Round-leaved igra: cultivation, reproduction, application. Irga is round-leaved, plant propagation and care for it.

Particularly noteworthy is the irgi. There are more than 20 species of irigus growing in temperate climatic zones of the Northern Hemisphere. As a fruit plant, irga has been known in Europe since the 16th century. It was cultivated in England and Holland, the first industrial plantings in the 19th century were laid in the USA and Canada. Nowadays, irga successfully decorates estates, gardens, parks and squares in many countries of the world from America to Asia. Irga is unusually hardy and hardy. She is able to endure frosts without problems to minus 50 ° C, and the flowers can easily withstand a temperature drop to minus 7 ° C and at the same time tie the fruits! In addition, the irga has rapid growth and amazing unpretentiousness. Even if you grow it just like that, giving the crop to be eaten by a bird breeding and not caring at all, then it will perfectly cope with its life difficulties and will still grow, bloom and give a crop.
  Irga (Amelanchier) is a genus of fairly large shrubs (sometimes small trees) of the subfamily Apple-tree (Maloideae) of the family Rosaceae. Like all rosaceae, in May, the whole bush of irigus is covered with white foam of flower brushes resembling bird cherry. The flowers are self-pollinated, which contributes to the annual excellent yield of berries, regardless of weather conditions. In summer, the bush is hung with tassels of green, red and almost black berries at the same time. Irgi is also good in autumn, when its foliage is painted in orange-red and purple tones.
  Being a good honey plant, during flowering, the shrimp has a beautiful decorative appearance and can be an adornment of any garden plot.
  Irga is a real centenarian of the garden, lives 60-70 years.
  Practically not sick and not affected by pests. But sometimes, on the edge of the leaf, the caterpillar of the iris speckled moth makes narrow mines, and the caterpillar of the currant leaflet in the beginning of summer folds the leaf plate in the form of a tube.
  The most common in our climatic zone is the common snow leopard (or round-leaved), the Canadian snow leopard and the hairy Irga are a little less common.

Irga is round-leaved

Cirrus round-leaved (Amelanchier ovalis Medik.) - a small tree or shrub 2-3 m high. Shoots are straight, thin, slightly branching, gray-brown with felt pubescence. Fruiting is laid on the growth of last year. The leaves are egg-shaped, dark green above, whitish below. White flowers are collected in racemose inflorescences. The fruits are the size of a large pea, dark purple, almost black, covered with a waxy coating. Seeds are brown, sickle-curved, up to 5 mm long and up to 3 mm wide, their fruit contains up to 4% of the total mass. The irgi has a well-developed root system, it is located mainly at a depth of 20-60 cm, sometimes it penetrates deeper to 1.5-2 m, depending on soil conditions. The roots of the irgi have a diameter two times larger than its crown.

Berry berries

  The berries are very tasty, sweet, collected in a brush of about 8-12 pieces. They begin to ripen by the end of June, and not at the same time, but gradually, when there are ripe and very green berries on one brush. Therefore, it is better to harvest the crop in 2-3 doses. In dry, hot summers, they manage to harvest twice, in wet and cool - 3-4 times. You can wait for the ripening of the entire brush and collect at the same time, since the fruits do not fall during ripening.

A sign of ripening is a slight secretion of juice by squeezing the fetus with your fingers. The peel of the berry fruit is very delicate, so the collection is carried out in small baskets of 2-5 kg. But the gardener has competitors for this delicacy - birds, especially sparrows. They simply adore irgi and can greatly reduce the size of the crop. If feeding birds is not part of your plans, take care in advance of protecting the berries. Various brilliant objects that hang on the branches with the beginning of ripening berries help a lot. For this, New Year's tinsel, foil and even unnecessary CDs are suitable. The dazzling glare of such objects repels birds well.

Types of Irgi

Canadian Irga

  It is distinguished by tallness, its shrubs reach 6-7 m in height. The shoots are thin, slightly drooping, form a beautiful crown. The fruits are juicy, delicate and sweet, of very high palatability. This species of irgi comes from the northeastern regions of North America.

Irga hairy

In appearance, it differs little from the round-leaved snowdrop, only slightly higher than it - up to 5 m. And its fruits ripen 10-14 days earlier. Young shoots are reddish-brown, and the old branches are dark gray. The egg-shaped leaves, when opened, are covered with a white felt fluff, then become dark green, and in the fall they turn orange-red.

