Cherries! Who did not feel her taste on the lips? Not ripe, sweet-sour, flirting, or mature saturated-soft. Plant this tree, and the taste of cherries will never be a thing of the past.
In order for the sweet cherry to please us with excellent yields and develop well, you need to complete three small points: choose the right place, be sure to buy seedlings in nurseries or in specialized markets, planting sweet cherries is best done in early spring.
Preparing for planting cherries
What are the requirements for soil
The soilwhere planting is planned, must be quite fertile, it is easy to pass air, that is, friable, and also to let in moisture and be moisture-holding. Soils, preferably sandy or light loamy.
Cherries are not advised to plant on heavy clay or peaty soils, and, of course, on deep sandstones. She is tolerates stagnant water even for a short time and very demanding of moisture. For these reasons, the sweet cherry cannot be planted in those areas where the groundwater is under the top.
In the garden, for cross-pollination of sweet cherries, it is advised to plant at least 2-3 varieties. Cherries are considered excellent neighbors because they bloom simultaneously with cherries.
Now prepare the ground for planting
Sweet cherry is considered to be a very whimsical tree, especially it concerns the condition of the soil, it must be undoubtedly fertile. Therefore, before planting a new garden, the land and its quality are improved. In the land where young sweet cherries will grow, in addition to digging, fertilizers are introduced, both organic and mineral:
- Humus, compost or rotted manure (10-15 kg per m2).
- Mineral fertilizers - phosphorus (15-20 g. Per m2) and potassium (20-25 g. Per m2).
- The amount of lime depends on the mechanical composition of the soil and the level of their acidity. For example, on light loam make about 500 grams. per m2, and on heavy soils, with soil acidity lower than 4.5, it is necessary to double the dosage, about 900 g of lime per m2.
But if in the future garden chernozems, then the amount of applied compost and potash fertilizers is halved, while phosphorus fertilizers on the contrary increase to 25 grams. on m2.
A year before planting the cherry orchard, the soil is not cultivated, that is, it is in a state of black steam. But during the growing season weeds are necessarily removed. The following year, the width of the trunk circle is increased to 1 meter, a year later it increases by another half a meter. This part is kept in the purest form, without weeds, and covered with a mulching material.
Do not forget about fertilizer
Because sweet cherry starts to bloom early and to bear fruit, it is vitally necessary for the enormous availability of nutrient reserves in the earth. They are replenished in the autumn period, they simultaneously use organic and mineral fertilizers, their quantity is established after taking the soil and carrying out analyzes.
Experienced gardeners insist on fertilizing 20 cm in depth. Care should be taken when applying dry fertilizer, they can give negative results. In areas with arid climate, mineral fertilizers are first dissolved in water, and only then contribute to where there is the largest accumulation of suction roots.
A solution with a mineral fertilizer is not brought under the tree trunk; it is a waste of time, since the roots that are located there do not absorb all the useful elements.
To attract bees and improve the quality of flowering and pollination, in the morning you can spray cherry trees with copper sulfate solution. During the flowering period, the cherries may have slight frosts, therefore, they recommend spraying the crown with a special solution to stimulate the formation of ovaries, or with plain water, which significantly increases the resistance of the flowers.
What should be the size of the pit
Landing they start digging a hole in advance, 3-4 months before the planned landing. The width of the pit should be about 80 cm, and a depth of about 60 cm.
The bottom of the pit is loosened, two buckets of humus fall asleep, mixed with the upper layer of soil, and left for some time. When spring planting 400 grams of superphosphate is added to the planting pit., 100 grams of sodium sulfate, or 1 kg of ash, and all this is gently mixed.
Fertilizers are made in moderation, cherries do not need large quantities of them. After all, an excess can lead to the formation of strong gains, which often do not always have time to fully develop by the end of the growing season.
Preparing a seedling for planting
They buy and plant, in most cases, annual saplings, rarely plant two-year-olds.
