Cherry - planting and care in the open ground

The cherry fruit is conquered by taste and is in great demand. Gardeners love the culture also for the fact that it is almost not damaged by diseases and pests. The cherry tree is powerful, reaches a height of 20 meters and has a semi-spreading crown. On limy soils with a high content of organic with good care cherry tree will live up to 100 years.

Popular varieties of sweet cherry

Many sweet cherries are grown in Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia. In Russia, the culture is successfully cultivated in the Stavropol Territory, the Crimea, the Krasnodar Territory and Dagestan. In these regions, thanks to the mild southern climate, it is possible to plant any varieties.

Recently, excellent cultivars have emerged for the moderate mid-climate climate. The first cherry varieties for the Central Chernozem region were obtained at the Rossoshanskaya experimental station:

Julia is a tree up to 8 meters high with vertical branches. The berries are pinkish-yellow.
Early pink - the height of the tree is up to 5 m, the berries are pink with a yellow cask.
Rossoshanskaya large - late-ripening variety with large dark berries - up to 7 g. The tree is tall.

Selection of sweet cherries is successfully practiced at the Orel experimental station. Orlovsky breeders brought out 3 new varieties:

Orel pink - the most frost-hardy of all Orel varieties, withstands the spring thaw. The berries are yellow, the height of the tree is 3.5 m.
Poetry is a large-fruited variety with heart-shaped fruits of dark red color. The tree is 3.5 m high.
The kid is a tree with a height of no more than 3 meters, which is a rarity for a tall culture. The crown is compact. Due to the small size, the variety can be harvested during spring frosts with any non-woven material. The fruits are bright yellow.

Orel grades withstand a temperature of -37, giving an average yield of 10 kg from the tree. They are resistant to coccomicosis, they begin to bear fruit for the fourth year after planting.

How to choose cherry seedlings

Cherry seedlings are bought in autumn and spring. It is better to purchase one-year-olds - they quickly take root. Pay attention to the roots - they must be powerful, and the cuts have a light color.

It is better not to buy seedlings, on the branches of which there are dried leaves - their root system can be over-dried, as seedlings with leaves quickly evaporate moisture. Overdried saplings do not take root well or do not take root at all.

In nurseries grown tall saplings for industrial gardens. The height of plants reaches 2 meters. From them trees grow on a high stem, behind which it is convenient to look after in an industrial culture. For growing in summer cottages other trees are needed: more compact and undersized.

In the southern nurseries cherries are planted on Antipka - Magalab cherry. They, even planted in the autumn, manage to settle down, mature to winter and winter overwinteringly. If a tall sapling is planted in a cold climate, it will leave unprepared in winter and freeze.

In the middle zone of Russia, it is better to choose seedlings grafted on wild cherries and grown on a small stem - about 20 cm. You can cut the stem off to desired height after planting, and then grow a tree in a bush form without a central trunk.

Preparing the cherry for planting

When planting cherries it is important to choose the right place.

Shine

Culture is demanding of light. In the wild, it never grows near tall trees, preferring places where it can occupy the upper tier, suppressing other plants. If the cherry tree in the garden is shaded by taller trees, the crown will begin to stretch upwards and the tree will become uncomfortable for leaving. Fruiting will focus on the top, and the fruits will become small and lose their sweetness.

The soil

The second requirement of culture, after the light - the quality of the soil. For the sweet cherry, a well-structured soil is suitable, allowing air to penetrate deep into the earth.

The tree will not grow on clay. Better fit loose, warmed up, rich in organic loam and sandy loam, in which the roots can master a layer of 20-60 cm from the surface. Individual vertical roots of the sweet cherry can go deep into 2 or more meters.

The wintering of the tree strongly depends on the soil. On heavy clay cherries freezes more often. The tree does not tolerate stony soils due to the fact that they are poorly wetted with water. In the south, industrial plantations are planted in river floodplains and unsurpassed river valleys.

Planting of sweet cherry

In the south, cherries are planted in autumn. In a moderate strip, only a spring landing is applied.

The cherry tree grows fast and needs a large area of nutrition. The seedlings are planted in the corners of the square with a side length of not less than 6 m.

The soil is carefully prepared for planting. Later, the soil in the trunks can not be deeply processed to make fertilizer or meliorants. Pits for planting seedlings are excavated impressive: a width of 1 m, a diameter of 0.8 m. Under each seedling on the bottom of the foundation ditch:

10 kg of humus;
3 packets of double superphosphate;
500 gr. potassium fertilizers.

Before planting, all the broken, withered and decayed roots are removed with a secateurs to the places where the cut is light.

Step-by-Step Guide to Planting Seedlings:

Fertilizers are mixed with the top layer of the earth, removed from the pit of the landing pit.
The pit is filled with a soil-fertilizer mixture by a third.
In the center they make a mound on which the plant is planted.
The roots are evenly distributed throughout the mound and covered with earth, making sure that no voids remain.

Care for cherries

Cherries have the same agrotechnology as cherries. The main difference between growing crops is that the sweet cherry does not have self-fertilized varieties.

In the year of planting in the trunks, nothing is planted, the soil is kept under black steam. Weeds are strictly weeded during the entire growing season.