Landing Irgi

  Irgi breeds independently by root shoots and seeds. From the largest, ripe berries, seeds are selected and sown on a bed to a depth of 1-2 cm in July-August. When planting, remember that it is photophilous and in the shade will hardly bear fruit. Young seedlings of irgi begin to bear fruit already at the age of 3-4. Irga annually gives a lot of basal shoots, which can be used for reproduction. Young seedlings are planted in spring or autumn. Despite their modest size, you need to dig a large hole (60x60cm), fill it well with organic matter, add ash. You can just make mineral fertilizers: about 150 g of potash and 300 g of phosphate. It is better to cut the seedling by about one third of the height, this will contribute to rapid growth and better survival.

Irga care

  In the first 3 years, the plant needs timely loosening of the soil, weeding of weeds. With the beginning of fruiting, on the 4th year, it may be necessary to tie bushes with various materials to prevent strong bending of the shoots under the weight of the crop. With age, the trunks become stable and the need for garter disappears. Due to the abundant annual fruiting of irgi, intensive nutrient removal from the soil occurs. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce humus in the soil in the root zone. In the summer after fruiting, liquid top dressing with a solution of mullein or bird droppings will be very helpful. For lack of such, you can use mineral fertilizers. In the fall, digging brings superphosphate (100 g) and potassium salt (50 g per bush).

Despite the high drought tolerance of the irgi, during regular pouring of berries, plentiful regular watering is desirable if the weather is dry.

Pruning

  It is better to form a snake in the form of a multi-leaved bush from strong basal shoots. Weak shoots are completely cut.
In the first 2-3 years after planting, all strong zero shoots are left, and in subsequent years - 2-3 shoots. The formed bush should have 10-15 branches of different ages. Subsequent pruning consists in removing an excessive amount of root shoots, weak, diseased, broken, and old branches, replacing them with an appropriate amount of strong root shoots. With a deterioration in the growth of branches 1 time in 3-4 years, a light anti-aging pruning is carried out on 2-4-year-old wood. For ease of care and harvesting, the height is limited by cropping. Irga generally tolerates a haircut and, thanks to the rapid formation of a new shoot, can even be used as a hedge.

The use of irgi in medicine

  Berry berries, as well as products of its processing, have medicinal properties. Berry berries are used in the treatment of cardiovascular and gastrointestinal diseases, have the property to prevent diseases of the liver, kidneys, as well as inflammatory processes of the throat. Infusions of berries stimulate the work of the heart muscle, lower blood pressure.

Berries are also used as a prophylactic to prevent the development of thrombosis and sclerosis, myocardial infarction and varicose veins. This is due to the high content of vitamin P in the berry berries, which has a strengthening effect on the walls of blood vessels, increasing their elasticity.
  They are also used to normalize sleep and strengthen the body.

Leaves and bark of irgi also show healing properties due to the high content of tannins in them. The broth prepared from them can be used for medicinal purposes as an astringent and enveloping agent in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and in the treatment of suppurating wounds.

Procurement of medicinal raw materials from irgi

  Harvest berries should be done as they ripen, until the first freezing occurs. Harvested fruits can be consumed medicinally in fresh form or processed. It is better to dry the fruits of the irgi in the shade, since cuparins are well preserved, which reduce blood coagulation and prevent the development of thrombosis.

Irgi bark for further therapeutic use is best prepared in the fall, and leaves in the summer. After drying, pieces of bark and leaves for further storage are packed in linen bags or cardboard boxes. Do not put medicinal raw materials in plastic bags. Under such storage conditions, the leaves and bark of the berry can rot, and their healing properties will disappear.

Useful properties of Irgi

The fruits of irgi not only have a peculiar delicious taste, they are also rich in vitamins, sugar, organic acids and other beneficial substances. For example, they are superior to grapes, apples, pears, apricots and peaches in their vitamin C content. Due to this, they are an effective remedy against hypovitaminosis.

The use of irgi

  Due to the outstanding winter hardiness, unpretentiousness, abundant fruiting, resistance to pests and diseases, and simply decorative at any time of the year, the irga is worthy of attention of gardeners, especially in cold climatic zones.
  Eating: Iringa is eaten fresh, jam and stewed fruits are cooked from it, jelly and jams, and pastille and mashed potatoes are prepared. Fresh and dried berries can be prepared. Berries are also a good food coloring and go well with other fruits and berries in compotes, jams, giving them a more pleasant taste. It is well known that many berries become acidic after freezing, but not a berry! After thawing, its fruits do not lose their shape and taste and look as if they were recently removed from the branches. In a fresh form, a berry can be perfectly stored in the refrigerator for several days, completely without losing its commercial qualities.

