How to plant and grow sweet cherry?

Sweet cherry is a favorite delicacy of children and adults. But those who want to enjoy a good harvest of their own production should work very carefully.Only strict adherence to standard requirements allows to exclude all sorts of problems when planting and cultivating garden crops.

Cherries love heat, so it is recommended to plant it in the middle lane in spring. Then there will be the least chance of incidents in a sudden collision with cold. Only in regions with a milder climate, planting cherries during the autumn months is permissible. But in this case, you need to be vigilant.

Yet experienced gardeners should take a chance and plant a tree from half of September until the last days of October. As the saplings are calm at this time, they will not form flowers and leaves. All forces will concentrate on engraftment. If, all of a sudden, it was not possible to plant a sapling in the free land before November, it remains to prikopat it and fully plant it in the spring. Autumn planting also has such a clear advantage as price reduction in retail chains.

In central Russia, cherries are planted from late March to mid-April. Ural and Siberian gardeners will have to wait for May. In the Far East in the good year you can use the last days of April. On the shores of the Baltic Sea, landing is also recommended not earlier than April 23-25. But the south is an exception to the rule, Krasnodar and Rostov gardeners should plant sweet cherries until about half of autumn.

Having dealt with the date of planting cherries, you need to find out exactly where it should be planted. Heat-loving culture should be placed in a sunny place without a single shadow. Both a small hill and a slope with a small slope are allowed. But in both cases, the place should be such that drafts do not collapse, especially cold winds from the north. If the plot is flat as a table, you can organize an artificial mound, using a soil shaft 0.4-0.5 m in height.

The best results are achieved by many gardeners when landing close to the southern walls of houses. As for the ground, it is recommended to use relatively moist soil with good fertility, it is allowed to plant cherries and on light ground, which is able to warm up well, allowing air to pass through. But heavy soils of clay and peat are not suitable in principle. In such conditions, the tree instead of full development will be forced to continuously fight for survival.

In any step-by-step guide for the cultivation of cherries it is indicated that in the central part of Russia, and even more so in places with a more severe climate, it is necessary to plant only in spring. This allows not only to better strengthen the plant, but also gives an additional chance to the gardener to control the development of the tree. Be sure to select only those varieties that are officially zoned for a particular area. All other types, no matter how praised they are in the reviews, no matter what beautiful pictures are on the labels, they do not deserve attention.

It is critical for cherry seedlings to reduce air temperature to -2 degrees. Particularly serious consequences can occur when such a cold snap occurs sharply after a thaw, and the plants are not sufficiently resistant to winter. It is recommended to maintain the plantations of cherries in a similar situation due to the smoke of fires.

Before you plant this crop, you need to thoroughly consider such details as:

• soil structure;
• the duration of the daytime lighting and its power;
• wind rose on the ground.

For the environs of St. Petersburg and other northwestern regions of Russia there are no special adapted varieties. But the experience of gardeners shows that the most resistant to cold and other adverse conditions of the Ural and Siberian varieties are excellent.Before landing, it is necessary to dig up the earth totally for 14-20 days. Additionally, you can enhance its fertile properties by introducing 10 kg of humus per 1 m2. If planting is planned in the spring, then both preparations are done in the fall, sometimes even holes for the trees are prepared in advance.

The adjustment of the clay mass of the soil is made with sand. Such an improvement has been carried out for several years in a row, only then can cherry be planted.

Strictly unacceptable planting this tree near:

• walnut;
• peach;
• pears;
• mountain ash;
• black currant.

The gap between the trees should be at least 4 m, because the root system is not just developed, but lies directly on the surface. There is no point in acquiring seedlings of the third year of development; there is no way they will take root. A very important point - protection from birds. A common recommendation from gardeners is to use aluminum foil tape or unnecessary laser discs. But such methods do not work effectively. It is much better to form a grid with square cells of 5x5 cm in advance. They throw it on the cherry when the fruit ripens. It is best to wait for the landing of a stable warm-up of +5 degrees. It would be nice to take care that a decent supply of moisture remained in the ground.