The next year, row spacing can already be used for growing other crops, leaving at least 1 m of free territory near the tree. Then every year to the trunk circle add another 50 cm. The trunks are always kept clean from weeds and whenever possible mulch with any loose material.

Recommended Neighborhood

Next to the cherry tree you need to plant a variety of pollinator. A universal pollinator for any sweet cherry is a Crimean variety.

Near the young cherry trees in the inter-row of the garden you can plant strawberries , vegetables, flowers.

Poor neighborhood

It is not necessary to plant perennial crops in between rows, for example, berry bushes. Sweet cherry grows fast. Despite the subtle appearance of the seedlings, they will quickly turn into trees and their crowns will close.

Watering

Cherries are moderately demanding to moisture in comparison with other cultures. She does not like waterlogging, reacting to it with gum. In areas where groundwater flows close to the surface, the roots rot and the tree perishes in a matter of years.

The requirements for moisture are influenced by the characteristics of the stock. If the stock was taken antipku, the tree will be more drought-resistant. The plant, grafted on the seedling of wild cherry, on the contrary, is very sensitive to drought.

In the garden, during the summer, three additional waterings are carried out, each time mulching or loosening the soil crust. The culture reacts poorly to dry or moist air - the fruits rot or melt.

Processing cherries

The treatment of cherry trees from pests and diseases is carried out as soon as it appears. The culture is resistant to phytopathology and harmful insects, so it is often not necessary to spray the garden.

Pest	Symptoms	Preparations
Aphid	Leaves on the ends of the shoots curtail, young branches stop growing. On the back of the leaves are colonies of small light-green insects. Aphids appear on the basal grass and near weakened trees	Cut out the roots early in the spring. If pests on the main tree, sprinkle young branches: 300 gr. household soap and 10 liters. water. In spring and autumn, whiten the stem and clean it with a metal brush from the old bark
Fruit rot	The flesh rot on the branch. Even unripened fruits are affected.Rotten berries are covered with hard cushions with mushroom spores	Immediately collect the fallen and decayed on the branches of the fruit.Spray the bushes immediately after tying berries with Bordeaux liquid
Cockcomicosis	Weakened seedlings and trees are affected. The leaves are covered with red-brown spots, 2 mm in diameter. The spots merge, on the lower surface of the plates. Infection hibernates in fallen leaves	In autumn fall leaves gather and burn.During vegetation, spray the trees with oxychrome or Bordeaux fluid in the dosage indicated in the product instructions

Additional fertilizing

Cherry is a fast-growing culture. Individual varieties enter into an offering for the fourth year. For this, the tree will need a lot of nutrients. The garden is fertilized in autumn, adding organic and mineral fats. It is desirable to repair the fertilizer to a depth of 20 cm.

In dry areas, dry fertilizers can not be applied - they will burn roots. Mineral granules first dissolve in water, and then pour out the solution, pre-shedding the soil with clean water.

The largest accumulation of suction roots in the sweet cherry is along the perimeter of the crown - there it is worth pouring the fertilizer solution. It is useless to pour fertilizers next to the stem - they will not be digested, since in an adult tree there are no suction roots in this zone.

You can improve the condition of the tree and increase the yield by using siderates. For this purpose, the near-trunk circles and row aisles are planted with perennial legumes:

lupine;
clover;
sainfoin;
by the lagging;
alfalfa;
sweetheart.

The aerial part of the grass is regularly mowed, leaving no more than 10-15 cm on the surface. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria develop on the underground parts of the leguminous grasses, enriching the soil in the garden with nitrogen useful for sweet cherry. The garden, where rows and trunks are kept in a grassed state, will have to be watered much more often, since the deep root system of perennial legumes squeezes out a lot of water from the soil.

Trimming

If the cherry is not formed - the harvest will be low, and the tree will grow bulky, inconvenient for grooming and harvesting. Berries of sweet cherry like birds. Forming a tree compact, low, it is possible during the ripening of the harvest to cover it with a net, and then the birds will not get to the delicious fruit.

The cherry has a dilute crown, a few skeletal branches form on the tree, so the formation is not difficult. The shape of the crown to be given to the tree depends on the type of garden. When thickened planting trees form in the form of palmettes. In medium-density gardens, preference is given to planar and cup-shaped formations.

Cherries can be cut only in the spring, removing the frozen branches for the winter, thinning and shortening the annual growth. When the lateral branches are shortened, the rule is that the central conductor should always be 20 cm above the skeletal branches.

The most popular undersized cherry formation in amateur gardens is called the "Spanish bush", since it was developed in Spain. It represents a short stem on which a crown is formed in the form of a bowl.

Step-by-step guide on the formation of the "Spanish bush":

When planting, cut the seedling at a height of 60-70 cm.
In the first year, when the seedling takes root, leave on it 4 lateral shoots, giving the tree a cup-shaped shape.
It is necessary that in the first year the shoots grow at least 60 cm.
The remaining shoots, growing from the trunk, remove the ring.

As a result of the formation of the "Spanish bush" will be a plant on a low stem with four skeletal branches. The branches growing inside the bush can be removed completely or, if the tree is young, shortened to 10-15 cm. When the tree grows, the inner branches should be removed if no fruit formations are formed from them.

Gardening Tips

Search This Blog