Cherry is one of the favorite fruit crops of Russian gardeners. This plant annually produces a good harvest of tasty and he althy berries. In addition, a novice gardener will be able to grow cherries, because the culture is unpretentious in nature.
Botanical description
Cherry ordinary is a prominent representative of the Pink family. This species is practically not found in the wild, but has been cultivated everywhere since antiquity. Moreover, plants of the species are bushy and tree-like. Popular varieties of common cherry:
- Anthracite.
- Victoria.
- Vladimirskaya.
- Chocolate girl.
- Youth.
- Turgenevka.
Depending on the variety, the height of the culture reaches from 2 to 7 meters. The crown is spreading, lush, covered with dark emerald leaves. In spring, the plant produces flower stalks of white and pink hue. The buds exude a pleasant aroma that attracts insects. After them, berries are formed - drupes.
With proper care and fulfillment of all agrotechnical requirements, the yield of cherriesordinary is quite high. From 10 to 25 kg of berries are collected from one tree per season. The fruits of the culture are succulent drupes of a spherical shape. The flesh is burgundy and dark red. The taste is sweet, with a slight sourness.
The fruits of common cherries are universal. They are consumed raw, and are also used to make jelly, jam, compotes, juice. In addition, the berries are stored for a long time in dried and frozen form, while not losing their beneficial properties.
Choosing a seat
Like other fruit and berry crops, the common cherry does not tolerate transplanting. Therefore, plant the tree immediately in a permanent place. For the plant, choose illuminated areas, closed from wind and bad weather. The best place will be the east or south side.
Cherry does not tolerate stagnant moisture at the roots, so do not plant it in a lowland. For the same reason, you should not choose a site with a close occurrence of groundwater. The plant prefers light sandy and loamy soil with a neutral and alkaline reaction. If the soil is acidic, then dig it up in the fall and add dolomite flour or lime. A week after the procedure, fertilize the soil with rotted compost or manure.
Landing
Start planting cherry trees should be in the second decade of April, when the earth warms up. Then the seedlings have time to take root before the cold weather and calmly endure the winter. For trees, dig holes with a diameter of 80 cm and a depth of 50–60 cm. Keep in mind that the roots of the crop grow, so keep a distance of 3 meters between seedlings. Drive a stake into the planting hole to keep the wind from damaging the young tree.
How to plant common cherries:
- Mix the top excavated soil with 1 kg of wood ash, 20 g of potassium chloride and 40 g of superphosphate. If the soil is heavy, clayey, then add a bucket of river sand.
- Inspect the roots of the seedling, remove damaged and rotten ones. Sprinkle the cuts with activated charcoal.
- Put the seedling in a bucket of water for 2-3 hours to soak the roots with moisture.
- Place the plant in the hole, carefully straighten the roots and fill the voids with soil. Make sure that the neck is located 3-4 cm above ground level.
- Compact the soil, make a watering circle and moisten the planting well.
- When the water settles, mulch the trunk circle with a three-centimeter layer of sawdust or humus. Don't forget to tie the seedling to the peg.
Moisten the soil regularly for the first 2-3 days. In the future, the cherry is provided with the usual care.
Planting cherries in autumn
It is impossible to plant trees before winter, because young seedlings will not endure frost. But if you bought cherries in the fall, then you should dig in until spring. To do this, in a shady area where snow does not melt for a long time in the spring, a trench is dug 30-40 cm deep. Seedlings are placed in it at an angle, the roots are covered with soil and moistened. The trench is covered with spruce branches or lutrasil. Make sure that the branches of the cherries do not peek out from behind the shelter, otherwise they will freeze. In winter, the shelter should be covered with snow.
Feeding
Young cherry trees do not need fertilizers, they have enough compounds added during planting. But when the culture begins to bear fruit, then high yields cannot be achieved without top dressing. Organic fertilizers are applied every 2-3 years. Every autumn, it is desirable to fertilize common cherries with mineral preparations. Use 25 g of potassium sulfate and 25 g of superphosphate per square meter of plot.
In spring and after flowering, trees are fed with nitrogen fertilizers at the rate of 15 g of ammonium nitrate or 10 g of urea per 1 sq. m. Keep in mind that the preparations are not introduced into the near-stem circle of the plant, but are laid out throughout the garden. Before fertilizing, the soil is watered abundantly.
Irrigation
Young seedlings need regular abundant moisture. Mature trees have enough rainfall and groundwater. But to increase the yield of the crop, you need to water the plants at least three times per season:
- Moisten the soil near the cherry immediately after flowering. Water the soil so that it gets wet to a depth of 40-45 cm.
- Moisten the culture while berries are pouring. For each tree, use 3-5 buckets of water, depending on weather conditions.
- In October, after the leaves fall, moisten the soil abundantly. It is desirable that the soil gets wet to a depth of 70-80 cm. Thanks to this, the plant will more easily endure the winter. In addition, moist soil freezes more slowly.
After watering, do not forget to loosen the soil, otherwise a crust will form on the surface, blocking air access to the roots. And the disadvantageoxygen has a negative effect on crop yields. Together with loosening, carry out weeding, removal of young growth and mulching.