Usually they choose mid-April, but they should not have time to open their buds. It is categorically unacceptable narrowing of the landing holes in the lower part. The size of the groove is chosen in such a way as to guarantee the free location of the root complex. The count to hold the seedling should have a height of up to 0.8 m.

The saturation of the pit in the lower third is made by the combination:

• 2 shares of the upper ground mass;
• 1 share of humus;
• 1 share of peat.

To improve the practical characteristics of the mixture, 0.1 kg of superphosphate and 0.05 kg of potassium sulphide is practiced. An alternative would be to mix 20 kg of compost with 1 kg of wood ash and 0.4 kg of superphosphate. But equally unacceptable use of nitrogen fertilizers, they can provoke burns on the roots. The prepared formulations are laid out in the pits 10 days prior to the landing, and they are made as homogeneous as possible, then mass sedimentation is waited. When selecting a sapling, they will certainly appreciate the strength of its trunk, which should dominate over the sideways branches.

Whatever sellers and “experts” may say, it is foolish to buy a seedling with a split trunk in two. Covered with heavy fruit, it often breaks. It is useful to look at the cut of the root: a brown reflux indicates freezing. To speed up the work of the root complex after planting, you need to place the seedling in the last 24 hours in front of it in a bucket filled with water.

Before landing, it is worth removing any leaf. No matter how beautiful he is, the bad thing is that a sapling can lose water. The landing itself begins with the saturation of the pit with a bucket of liquid. Having placed the seedling in the notch near the support, its neck is removed over the soil by 40-50 mm. Roots certainly fall asleep ground. The layer is tamped down and the plant is fixed in place with adhesive tape, while the knot is made in the form of figure 8, taking care that the bark is not broken.

On the outer side of the pit a circular groove is being prepared; it will help to fully water the cherry. Next, pour 20 liters of water, and when the soil settles, check - whether the neck of the root remains on the surface. The main trunk is cut to 0.8 m, while the side branches need to be shortened to 0.5 m. Only under this condition will it be possible to make a normal crown. For planting cherries recommended to choose a cloudy, but not wet day.

It is necessary to water a tree 3 times during a vegetative season. The first time this is done in May, when the green mass is booming. Watering is carried out as soon as it approaches, but it will not start flowering yet. The second time the cherry needs to be supplied with liquid before the fruits are spiced in June.And for the third time, before the beginning of winter, in order for the plant to better survive the negative period for itself. Stop watering should be 20 days before removing the berries. Otherwise they will be covered with cracks and may even rot.

Water should be poured to a depth of 400 mm. But to shed the ground before winter you need to 700-800 mm. Against the backdrop of drought, of course, will have to increase the intensity of moisture. Starting from the middle of July until the end of August, the addition of water only interferes with the sweet cherry. They will not affect cultivation, but they will reduce susceptibility to cold weather. Top dressing for the first year is not practiced, because with the right technology the sapling initially received everything he needed at the time of planting, and if it was wrong, the additives were useless.

Only in the second season of life is it time to introduce nitrogen-based fertilizers. Do this most often with the use of urea. It is scattered on the outer edge of the circle located near the trunk. In order for the fertilizer to reach its goal, and not just be used, it will have to be slightly buried in the ground. The amount of urea consumed is 0.12 kg, while you need to monitor whether the soil is dry.

In the fourth year of life, the roots leave the circle around the trunk. At this point, you need to introduce fertilizer in the special grooves. In the spring you want to add 0.1 kg of urea each year. When summer comes to an end, the same grooves are saturated with 0.1 kg of potassium sulfate and 0.4 kg of superphosphate. For the second year the tree trunk circle needs to be grown to 1 m, in the future it adds 0.5 m annually.

It is recommended to additionally feed the cherries with ashes, it will in any case react to such an additive favorably. In addition to feeding with useful substances, it is important to think that “rivals” do not absorb them. In the near-circle wheel there is absolutely no place for weeds, it is required to remove them until the beginning of autumn. Even the strongest and most resistant varieties of cherries are easily suppressed by weeds. And because the reluctance to weed the land closest to the tree can ruin even a very good start.