Irgi Recipes

Jirgi Jam

  Due to the sufficient amount of natural sugars in the berries, very little sugar is needed to make jam. Immature berries are washed, immersed in boiling syrup, cooked over low heat for 5-8 minutes, then allowed to stand for 5-6 hours and boiled again for 5 minutes. For 1 kg of fruit for pasteurized jam, 200 g of sugar and 400 ml of water are taken, for unpasteurized 300 g of sugar and 400 ml of water, respectively.
  Irga contains few organic acids, so it is of interest to process its fruits with other crops, in particular with blackcurrant. Good jam is obtained when the ratio of fruits by weight: two parts of a berry, one part of a currant and two parts of granulated sugar.

Morse from Irgi

  Irgi berries are washed, kneaded and squeezed juice out of them. Squeezes fill 1 liter of boiling water and leave for 10 minutes. The infusion is mixed with the juice obtained earlier, sugar is added (1 cup to 2 cups of juice per 1 liter of water). The drink is kept for 10-12 hours and served cold.

Raisins from Irgi

Dry the fruit of the berry in the air or in the oven, separate from the stalks, put it in a box or plywood box, lined with paper, sprinkled with powdered sugar. Cover the top layer with gauze, on top of which put a small load on the plywood board. Dried jerkins to use instead of raisins for pies.

Juice from Irgi

  Collect berries of a berry, wash, spread on a wooden tray for a week. After aging, they better separate the juice. Wash the berries again, chop, warm for 5-7 minutes on low heat and squeeze the juice with a press. Drain juice, filter, reheat and pour into sterile jars. Pasteurize at a temperature of 85 ° C: half-liter cans or bottles for 15 minutes, liter - 20 minutes. Juices from jirgi can be closed in jars for the winter and used to make fruit drinks, marmalade, jelly, jelly.

Irga  (lat. Amelanchier medik), or Amelankhier, or Korinka, or Medlar, or Armud - a genus of plants of the Pink family (Rosaceae, Rosaceae), deciduous shrub or small tree. In this genus, there are about 25 species growing in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere.

Round-necked Irga, Austria,

It is believed that the Latin name of the genus Amelanchier is derived from the Provencal word amelanche (amelanche), which indicates the honey taste of the fruit, in turn amelanhier is the Provencal name of the plant, which came from the invasion of the fruit of one of the species of irgi. The word, possibly of Celtic origin.

Only 1 species grows in the wild in the Russian Federation and several species are cultivated. The most popular in garden areas is the view Irga is round-leaved, or oval-leaved [A. rotundifolia (Lam.) Dum.-Cours.-A. ovalis Medic.] (local name currant) It grows wild in the Caucasus and the Crimea, occupying the middle mountain belt to an altitude of 1900 m above sea level, in rocky sunny places, in the forgery of light forests, along the edges of the forest, forming thickets in places. Only in the forests of the North Caucasus, overgrown round-leaved iris cover an area of \u200b\u200babout 7 thousand ha, the biological yield of fruits is about 3 thousand tons.

Morphological characteristic of Irgi rotundifolia

Irga is a shrub or small tree up to 3 m high with erect branches. Young shoots are whitish-felt, then naked, shiny, purple-brown. The leaves are whole, rounded or elliptical, 4 cm long, 2.5 cm wide, dense, green above, whitish-felt below, in the fall turn yellow or dark red, on petioles 2.5 cm long. The flowers are white or cream-white, with a diameter of 2.6-3.2 cm, collected in dense corymbose apical 5-8-flower brushes. The fruits are spherical, 8 mm in diameter (the size of a black currant), juicy, with delicate skin, first greenish-red, then black with a bluish bloom, taste sweet, edible. The mass of 1 fruit is 0.35 g. In everyday life they are called berries, in botany - "juicy apples." The fruits are medium-sized, pea-sized, dark purple, when ripe with a thick purple coating, juicy and tender. Due to the small amount of acid, their taste is sugary-sweet, with a peculiar smack of cinnamon, for which round-leaved salmon is often called cinnamon. The fruits ripen unevenly, for about a month, from ripening to wild strawberries to ripening cherries.

