Apricot
Prunus armeniaca
The apricot is a small deciduous tree with early pink-white blossom and sweet orange fruit, famously grown in Ladakh, Kinnaur and Kumaon. It needs cold winters and dry summers.
Photo: Fir0002 · CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Essential Care Requirements
Light
Full sun
Watering
Moderate
Water regularly from flowering until harvest.
Soil
Well-drained loam; pH 6.5–8.0.
Temperature and humidity
-20–35 °C · Low humidity
Feeding
Feed with compost and a balanced fertilizer in late winter.
Pruning and propagation
Propagate by grafting, seed
Prune in late summer after harvest to reduce disease, keeping an open centre.
The fruit flesh is safe. Kernels, leaves and stems contain compounds that release cyanide; do not eat bitter kernels, and keep stones away from pets.
Top Cultivation Tips
Thin fruit to 8 cm apart.
Sun-dry halves for dried apricots.
Protect early blossom from frost.
Choose varieties suited to your altitude.
Common problems
Aphids
Small, soft-bodied insects that cluster on new shoots and buds, sucking sap and leaving sticky honeydew behind.
How to treat it →DiseaseBrown rot
A fungal disease of stone and pome fruit that turns ripening fruit into soft brown rot covered in rings of grey-buff spore pustules.
How to treat it →PestFruit flies
Flies that lay eggs inside ripening fruit; the maggots rot the fruit from within.
How to treat it →DiseaseGummosis
A symptom in citrus, mango and stone fruit trees where sticky gum oozes from the bark, usually in response to disease, pests, wounds or stress.
How to treat it →DiseaseLeaf spot
Fungal or bacterial infections that cause brown, black or purple spots on leaves, often with a yellow halo, leading to early leaf drop.
How to treat it →DiseasePeach leaf curl
A fungal disease that makes young peach, nectarine and almond leaves pucker, thicken and turn red in spring.
How to treat it →DiseaseSilver leaf
A fungal disease of plums, cherries and other fruit trees that gives leaves a silvery sheen and kills branches from the inside.
How to treat it →