Cherries must be cut in the summer, otherwise there is simply no chance of a good harvest. In addition to summer pruning, spring is still practiced, which is responsible for the formation of the treetops. As needed, when the cherry is aging, a rejuvenating cut is carried out. In all three cases, it is required to remove branches that are located below 0.4 m from the ground.

Formative pruning for young trees is critical. It is necessary to have time before the buds bloom to shorten the main trunk and upper branches by 1/3 in length. Be sure to remove all branches that grow inward. Side shoots required to leave only when located to the trunk at 45 degrees. Such a scheme is called cupped pruning.

Its advantage is:

• improving the lightness of the tree;
• forced fruit formation;
• facilitate harvesting.

If the sweet cherry does not ripen in due time or develops somehow incorrectly, it is almost always the reason that farmers are not good at taking care of it. So, unblown kidneys in due time usually indicate that the root collar is deeper during planting. Dumps the foliage and gets rid of the ovaries of the tree when it is not watering at the time of the growing season Cherry freezes out only because there was a mistake with the choice of variety. Only with systematic pruning, carried out at least once a year, you can get a uniform yield.

When the ovary is there, but the fruits do not form, the reason is most likely in the absence of cross-pollination. The outflow of gum and the death of cherries that occurred soon are provoked by planting on rocky soil and by the presence of rubble in the soil. Similar manifestations may also be associated with diseases. Watering the plants with cold well water can provoke a yellow or purple coloring on the leaves.And when the trunk is not cut when landing, the possibility of lateral branching is lost.

A full care of cherries in the middle lane implies a liming of the soil every 3-4 years. For this, lime is introduced as early as possible in spring, its concentration on light ground is limited to 0.35 kg per 1 square meter. m. If the soil is heavy and dense, it must be fed with twice the volume of lime. It is scattered under the trees and then buried deep in, digging up the soil by 0.2 m. This practice improves the digestibility of nutrients and helps to form bones.

Most sweet cherries grow well during the first four years. Sometimes even the annual increase can be 1.2 m. But the problem is that this young part does not have time to take shape and mature to the end. And when even relatively cold frosts come, she turns out to be defenseless against them. Summer sticking of shoots that have reached a length of 0.6–0.8 m helps prevent such a development of events. When pruning, new shoots appear faster, which will precisely have time to be covered with a protective layer before winter.

In addition to the strengthening effect, such a measure contributes to the improvement of the decorative properties of the culture. Cherries will have a lush crown, which is not typical for this plant. Once the harvest is gathered, it is required to systematically weed the ground under the crown. Any weed, any fallen leaves or fruit must be harvested and removed outside the garden. Farmers who do not care about such matters, very often face the destruction of trees rot.

Qualitatively prepared for the winter cherry is able to survive the cold even in -30 degrees. But at the onset of warm periods, accompanied by melting snow, you need to be ready. Branches have to manually shake off the snow mass. Otherwise, they can break down or even completely collapse. What is dangerous for the plant - understand any gardeners without further explanation.

In the process of liming, in addition to lime "fuzz", ash and chalk can be used. If the ground is made of sand mass, dolomite flour is allowed. The exact concentration of the additive is calculated individually, focusing on the total acidity of the soil.

The combination of liming with additives is unacceptable:

• nitrogen mixtures;
• organic fertilizer range;
• ammophos;
• superphosphate;
• ammonium nitrate.

The central conductor is consciously bounded above the tops of the skeletal branches. Maximum lift here is allowed no more than 150 mm. In the second year, the branches of the skeleton need to be cut to the outer bud. Most often, the first tier is limited to three shoots. Further, lateral and simply too elongated shoots can be cut so as not to be exposed.

The optimal composition of the second tier - 2 branches. And the third (final) logically completes the formation of the crown with one of its branches. Later, every skeletal branch sprouts sideways. If one of them is not needed to create a crown, it is reduced to 0.3 m. On two-year-old and three-year-old cherries in May, branches should be bent horizontally using various types of load.

