**3.4 Soil**

Apricots are quite hardy and can be grown in most of the soils. Deep welldrained soil is the best. The soil should be about 3 m deep. In Kinnaur region of Himachal Pradesh, where apricots are grown in large wild stands, the soils are sandy and well-drained but not very fertile. If the drainage is good, high lime content of the soil does not depress the growth of tree.

### **3.5 Propagation**

Apricots can be commercially raised by vegetative methods of propagation like budding and grafting. Seed propagation can also be practised.

## *3.5.1 Seed propagation*

Apricot seeds require stratification for 72 days at 4°C. The germination of seeds can be hastened by the removal of kernel from the shell, scarification and gibberellic acid or kinetin treatment. Seeds are soaked in 500 ppm GA3 or 5 ppm kinetin solution for 24 hours before planting. Seeds are sown in nursery beds 30 cm apart. Frequent watering and mulching should be given.

### *3.5.2 Vegetative propagation*

Apricot seedlings are generally propagated on wild apricot, wild plum and peach. Apricot seedlings are the best for graft union and for producing vigorous trees. In rainfed orchards, where drought conditions prevail, apricot on peach makes better growth than on apricot seedlings. T-budding and tongue grafting are adopted.

### **3.6 Planting**

The apricot plants are planted during the dormant season, i.e. end of December to February, but early planting gives better establishment of plants. Undesirable trees and shrubs should be removed from the land during its initial preparations by digging and ploughing. On the flat land, a regular planting layout system such as square and triangular is followed, while on the hill slopes, contour system is generally practiced. The spacing of plants varies with the soil, climate and vigour of variety and rootstocks. The plants are generally planted at a spacing of 6 m × 6 m. The pits of 1 × 1 × 1 m dimension are dug about a month before planting and are filled with a mixture of soil and 50–60 kg well-decomposed FYM. About 1 kg SSP

and 10 L of chlorphyrifos (4 ml/1 litre of water) is also added to each pit. In comparison to other temperate fruits, high-density planting in apricot has begun rather late as there are very less dwarfing rootstocks. A density of 7200 trees/ha has been reported in cv. Canino.