Preparing for winter
So that pests do not start in the bark of the plant, whiten the trunk and skeletal branches with a solution of lime in the fall. It is desirable to add a little copper sulfate to this mixture. An adult cherry tree tolerates severe frosts without shelter. But still it is worth protecting the roots of culture from freezing. To do this, cover the trunk circle with sawdust, and cover it with snow in winter. Tie young seedlings after whitewashing with spruce branches or non-woven covering material.
Cutting
Common cherry grows fast. And if you do not control the growth of its shoots, then they will begin to interfere with each other. And this will affect productivity. Therefore, trees need formative pruning. The event is held in the spring before the buds swell. During the procedure, damaged and dry shoots and news are removed, the growth of which is directed deep into the crown.
Propagation by cuttings
Even an inexperienced gardener can grow a cherry tree from a green cutting, because this method is simple and does not require certain skills. Start the event in the second decade of June, when the shoots are growing intensively.
For cuttings, choose young twigs or root shoots growing on the south side of the crop. Remove the top from the shoots. Cut cuttings 10-12 cm long. Remove the bottom pair of leaves. Make the top cut just above the growth bud, the bottom cut at a 45° angle 1 cm below the knot.
For rootingyou will need a box with drainage holes 10-12 cm deep. Fill the container with sand and peat mixed in equal parts. Treat the substrate with a weak solution of potassium permanganate to protect plants from pathogens. How to root cherries:
- Deploy the cuttings into the moistened substrate by 2-3 cm. Keep a distance of 5-8 cm between the shoots.
- Build a wire frame over the box and stretch the film over the top.
- Place the greenhouse in a warm, well-lit area, but out of direct sunlight.
Care for common cherry cuttings consists in periodic spraying with warm water from a spray bottle. As soon as the shoots take root and take root, begin to slightly open the film for hardening the crops. Before winter, dig in the planting in the garden and cover it well with spruce branches. In the spring, plant seedlings in a permanent place.
Vaccination
This propagation method is suitable for experienced growers. It is used in order to obtain a certain variety of cherries, using the root system of a different variety. There are several ways to graft a cherry on a cherry:
- split;
- under the bark;
- side cut;
- improved copulation method.
Any method will require you to grow a rootstock. You can get it from seeds or root shoots.
Seed propagation
Growing a new tree from seeds is not difficult, because all you need to do is plant them in the fall in open ground. Seeds are buried in the soil for 5cm. The distance between them should reach 15-20 cm. Not all of them will sprout, so plant several seeds at once.
With the advent of spring, the first sprouts will appear. Thin them out as needed and take care of them in the future, like young trees: water, loosen the soil, remove weeds. Before winter, dig seedlings and cover with spruce branches. Plants are ready for use as a crop graft next spring.
Diseases
This culture is endowed with strong immunity, but it is also susceptible to various diseases. Gardeners have to deal with such common cherry diseases:
- Brown spotting. The disease is recognized by yellow-reddish spots appearing on the leaves. Black dots form on them, increasing in size. The lesions dry out and holes appear in the leaves. Over time, the plate falls off. For treatment, a 1% solution of Bordeaux mixture is used.
- Clusterosporiasis. This disease, known as hole spot, affects leaves and fruits. Brown spots form on the plates. And the berries are covered with neoplasms that look like warts. To get rid of the disease, damaged parts of the plant are removed. The wood is treated with a solution of copper sulphate.
- Coccomycosis. The first symptom of the disease is the appearance of red dots on the leaves. Over time, the lesions grow, the leaves dry out and fall off. For treatment after flowering, the culture is treated with the Horus fungicide. Three weeks later, the procedure is repeated. The last time the tree is sprayed 3 weeks afterharvest.
- Witch's broom. This fungal disease is dangerous because the shoots of the tree become barren. You can recognize the disease by wrinkled, pale leaves. At the end of summer, a gray coating is noticeable on the green part of the plant. For treatment, the affected shoots are removed, and the culture is sprayed with iron vitriol.
Pests
Cherry attracts not only insect pollinators. Often the tree is attacked by such pests:
- Plum codling moth. The caterpillars of the pest devour the berries and can destroy most of the crop. To fight the trees are sprayed with insecticides such as "Citrikor", "Anometrin".
- Cherry weevil. This greenish crimson beetle damages ovaries, buds, foliage and buds of cherries. Insect larvae are especially dangerous. They eat away the kernels of the seeds from the inside, because of which the berries crumble. To get rid of the pest, the tree is treated with Rovikurt or Ambush preparations.
- Subcortical leafworm. This butterfly lays its eggs in the bark of cherries. The caterpillars that emerged from them gnaw through passages, which cause significant damage to the tree. During the invasion of butterflies, it is recommended to spray the garden with a 10% solution of Karbofos.
- Cherry aphid. A dangerous pest that can destroy the crop and the tree itself. Due to the vital activity of the insect, the growth of young shoots stops. Branches twist, leaves curl, and cherries become vulnerable to frost. To get rid of the pest, trees are treated with potent insecticides such as Aktellik, Rovikurt.
Fighting pests and diseases is more difficult than preventing them. Therefore, carry out preventive spraying of the crop. In general, give cherries some attention and they will surely thank you with a rich harvest of tasty and he althy berries.