This technique contributes to the accelerated folding of the kidneys, of which then fruits will appear. But categorically inadmissible fold the branches of the upper parts. Such a mistake will lead to the withdrawal of all the fruitful power in the new shoots. With the onset of autumn, any load or spreader is usually removed. Almost always the sweet cherry has time to restructure itself for the desired configuration and does not need support.

Trees bearing fruit should not be formed. They cut the branches only for recreational purposes and for thinning. First, shoots that grow deep into the crown are removed. Each dry and diseased branch should be cut without the formation of hemp. On grafted sweet cherry is recommended to stop the root growth at the base.

September feeding with potassium and phosphorus helps reduce sensitivity to cold.For young trees, even this measure, along with charging irrigation, may not be enough. Then shelters of old bags or spruce branches are formed. Artificial materials should be completely abandoned, because under them the cherry can be heated.

Protection from the return of frost is sprinkling. For it can be used as sprinklers and fixed irrigation systems. In the absence of all this, use a simple hose. It is important to have time to get ahead of the negative change in weather by several hours. If the trunk is covered with cracks going in the longitudinal direction, there is damage from frost. The bark they beat up is carefully removed, but not in the whole circle, as this will result in the death of the sweet cherry.

Frost damage is disinfected by copper sulphate at a concentration of 3%. After that apply a garden pitch. The damaged area is poured with cement. To protect against the aggressive sun, the stumps and the lower points of the skeleton branches are whitened. Another good help is the environment of the spruce stem.

Attempts to propagate the cherry by the seed method give poorly predictable results. Such trees, by definition, will not preserve the signs peculiar to "parents". Development will go on and, most likely, even a good speed will be achieved. But the final result will become clear only in the third or fourth year. It is not recommended to get involved in cuttings: even with the strictest observance of technology, 95% of cuttings cannot take root. Therefore, cherry is most often propagated by vaccinations.

Optimal stocks are considered varieties:

• "Pink bottle";
• "Vladimirskaya";
• "Ruby";
• "VTs-13";
• "VSL-2".

Prepare the cuttings you need in the fall, to save using snowfield, and in the absence of a simple refrigerator. Considering the obligatory cross-pollination of cherries, it is necessary to prepare cuttings from 2 or 3 varieties. For vaccination, a modified copulation scheme is preferred, which is carried out in the early spring period. It is only necessary to wait for the buds to become hard on a one-year-old stock. With a weak development of rootstock or transplanting in the spring, you need to transfer the procedure for the summer and choose the budding scheme.

Breeding stones should choose either beginners or constantly busy gardeners who always do not have enough time. Bones can be planted from spring to autumn inclusive, it is only necessary to separate them from the pulp. When planting in the spring, a ripening stage is required after harvesting. For this, before planting, seed material is stored in moistened sand or sawdust for 60-90 days. A heat range of 14–18 degrees is maintained; before such preparation begins, the bones should be kept in cold water for about 96 hours.

When seeds are stored, it is necessary to control the humidity of the environment. At 3 months, the stones are transferred to the basement, where the temperature is not higher than 6 degrees Celsius. In this basement, they germinate, as soon as this is achieved, the cherry material is placed on snow or on ice. The seedlings prepared according to this method can be moved to the free land immediately after the arrival of spring. If you want to plant the seeds of sweet cherry in the fall, the approach should be somewhat different.

Then the bones are first thoroughly washed and disinfected in an unsaturated potassium permanganate solution. After this treatment, they are also placed in wet substrates (this time the choice arises between moss and sawdust). Prepared seed can be planted from the first days of October. More accurate dates are chosen, taking into account the actual weather and readiness for work. Landing is made to a depth of 50 mm, while the gap from one hole to another should be from 200 to 250 mm.

When it becomes clear which seeds survived the winter and sprouted, only the most developed ones are left among the shoots to get the best result.If, however, vaccination is chosen, wild fruit trees of the second year of life act as a basis. This technique allows you to succeed with a probability of 100% and not rely on lucky chance. The vaccination itself is carried out in early March, since it is very important to get ahead of the beginning of the movement of juice in the shoots. It is advisable to apply paraffin so that the cuttings do not dry out too quickly. An alternative is to place them in a film before the formation of kidneys.