Biological characteristics

The round-leaved daffodil blooms in April-May, the fruits ripen unevenly, from June to August; after ripening, the fruits hang for a long time on the branches, so their collection can continue until the beginning of winter. Begins to bear fruit from 3-4 years of age. The period of full fruiting begins at 8 years. Life expectancy up to 40 years. Fruiting is regular and plentiful, 10-20-year-old plants yield up to 5-10 t / ha.

Irga attracts the attention of growers primarily due to its unusual resistance to frost: the plant is not damaged even at temperatures below -40 ° C, the flowers withstand -7 ° frost. In addition, it is drought-resistant and grows on almost any soil. This is one of the few fruit plants that can tolerate sharply continental climate without any damage, giving high and stable yields. However, he loves lighted places.

One of the plant's attractive features for horticulture is the early ripening of fruits, which ripen simultaneously with wild strawberries.

Chemical composition

In the fruits of virgin berries, 17-23% of dry matter. Up to 12% sugar, 12-40 mg% vitamin C, a large number of P-active vasoconstrictor compounds: anthocyanins from 500 to 1600 mg%, catechins - 150-220, flavonol - 50-155, derivatives of hydroxy brown acid - 40-150 and vitamin In 2 to 12 mg%, tannins and dyes up to 0.8%, pectin substances - 1.5-3%.

Reproduction of Irgi

The positive properties of irgi should include the ability to pollinate with their own pollen (self-fertility), which in many respects contributes to stable crops, the absence of diseases and pests, and the ease of reproduction. Propagate it by offspring, inoculation, but mainly by seeds. They are picked from ripe berries, stored in the refrigerator and sown in late August. Since the seeds are very small - in one kilogram up to 200 thousand pieces - sowing is best done in boxes with soil, but you can also directly to the beds. For spring sowing, seeds are stratified for 90-100 days (kept in wet sand at a temperature of 0-2 ° C). Shoots in the spring dive, planting less often on one plant. By the fall of the second year, seedlings are ready for planting in a permanent place. The bush forms quickly, and at the age of three it already consists of 10-15 branches of different ages extending from the rhizome. Begins to bear fruit early: when planting by root offspring - on the 2nd-3rd year, when sowing seeds - on the 4th-5th year. For rapid reproduction, grafting by cuttings in early spring (March, April) on seedlings and seedlings of apple, pear, mountain ash and especially well - hawthorn is also recommended.

Landing Irgi

The standard landing pattern is 4x2 meters, the service life is up to 20 years. You can save the plant for a longer time, as the bushes live 60-70 years. In the consumer garden, you need to have 2-3 bushes, which means that we can only talk about the distance in a row. In order to get the crop earlier and make full use of the area, first plant 5 bushes, and when the crowns begin to close, they thin out through one. In the goods garden, as well as in the creative garden, where breeding is carried out, they plant more densely - 1 x 1 meter. When the crowns are closed, they are removed through one plant in a row and through a row. The nutritional area of \u200b\u200bone plant becomes 2 x 2 meters. You can thin out again, having achieved a standard scheme, but usually this does not come to this.

To keep the plant in the volumes available for protection and harvesting, systematic pruning, reducing the crown is required. However, this is a painstaking and time-consuming task. Therefore, it is simpler and more expedient to use solid planting material, to ensure the intensive development of plants in the first two years and to limit the life of 12-15 years. Experienced gardeners are given the opportunity to develop a rational formation system, linking it to the timing of planting use. In the creative garden, breeding of dwarf forms of irgi is also of great interest.

Plants are planted in autumn and spring, in pits up to 40 centimeters deep and 0.5-0.7 meters in diameter. The seedling is planted vertically, 3-6 centimeters deeper than it grew in the nursery, to ensure the growth of a large number of zero shoots. For the same purpose, the stems of seedlings are immediately shortened by 1/3 of their length. The soil is compacted, watered, mulched, then loosened and weeds destroyed.

Irgi fertilizer

Planting pits 60-70x60-70 cm in size are prepared for planting seedlings. They are covered with a mixture of the upper fertile soil layer with 10-15 kg of humus, 300 g of superphosphate and 100 g of potassium sulfate.

