roots in any case. The more of them the young tree, the faster it will be able to settle down. To speed up this process a little, just straighten them a little.
What you need to know about the care of outlandish apricot
Like the usual yellow apricot, its black variety needs proper and timely care. That is, you are required to regularly watering with the use of a sufficient amount of water, feeding the plant and following the rules of pruning. It is also important to know how the apricot tree is pollinated, since Partial self-fertility of the Black Velvet variety may require manual pollination.
Watering frequency
All fruit crops need a large amount of moisture in the period of active growth of shoots, and, of course, apricot in this regard is no exception. Therefore, in the first half of the summer, it is necessary to water the Black Velvet 4-5 times a month at the rate of 1-2 buckets of water per adult tree. It is also very important to have sufficient watering in the period before and during the flowering of the plant, that is, from May to June and a few weeks before the fruits are picked. In the second half of July, watering is completely stopped, otherwise the growth of shoots may be delayed, which will adversely affect the winter hardiness of the plant.
Feeding plants
With the arrival of spring in the black velvet apricot circle, fertilizers are applied that contain nitrogen. Popular enough feeding is considered urea - 40 grams of it are applied to the soil in several stages: before the tree blooms, after it blooms and when the ovaries are mass dropped. With the arrival of autumn, in September, 150 g of superphosphate and 100 g of 40% potassium salt should be poured into the tree circle. Later, in late autumn and early spring, the earth is fertilized with organic fertilizers. Autumn feeding should be done with nitrogen free formulations.
Important! Apricot is in dire need of trace elements, so their lack is immediately felt by the plant, adversely affecting the development of the tree.Rich lands do not need frequent feedings, while fertilizer needs to be applied annually to depleted soils.
How to trim black apricot
Black velvet apricot is prone to the formation of basal shoots, which requires its regular pruning (the extra processes are cut from the ground itself, since a large amount of nutrients is spent on them, and the harvest is almost always very low). As for the branches, when buying a young seedling, they are cut off by almost a third, which contributes to a quick crown setting.
It is worth remembering that apricot often grows faster than the rest of the trees in the garden, which means that with normal development it will have to be pruned more than the rest, which is especially true for late age.
With a reduced growth, the branch is pruned to older wood (2-3 years).
It is important to carry out the trimming procedure every year in early spring (before bud break). Late autumn pruning branches is highly undesirable.
If the branch is completely trimmed, the cut must be carried out at the very base (the so-called "cut to the ring"), without leaving any stumps.
In the case when the Black Velvet apricot grows too intensively, at the end of summer pruning of young strong shoots is carried out (about 10-15 cm is cut off). This helps the branches begin preparing for winter (they thicken).
Important! Even if there are fruits on the branches, but under their weight they practically lie on the ground, then such seedlings are removed.
Reproduction of "Black velvet"
Black apricot is often propagated by grafting on cherry plum, another apricot, stock clones, or by cutting with green or woody cuttings. Some gardeners also use the seed method of reproduction, but in this case it is inappropriate, since all varietal characteristics of black apricot are almost completely lost, and the process of reproduction itself is not very simple.
"Black velvet": merits and demerits of the variety
Apricot "Black velvet", despite its exotic and unusual appearance, has not yet achieved universal love and recognition of gardeners. However, in fact, this variety has a number of advantages that distinguish it from other varietal varieties of apricot.
The main of them include:
- High quality fruit (well suited for long-term storage, tolerate transportation). If you collect them before full maturity and immediately remove them to a cool place, then with good ventilation they can be safely stored for 3-4 months.
- The small size of the tree, compact and flat-circular crown with an average growth of branches of about 15-20 cm per season.
- The variety has the highest rates of winter hardiness among the other black apricots. It can even be compared with varieties of cherry plum, which in terms of winter hardiness have been specially adapted to the conditions of Siberia.
- Regular fruiting and high yield (compared with other varieties of apricots).
Also, it should be noted that the black apricot is more resistant to diseases and frosts (especially to the cold snap at the end of winter) than its yellow brother. So, this variety affects monilioz, klyasterosporiosis and cytosporosis much less frequently, which has a positive effect on the regularity of its fruiting. "Black velvet" can be planted in regions with a more severe climate (for example, in the middle lane, up to Moscow or the Volga region).
The relative disadvantages of the Black Velvet variety are the small size of the fruits and poor pollination of apricots (the variety is partially self-fruited). In the latter case, you will need information on how to pollinate apricot manually.
As you can see, it cannot be argued that Black Velvet apricot is devoid of deficiencies in cultivation, but a large number of its positive characteristics still have to its cultivation in its own area.