The root system of sweet cherry seedlings must be carefully examined, the existing strong tears and damage to the roots are cut off with a sharp knife. It is extremely undesirable to allow the drying of roots during transportation, which negatively affects how quickly the trees will start. But if the root system is still slightly dried, it is soaked in water for 6-7 hours.
Sometimes, to create a good contact of the roots with the soil, so that the cherry gets acclimatized faster, root system dipped in a mixture of clay or chernozem and mullein.
Cherries in the process of planting put on a hill and half-powdered roots, the earth must be constantly shaken, so that it fills the entire void between the roots. A bucket of water is poured in and the cherry is poured with the remaining earth to the top of the pit. It is necessary to trample the ground, then make a hole around the tree and pour it over with one more bucket of water. Planted tree tied to a pegand the soil around the hole must be mulched with peat or humus.
It is also interesting to read about the late varieties of sweet cherries.
Cherry seedling planting
When can I plant?
The best thing sweet cherry to plant in early spring, before the beginning of the process of swelling of the kidneys. Planted in advance landing pit, even in the fall, and add mineral and organic fertilizers.
If, however, the sweet cherry was planted when the buds began to bloom, then the planted tree has a chance to grow poorly, and such trees are affected by diseases more often than those that were planted on time.
Planting cherries in the fall is not recommended, as there is a danger of freezing of strong annual gains, because often they reach 1 meter or more in one- and two-year-old trees.
About the depth of landing
Cherries do not like deep planting: the root neck (or the line that runs between the roots and the trunk) should be at ground level after watering. During planting, trees are raised by 5 cm, so the land has a tendency to settle.
Strong in-depth planting is bad for root development, but, and a small planting of cherries has a negative effect on the root system, in the summer it overheats, and in the winter it freezes. When shallow planting, roots during tillage may be damaged, and seedlings are unstable and prone to lodging.
Cherry fertilizers after planting
It is important to comply with the measure. A high dose of nitrogen fertilizer can cause branches to bend, wounds to the trunk and branches, and frequent pest damage.
To find out if a sweet cherry needs nitrogenous fertilizer, it is assessed how fast the shoots were growing before the start of fruiting. For example, at the ends of the main branches, three new shoots and more were formed; fertilizers are not applied. But, if all the same, their number and length is less, then fertilizer is applied with nitrogen. Potash and phosphate fertilizers are applied the next year after planting.
During the growing season, organic fertilizers are applied in limited quantities, because their use will be effective along with mineral fertilizers to improve water balance. A liquid organic fertilizer is forbidden to make a cherry.
Tree care after planting
Watering is very important at this time.
Cherry hard to endure drought, lack of moisture adversely affects her. It needs additional watering, especially with the onset of winter. Sub-winter watering is considered to be of higher quality than spring. Watering before the arrival of winter completely saturates the soil with moisture.
Watering cherries can be divided into three periods. Spring water before bud breakThis is the first watering. The second time in 15-20 days, when the trees stop blooming. And the last time they pour the sweet cherry 20 days before the beginning of the ripening period.
A little bit about feeding the tree
Feed young trees 2-3 times a season. The best fertilizer that is used for top dressing is considered to be diluted slurry; 1 tbsp of water is added to it for 1 bucket of water. spoon complex fertilizer.
They feed the sweet cherry twice, in May and June, and the trees are older than three years old - 3-4 times. When all the fruit is torn off the tree, nitrogen fertilizer is better not to use. In the spring make urea.
An excellent tool for feeding trees is ash.
Protecting Cherry
The greatest problem of sweet cherry, when grown, is the bursting of fruits. In the cracks that arose during the period of drought and heavy rains, mold develops, and the fruit rot. The most effective method of struggle is building a canopy over the gardenbut it is quite expensive.
Cherries must be protected from birds, the most dangerous of its enemies, because they eat all the ripened fruit. Birds are scared away by physical and mechanical methods.
And to protect the tree from cracking the trunk, in the autumn and spring produce whitewash of slaked lime.