Even carefully selecting the site and variety, as well as having landed according to all the rules, gardeners sometimes find that the sweet cherry is drying out or damaged in some other way. This means that it has undergone pest aggression or is infected with infectious diseases. Among the diseases of particular danger is bacteriosis - no wonder it is also called bacterial cancer. Any organ of the tree can be affected from the age of three. Infection is manifested by the fact that gum flows from the ulcers on the branches.

Foliage is rarely affected, mostly already in the advanced stages of the disease, when it covers all new areas. Dying off, by half the season the sick parts disappear altogether. If bacteriosis covers green berries, they become covered in patches of brown tone, gradually merging into one large black depression. Similar ulcers can be found on the kidneys. It doesn’t matter whether a particular kidney is preserved until spring or not, it will still die off after disclosure.

The risk of bacteriosis is highest when a wet, wet spring comes. It is impossible to recognize in which kidneys and blood vessels the infection hibernates, by their appearance. So far, agronomists do not know how to deal with bacterial cancer of sweet cherry. There is only a recommendation to thoroughly feed the plants with nitrogen and water limited, without fanaticism. With the death of the plant from this disease, it remains only to decontaminate the soil, to take a pause and try to breed another, more resistant variety.

Of the fungal infections, coccomycosis is the most serious challenge for gardeners. During the first years, it destroys the crop, and the plant gradually dies completely. The infection manifests itself in the summer falling of the leaves, the cherry cannot be fed by photosynthesis. The only possible prevention is the treatment of copper sulphate at the time of swelling of the kidneys and the effect of Bordeaux mixture at pecking petals.

Dispute propagation can occur rapidly, sometimes it takes 3-5 hours to completely kill the crop. But you can prevent infection, if you avoid damage to the rind of the berries. A very important point, therefore, is to cover the cherries from birds and timely deal with harmful insects. Even if they violate the integrity of the fruit quite a bit, the rot will immediately deal a crushing blow. The fight against cluster sporosis is also carried out by preventing damage.

Moniliasis is otherwise called gray rot, it is also a fungal disorder. Insufficiently experienced farmers may confuse the initial manifestations of the ailment with sunburn. All that is struck will inevitably perish. It remains only to cut off the infected areas of the branches plus a healthy external area of ​​at least 100 mm and burn it all. The cut is disinfected in this way: in order to eliminate moniliosis infection, trees are treated with copper compounds in advance.

Mealy dew rarely attacks the cherry in the fruiting phase, but if the trees are grafted, it can collapse suddenly. The peculiarity of the external picture of the disease is explained by the name, but if the ailment is started, the leaves dry, and the bloom becomes more gray. There are many drugs that can be bought in stores. Adherents of natural farming can use potassium permanganate or infused hay infusion. But the effectiveness of such methods in the advanced phase of the disease is too low.

Observing all the recommendations described above, and even choosing the right type of pollinator, you can still face serious problems when growing sweet cherries. Therefore, it is necessary to take into account other subtleties. Thus, the optimum place for a tree is south, southeast, and southwest relative to the nearest buildings or large fences. It should be borne in mind that cherry can also act as a pollinator. But here it is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of their relationship and get acquainted with the special literature on this matter. Water recharge irrigation implies a consumption of 50-60 liters of water per 1 m2.

Help fight birds

• plastic bags;
• rotating structures;
• ultrasound systems;
• grids of agrarian fiber, which transmit the sun's rays.

In the autumn at the time of digging, it is necessary to introduce potash fertilizers. The time for phosphate compounds (also introduced in the fall) comes no sooner than the fruits begin to form. When the plant reaches full fruiting, fertilizing with organic matter is made in the amount of 8-10 kg per 1 square meter. m. August fertilization with nitrogen is unacceptable. You can make it in both dry and in liquid form.

See how to plant a sweet cherry in the next video.