How to grow a cherry in the garden: planting, watering, pruning, fertilizer

Without a cherry, it is difficult to imagine a real garden. Almost at every site we grow cherry in the garden. And most often not one tree, but several. The fruit of the cherry is delicious, healthy, aromatic, with a characteristic sweet-sour taste, familiar to many since childhood.

In addition, the cherry gets on beautifully and looks with all the fruit trees. And the cultivation of cherries and care for her are not so difficult.

How to choose a place for cherry in the garden

However, in order for the cherry to get well accustomed and give a rich face, it is necessary to comply with all the conditions for its favorable growth.

How much light is needed for cherry

Illumination should be good - cherries love bright light and open space. But they can develop and grow normally in the partial shade, only in this case the fruiting and speed of ripening of berries will decrease.

Is cherry demanding on soil

Gardeners who have a cherry in the plot should know what kind of soil they love. The tree will grow best on fertile soils. It also grows on sandy, sandy, sandy, loamy, with a slightly alkaline or neutral reaction. The main thing is to correctly determine the pH of the soil and, if necessary, change it by introducing the appropriate components.

If the soil is acidic, it is deoxidized or alkalized, for example, by adding lime, powdered chalk, dolomite limestone, dolomite flour, etc.

The soil should not be clay, heavy - in this case sand is brought into it, as well as overmoistened - the tree does not like excess moisture. Therefore, choose a site with groundwater - occurrence not higher than 1.8-2 m.

When is it better to plant a cherry

There is no definite answer to the question when it is better to plant cherry in spring or autumn.It will be correct to adhere to the following scheme: in the northern regions, where the winter frosts reach the level of -30-40 ° С, they plant the cherry only in spring; in the southern regions, seedlings are planted in spring and autumn, or seedlings are added in the winter, in order to be planted in spring.

Planting cherry in spring

The timing of planting cherries in spring is before the bud breaks, roughly this is the beginning or middle of April, depending on whether it is early or late spring. If you miss this moment and the leaves open, then these trees are sick and less likely to take root.

Most often planted cherries in the spring in the northern regions and the middle lane. This is due to the harsh frosty winters in which a tree may die, planted in the fall. The soil for planting cherries in the spring should be completely free of snow, dried, the day - windless, sunny, no precipitation.

Features of the autumn planting

The best time is the end of September - the beginning of October. Later they do not plant, the probability of death of the root system of the seedling from frost is high. Sprouted tree planted - sprinkled with a layer of earth in the form of a mound - 35-40 cm from the ground surface.

How to plant a cherry seedling

A few words about how to plant a cherry. Before planting, the sapling is examined once more - roots, branches, so that they are free from damage and pests. If there are several seedlings, the area under them is leveled and provide for a distance between them - 3-3.5 m, and between rows - 3.5-4 meters.

By itself, cherry is a rather unpretentious culture, planting and caring for it are not labor intensive. But when planting a lot of trees, it is better, of course, to have assistants.

Pit preparation

Dig a hole in advance - for 2-4 weeks (if possible) before disembarking. During this period, the soil will dry out sufficiently, saturate with oxygen and assimilate all the fertilizers applied. The standard size of the pit for cherry seedlings is 70 * 70 * 70.

But here they look at the development of the root system - if it is branchy, well developed, then the hole is enlarged. The excavated land is divided approximately equally and one part of it is mixed with fertilizers.

Landing rules

A temporary wooden peg (support for seedlings) around which the ground is mixed 50/50 with fertilizers is driven in the center of the pit.What makes the cherry grow well and grows is on organic matter (humus) with the addition of potassium chloride, ash and superphosphate.

On the earthen mound set the tree so that the basal neck was raised 3-5 cm above the ground. And they begin to gently sprinkle the roots with earth on all sides, periodically pressing, compacting the earth with the palm of their hand, and then level the hole to the ground surface. In conclusion, the trunk is tied to a hammered peg.

How to care for cherries in the garden, tips and tricks

There are a number of guidelines for caring for cherries, which must be followed.

Cherry watering rules

When the cherry is planted, an earthen bank is thrown around the diameter of the pit — 20–25 cm and into the funnel obtained around the seedling with care, slowly pour in water — 1.5–2 buckets. When water is absorbed after irrigation, the near-ground soil is mulched. In the future, the tree is watered as needed, avoiding excess water.

How to fertilize a cherry

Accelerate and simplify the cultivation of cherries correctly applied fertilizers.The first 2 years after planting is not necessary to feed the cherries. For this period, the tree has enough nutrients introduced into the planting pit.

In the third year before flowering, nitrogen-containing preparations are introduced. It is better to do this by irrigation, for example, dilute saltpeter in water - 25 g / 10 l. During flowering cherries feed with humus, compost or droppings, also in liquid form (diluted with water) for irrigation. Also in the middle of summer - July - early August, you can once again make saltpeter or organic matter.

Autumn dressings - organic or potassium-phosphate fertilizers. They make up the autumn digging, and then dig deep. But no deeper than 15 cm.

How to cut the cherries in the garden

Pruning of cherries during planting is done immediately. From the ground line to the first branch there should be 50-55 cm of a bare trunk - this distance is called shtamb. The rest of the extra branches on the trunk are cut.

Choose 6-7 strong trunk branches at an angle of at least 40-45 degrees to the trunk, which will become the basis of the future crown, and shorten them by 7-10 cm.

All other stem branches are cut.