When caring for plants, to improve the growth of snowdrops, feeding in the first half of the growing season with ammonium nitrate (20-30 g per 1 m 2), infusion of mullein or bird droppings diluted with water 5-6 and 10-12 times, respectively, is effective. Fertilizers are applied to the trunk circles. For the 4-5th year fertilizers should be applied constantly: periodically (1 time in 2-3 years) 3-4 kg of manure; in years when organic matter is not added, then in the spring, at the beginning of budding, give 30-50 g per 1 sq. m nitrofoski or other complex fertilizer.

In the first 2-3 years of the number of zero shoots leave almost all the best, then 2-3. Low-yielding, broken branches that interfere with the growth of more productive, deviate and obscure neighboring crops are removed from aging branches.

In the goods garden, over the bushes (individually or over the entire plantation), nets are pulled up with objects hanging on them shining in the sun and rustling in the wind (pieces of foil, film tapes) to save crops from birds.

Despite the fact that igra has been known in culture for more than one hundred years, it is still more valued as a decorative than a fruit plant. Due to its unpretentiousness to growing conditions, it is widely used for casing ravines, all kinds of slopes, as well as for creating protective forest belts and hedges. The multi-stem nature of the bush increases its snow retention function, and the flexibility of the branches protects it from snow breaking. In addition, due to the considerable density of the bushes, it is a good place for nesting birds. No less valuable is the ability of the irgi to quickly recover, for example, when damaged by domestic animals that willingly eat its leaves and young branches. In addition, it turns out to be a good base for beekeeping, standing out among other plants both early, after bird cherry, flowering, and the increased quality of honey nectar. And in the protective strips around the garden, it can play a completely unexpected, at first glance, role - to protect ripening berries from birds. The fact is that its fruits are a favorite food of many birds and, above all, thrushes. Therefore, if the irgi are planted in the extreme ranks of the garden-protecting strip, then the birds will primarily eat its fruits, and the berries of the garden will become less attractive to them.

Irgu are also used in urban landscaping. It is especially good in spring, covered, like bird cherry, with tassels of white and creamy flowers.

When planting a berry, it must be remembered that it is photophilous and does not bear fruit in shading. But at a young age, up to about five years, it completely reconciles with shading. Its root system, although it is located deeper than that of berry crops, is still generally characterized by a superficial position, and therefore the berry is very responsive to feeding.

Scientists and experienced gardeners are looking for ways to use dillies and as a dull stock for pears. This possibility was also pointed out by I. V. Michurin, who wrote that “special attention should be paid to the irga and tested in different parts of the USSR as a stock. In its endurance and easy growth of oculants, it can make a whole shift in fruit growing in those places where a dwarf culture of fruit plants is necessary.

All that has been said relates primarily to the two most common species of irgi in our culture: round-leaved and spikelet. Round-leaved igrae in the wild grows in the Crimea and the Caucasus, spikelet - an alien from North America. Round-topped cirrus - a shrub up to three meters high, spikelet higher - up to five. In total, there are 25 species in the genus Irgi, with most of them growing wild in North America. By the way, there, even in the last century, thanks to the creation of large-fruited and productive varieties, it was also introduced into industrial gardens.

It is interesting that, in addition to the usual fruit colors for the berry, there are also white-fruited varieties. In our country, from the American species in the botanical gardens, as well as to a small extent in landscaping and in some amateur gardeners, Canadian irga is cultivated, abundantly flowering, small-fruited, alder and yukhat. The most decorative of them is Canadian irga. It stands out with a beautiful, rounded crown with drooping “weeping” branches. At home, this tree, reaching 18 meters, grows in our country in the form of a bush or a small tree. Especially attractive during flowering, when covered with drooping tassels of flowers on long pedicels.

The use of shad

Leaves and bark contain tannins and are suitable for leather tanning. The wood is very heavy, solid, fine-grained and reddish-white in color, goes to small crafts. The stems are used on canes and ramrod. Decorative, used for hedges, good honey plant. Natural plantings have soil protection and anti-erosion value.

Iryga is widely used in food, it is a good food coloring and goes well with other fruits and berries in compotes and jams, giving them a more pleasant taste.

Nutritional value, dietary and medicinal properties of Irgi require further study. Gardeners attribute to her a miraculous power that can prevent diseases of the liver and kidneys, heart and stomach, inflammation of the throat and some other diseases. It’s hard to say whether it is so or not. But keep in mind these assumptions in further study is necessary.

