Kioto®
Prunus armeniaca Kioto is a new apricot variety, flowering a bit later than most, and also not so vigorous - making it a good choice if you want to grow an apricot but space is limited.
It ripens in late July / early August in southern England.
The apricots are round, flushed red, with a sweet juicy flavour.
Kioto apricot trees for sale
1-year bare-root
tree
on Weiwa rootstock£38.75
Mature height: 3m-5m after 10 years
Can be trained on to become a large free-standing fruit tree, or a half-standard fruit tree, or a large fan-trained fruit tree.
Available next season
Growing and Training
Kioto is reliably self-fertile, but will set a better crop if there are other late-flowering apricot trees of a different variety nearby.
Kioto does best in a warm sheltered spot, planted in full sun - remember that its natural home is the south of France, and you need to try to emulate that climate.
Try to keep rain off the tree over the autumn and winter.
The blossom has some frost resistance, and it flowers later than other apricots.
If spring weather is reasonable Kioto is very likely to over-set fruit. If this happens it is very important to thin the fruitlets a few weeks after the blossom has finished, allowing one fruit approximately every 5cm-6cm of branch.
Kioto is less vigorous than most apricots and is unlikely to reach more than about 2.5m - 3m height. It is best to let the tree grow to a reasonable size before allowing fruiting to commence.
History
Kioto was developed in France.
Kioto characteristics
- Gardening skillExperienced
- Fruit persistenceNormal ripening
- Self-fertile?Self-fertile
- Pollinating othersAverage
- Pick seasonMid
- Picking monthJuly
- Picking periodlate July
- Keeping1-3 days
- Food usesEating freshCulinary
- Country of originFrance
- Period of origin1950 - 1999
- Fruit colourOrange / Red
More about apricot trees
Frankly, apricot trees are not that easy to grow in the UK. Our summers are not always hot enough, our spring weather is often too wet, and our winters are not cold enough. However with luck and care they make a really interesting addition to the home orchard.
For best results plant apricot trees in a sheltered spot in full sun, or train them as fans against a south-facing wall or fence. Well-drained soil is best, avoid areas where water pools over the winter. Avoid pruning apricot trees if you can, but promptly cut back and remove any signs of dieback on branches.
It's then just a matter of hoping for a nice sunny spring and a hot dry summer, followed by a nice cold winter! All apricots are self-fertile so you only need to plant one (although planting several different ones together will improve the crop). If you find there are lots of fruitlets after the blossom has finished, be ruthless in thinning them out - you will get a better crop and better flavours as a result.
Apricots also have excellent nutritional and medicinal properties, and contain more concentrations of beneficial compounds than most other fruit. They are one of the best natural sources of Vitamin A.