In the future, each year, pruned cherries - continue to form the crown, remove dried or diseased branches and always root, appeared growth.

How to protect the cherry in winter

In general, cherry is a frost-resistant tree, tolerates sub-zero temperatures and hibernates normally. But there are winters with little snow, in which the cherry root system is the first to suffer. The simplest protection for this case is to cover the tree trunk with snow and tuck it with straw and sawdust from above, cover it with spruce branches.

Pest and disease prevention

Proper care of cherries helps to avoid diseases and pests. All diseases better to prevent. In the autumn, after the first frosts, cherries and a pristvolny soil are sprayed with a 5-6% solution of urea to destroy pathogens.

Concentrated urea solution has a detrimental effect on harmful insects, microbes and fungi.

And before spraying - remove all diseased, shrunken, broken branches, fallen leaves and close up the gaps in the bark.Instead of urea, fungicidal and antimicrobial drugs can be used - “Tsineb”, “Skor”, “Nitrafen”, “Flatan”, “Topsin M”, copper oxychloride, bordeaux liquid, etc.

From insects strike weevil cherry, aphid, sprout moth, sawfly. Against them are used drugs "Inta Vir", "Iskra", "Aktara".

Cherry breeding methods

Cherry multiplies in several ways.

Cuttings

One of the best breeding methods. Its advantage is that you can get a homogeneous root-own varietal seedlings.

Cuttings are cut in the period of intensive growth of the tree - the beginning - the middle of June.

A characteristic feature for the optimal time of the cut will be the stiffness of the near-stem part of the shoot and soft bark at the top and center.

It is desirable to cut off escape in a cool day early in the morning or in the evening. Cut shoots 25-30 cm long with a large number of growth buds, divide these cut branches in half, leaving two internodes in each segment. The leaves are then sprayed and placed in water, into which it is possible (but not necessary) to add a growth regulator.

The twigs are immersed in water for 1.5-2 cm.Sustained for 12-24 hours and planted in a greenhouse - a depth of 3-4 cm, the scheme - 8 * 5. For a greenhouse, peat and sand are taken in equal proportions in equal proportions, mixed and laid out on the ground. Level the surface and sprinkle again up to 2 cm with sand, moisturize well. After planting the cutting bed on top covered with film.

When usually after 3-4 weeks developed roots appear, the film is lowered along the edge for ventilation and hardening of the cuttings. Also after root formation, fertilizing is introduced to the plants - liquid organic matter or potassium-phosphorus mixtures.

The cuttings are well-rooted, insulated and left to winter in the ground or dug and stored until spring in the cellar, basement. By planting and growing such cuttings in the spring, in the fall they receive their own fully developed cherry saplings.

Reproduction root shoots

This is a very simple way. Well-fruited, high-yielding trees are suitable for him. Near the mother of the cherry choose a two-year growth with sufficient branching and strong roots.

Then, the root linking the selected growth and the brood stem is cut down - that's all. In spring, the separated shoots are dug up and planted in another place. This seedling will also be own-rooted, and therefore, preserving all the signs of the parent tree.

Seed propagation

To begin to allocate potentially "tenacious", viable seeds. To do this, freshly sour cherry seeds (seeds) are dried, and then the dry seeds are immersed for several hours in water. Only those that went to the bottom are selected for germination, and those that have emerged are thrown away. The remaining bones of the cherry at a temperature of + 13 ... +15 ° C are placed in a mixture of sand and water and left in the container until spring.

You can leave the bones on the veranda, in a dry basement. As required, moisten the sand so that it does not completely dry. In the spring they are sown to a depth of 2-2.5 cm with an interval of 40-45 cm from each other. Top prutrivayut peat, sawdust. After germination thinned out.

Further, after the plant, the usual care is weeding, watering, fertilizing with organic matter or mineral fertilizers.Seedlings are either dug for wintering in the cellar, or left in the winter and insulated with film. Overwintered seedlings in spring are transplanted to a permanent place.

The trees obtained by this method may not preserve the properties of the mother tree - the size of the berries, the taste, the yield of them is different.

Graft

Cultivate cherries on root shoots, on seedlings (grown stock) or on one- or two-year-old seedlings. Cuttings for inoculation of 12-15 cm and with 2-3 buds are taken in late autumn or in early winter - to severe frosts. Place the cuts either in the basement, or in a snowdrift, pritrushchenny peat, sawdust.

Vaccination is carried out in the spring - during sap flow, this is the optimal time for engraftment. You can try to vaccinate in the summer, but, most likely, with less impact. If you try to vaccinate in the summer, the cuttings take fresh cut green ones. There are two methods of vaccination. Budding - it's peephole and copulation - this is a handle. Inoculation techniques - in the split, in the bark, in the butt, in the lateral incision. Experienced gardeners advise beginners to start with a method - in a split.

Cut down a branch of the stock and leave a stump. On the stump, they split, insert a cutting into it with a freshly planed, updated cut and wedge cut bark. The bark of the cutting is hewn along the length of the cleft hemp.

Then the split branch with a handle tightly primyvayut tape. The inoculation site is thickly smeared with garden pitch, and a plastic bag is put on the grafted stalk from above. After 12-15 days, check the vaccination, if the cutting caught, the package is removed.

Cultivation of cherry and caring for it is quite capable of even a person taking the initial steps in gardening. Showing persistence and doing everything correctly, in 2-3 years you can already get the first harvest. Both literally and figuratively - to enjoy the fruits of their hands.