The abundance of vitamin P makes it possible to recommend the fruits of berry and their juices in the diet of older people to strengthen the walls of blood vessels and increase their elasticity, to prevent myocardial infarction and varicose veins. Irga normalizes sleep and strengthens the body. After eating fresh berry berries, children and adults become calmer and more balanced, sleep better and feel better during the day. L.Ya. Sklyarevsky in his book “The healing properties of food plants” writes that experimentally established the normalizing effect of the infusion of flowers of irgi on the heart; high blood pressure also decreases.

Juices, jelly, jam, marshmallows are prepared from the fruits, they are dried, canned and frozen.

Irga is round-leaved  - multi-stem shrub reaching a height of 3-5 m depending on soil and climatic conditions. The bush is compact, erect, with simple elliptical or rounded dark green leaves, serrated at the edges. Shoots are gray-brown, felted, with pointed buds up to 2 mm long. The root system is well developed, penetrates to a depth of 1.4-2 m, but mainly lies not less than 30 cm from the soil surface. The length of the roots in the horizontal direction exceeds the diameter of the crown by 1.5-2 times.

In the culture of irgi  known as ornamental breed. From abundant flowering to the end of the growing season, it retains a beautiful view and decorates the site. It is a good honey plant. It attracts gardeners with exceptional winter hardiness, the ability to tolerate severe frosts and significant spring frosts. Due to this peculiarity, it has spread in areas with harsh climates, where many fruit crops die in winter.

Breed of Irgi  very plastic and winter hardy. Without special damage, it can withstand temperatures of minus 40 ... 50 ° C. It bears fruit well in both Central Asia and Western Siberia, and is quite drought-resistant in southern conditions. It grows on soils of various mechanical composition, tolerates waterlogging. The plant is durable, individual trunks can live up to 15-20, and the bush - up to 40-50 years or more.

Irga  - a self-fertile, insect-pollinated plant, quickly enters fruiting, is unpretentious to the growing conditions, gives annual crops. Blooms in May for 2 to 3 weeks. The flowers are small, white or slightly creamy, collected in a brush. Flowering coincides with the beginning of shoot growth. Flowers tolerate frosts to minus 5 ... 7 ° C. With free pollination, on the growth of the previous year, up to 80% of the fruits are tied.

Fruits of Irgi - small, juicy apples with webbed eno-carps. Ripen at the same time, from July to August. On one brush you can see both ripe and green berries. In size they are larger than currants, in shape - round or oval. In full ripeness, the fruits are dark purple, almost black, with a plentiful wax coating. At the beginning of ripening - red. The pulp is juicy, sweet. Seeds are brown, sickle-curved, up to 5 long, up to 3 mm wide. Weight 1000 pcs. seeds - 6-7 g. In one fruit they contain up to 4% of the total mass.

Fruits of Irgi  sweet, tasty, depending on the place of growth, contain from 6.4 to 12.4% Sugars, mainly fructose and glucose, about 0.5% organic acids, as well as up to 45.8 mg of ascorbic acid and 0.75-1 , 23 mg of vitamin B 2 per 100 g of product. There are many flavonoids in the irga, among which leukoanthocyanins and anthocyanins predominate. According to their quantity (1080 mg per 100 g), berry-berry is not inferior to blackcurrant and cherry. These substances have capillary-strengthening, anti-sclerotic and anti-inflammatory properties. In the fruit pulp and skin, sitosterol was found, which is an antagonist of cholesterol, as well as coumarins, which have an anti-sclerotic effect. From trace elements found manganese, copper, cobalt and iodine. Varieties

In our country varieties of irgi  not. During seed propagation, the most productive and large-fruited forms are selected, which are subsequently propagated vegetatively. A lot of work on the selection and introduction of Canadian shrubs was carried out by I.F.

In Canada, irga is quite widely cultivated in commercial gardens. Large-fruited productive varieties with fruit diameters of 16-18 mm were obtained here. In addition to varieties with dark-colored fruits (Foresburg, Smokey and Pembina), there are white-fruited varieties (Altaglow).

Before boarding irgi  for digging the soil, 8-10 kg of organic fertilizers, 30-40 g of superphosphate and 20 g of potassium salt or potassium sulfate per 1 m2 are applied. Planting pits are made 60X60 cm in size. The root neck of seedlings is buried by 5-6 cm. After planting, the branches are cut to 4-6 buds. Layout of plants - 2.5X2.5 m.

When creating hedges irgu planted in one row after 1 -1.5 m. On production plantations, depending on soil and climatic conditions, it is recommended to give a feeding area of \u200b\u200b4X4 \u200b\u200bm or 6X4 m. For mechanized processing of row-spacings of this crop, a 5X3 m scheme is suitable. In industrial gardens of Canada, for example, the irgi are placed according to the type of hedge with a distance between the bushes of 1.8 m and the row-spacings sufficient for the passage of equipment, or they use a 4.4X2.4 m scheme.

At a young age, plantations are looked after similarly to a currant culture. After entering fruiting, pruning bushes is done. It consists in removing weak, broken and diseased branches and shortening excessively long shoots. Excess root shoots are also removed, leaving one or two of the strongest shoots each year.

The bush should have no more than 10-15 trunks. Trunks that do not give young growths are cut at the level of the soil, leaving their strong young root shoots in return.

Irga - a plant that can equally be attributed to both fruit crops and ornamental. In the wild, it grows in North America, Central and Southern Europe, North Africa, Asia Minor, East China, Korea and Japan. Of its 25 species, most are in North America, and we have only one common - round iris .

Irga was introduced into the culture in the 16th century, first in Europe, then in the USA and Canada. And the first industrial plantations appeared in the second half of the 19th century in the USA. These were the most large-fruited forms selected from wild plants. Nowadays, irga is widely distributed throughout the world, including in Russia, practically throughout its territory, although mainly in amateur gardens.

The round-leaved cirrus is a shrub 4-6 m high. It is characterized by numerous erect trunks and a powerful surface root system. The leaves are elliptical or rounded, serrated along the edges, dark green, in the fall they acquire a reddish-yellow color. The flowers are small, white or slightly creamy, collected in a brush, very similar to bird cherry, bloom in May. The fruits are small, with a diameter of 8-10 mm and weighing 0.3-0.7 g, with full maturity almost black with a bluish bloom, with juicy and very sweet pulp, ripen in July.


Growing

Irga is so unpretentious that it can grow on its own without problems. It is cold-resistant and drought-resistant, not demanding on soil conditions, but prefers fertile, neutral or slightly alkaline soils. It grows well both in the sun and in partial shade. Virtually no maintenance and no pruning required (if not used to create sheared hedges). It is very rarely damaged by pests and diseases - sometimes a leafworm and hawthorn attack it.

They are planted in spring or autumn. When planting, the root neck of the plant is buried by 5-6 cm. Adult bushes are thinned out, leaving no more than 10-15 trunks in each. Fruiting plants respond well to fertilizing (early spring or autumn) with organic fertilizers: dung humus with the addition of superphosphate or ash, infusion of bird droppings, etc.


Breeding

Irgu can be grown from seeds, root offspring, root or green cuttings. For amateur gardeners, reproduction by root offspring, which the plant gives in abundance, is most convenient. They are dug up in the spring and immediately planted in a permanent place. After planting, almost the entire aerial part is removed, leaving only hemp no more than 5 cm. As a result, the plant directs all the forces to rooting, which positively affects the survival rate.

Forms and Grades

In our country there are selected forms of irigas with large fruits of very good taste, not inferior to quite numerous Canadian varieties, as well as the Krasnoyarskaya variety (winter-hardy and fruitful, of late ripening, fruits are above average size, pear-shaped, sweet with a slight acidity, height bush - up to 4 m).

Using

The fruits of the berry fruit, tasty and healing, can be consumed both fresh and for processing (jam, juice, wine, drying and freezing). In decorative gardening, irgi are often used to create dense hedges and groups or as separate bushes.

Rotundiformes - Amelanchier ovalis Medik.
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Other names:  Common Irga, Oval Irga, Korinka.

Diseases and effects:throat diseases, gum diseases, gingivitis, stomatitis, colitis, enterocolitis, hypovitaminosis, vitamin deficiencies, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, insomnia, conjunctivitis, cataracts, inflammation of the cornea.

Active substances:provitamin A, ascorbic acid, B vitamins, fructose, malic acid, copper, lead, cobalt, carotene, tannins, catechins, phenolcarboxylic acids.

Plant collection and harvesting time:  July - September.

Information update date:  July 30, 2015

Botanical description of Irgi rotundifolia

Cirrus round-leaved - a shrub or tree up to 4-5 m high, belongs to the family Rosaceae (Rosaceae).

Shoots  straight, brownish red.

Leaves  elliptical, oval or ovoid, dark green above, glabrous, pubescent below, whitish, 2.5 cm long on petioles, finely or coarse toothed along the margin. The leaf length reaches 4 cm, the width is 2.5 cm. In autumn, the leaves become yellow-red or dark crimson, which makes the irga especially attractive in a decorative sense.

Flowers  numerous, cream or white, five-parted, collected in corymbose brush 6-12 at the ends of the shoots. Blossom 10-12 days after the leaves. In diameter, flowers are up to 1.5 cm., Contain 20 stamens and a pistil with 2-6 stobics. The plant blooms in April - May.

Fruit  - apples with a diameter of up to 1 cm, spherical or pear-shaped, silvery-black or violet, with a bluish bloom, ripen in July - September. The fruit tastes sweet. The mass of one fruit is approximately 0.35 g.

The round-leaved igra begins to bear fruit from 3-4 years, lives up to 40 years. The period of full fruiting begins at 8 years. Fruiting is regular and plentiful, 10-20-year-old plants yield up to 5-10 tons per ha.

Round-topped cirrus is propagated by seeds, cuttings and root shoots. The plant is a magnificent honey plant in early spring.

Distribution and habitat of Irgi rotundifolia

In the wild, the round-headed Irga is found in the mountains of the Crimea and the Caucasus. Introduced into the culture as a valuable fruit and ornamental plant, it is sometimes used as a dwarf outbreak of apple and pear.

As a horticultural culture, irga is grown in the Urals and Siberia.

Irga is an unpretentious plant that can tolerate severe frosts, and during flowering - frosts up to −7 ° C. The plant to the soil is undemanding, photophilous, prefers open sunny places. It features fast growth.

Harvesting Irgi rotundifolia

For medicinal purposes, the fruits and bark of round-leaved Irgi are harvested. Leaves and flowers are less commonly harvested. The fruits after ripening remain on the branches for a long time, so their collection can continue until winter.

The chemical composition of irgi rotundifolia

The fresh fruits of irgi are rich in provitamin A, ascorbic acid, and B vitamins (most of all, B 2). In addition, the fruits contain sugar (up to 12%), mainly fructose, malic acid (up to 1%), trace elements (copper, lead, cobalt), carotene. In terms of the content of vitamin C (ascorbic acid), irgha is superior to apple, pear, apricot, peach, cherry and grape.

In the leaves and bark of Irgi, there is a significant amount of tannins (up to 40 mg%), catechins, phenolcarboxylic acids.

Pharmacological properties of Irgi rotifolia

The bark and, to a lesser extent, the leaves have phytoncidal properties, and the fruits are a good multivitamin.

The use of round-necked irgi in medicine

Round-necked irga is used only in traditional medicine. Juice, fresh fruits, as well as decoctions and infusions of the bark are used as an astringent and anti-inflammatory agent for diseases of the throat, gums, gingivitis and stomatitis, colitis and enterocolitis.

For therapeutic purposes, the fruits of Irgi are used for the prevention of hypo- and vitamin deficiencies C and B, as well as for the treatment of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract associated with digestive disorders. Also, fruits are used for insomnia.

Especially recommended is the use of the fruits of Irgi rotundifolia as a means of improving vision (like blueberries) in conjunctivitis, cataracts, and inflammation of the cornea.

Dosage forms, method of use of Irgi rotundifolia and dose

Infusion of flowers of irgi: brew 1 cup boiling water 1 tbsp. l flowers, insist 20 minutes, strain. Drink 1/4 cup 3-4 times a day for 30 minutes. before eating for heart disease and to lower blood pressure.

Juice from Irgi. A thin layer of fresh fruit is left for 5 days at room temperature (to make it easier to squeeze the juice and it is sweeter and more aromatic), then squeeze the juice, heat it to +85 ° C and pour it into bottles. Take 200 ml 3 times a day for the same diseases as the infusion. Used for gargling with a cold, as well as the oral cavity for gum disease.

Contraindications

There are no contraindications to the use of round-necked Irgi, however, the preparations of the plant have been studied superficially and are currently used only in folk medicine.

The use of round-headed squid in food

Fresh fruits are used for making jam, jam, juices, pies and compotes.

Irga rotundifolia in history

In history, irga has long been known as an ornamental plant. It was used in the form of hedges and to decorate parks back in the 16th century. The stems obtained by thinning the stands were used on canes and ramrod.