How to water cherries after planting. Cherry - planting and care in central Russia

Gardeners value cherries for their consistently high yields and excellent berry taste. Many people think that growing cherries in their garden is too labor-intensive because of their demands on soil, weather, etc. These people are mistaken. For good development and abundant fruiting of cherries does not require much: a well-chosen variety, protection from cold weather, necessary watering and feeding.

How to choose a seedling for planting correctly

It is better to purchase cherry seedlings from a local nursery that is engaged in the cultivation of planting material, and not its resale.

In order for cherries to bear fruit well, plant not one variety in your garden, but two or three, since pollination must be cross-pollinated.

Important! Choose a variety for planting that is oriented to the climate of your region. Get a seedling from a local nursery.

Strong roots are the key to the future health of the plant.

There are many similarities between sweet cherry and cherry seedlings. To avoid confusion, carefully examine the selected seedling. The cherry tree is usually taller, has erect branches, the color of the bark is reddish-brown, while the cherry bark is gray-brown. Healthy plant has a smooth bark that shows no signs of disease or freezing.

• Do not take a seedling that is too mature , the optimal age is no more than two years. It should be about 0.8 m in height, with three or four well-developed shoots. To make sure that the seedling is indeed a varietal one, find the grafted area.
• Inspect the root system of the tree , it must be healthy and have several branches of at least 20 cm in length. Dried, rotten or frozen roots indicate that the seedling is not viable - it should not be taken.
• For central Russia and regions close to the north should be chosen cold-resistant and late-flowering cherry variety so that returning spring frosts do not harm the trees.

Selecting a location

If cherries are planted in the wrong place, they will not survive. Therefore, take your choice of location seriously.

It’s good if the cherry seedling is covered by some kind of building from the cold north wind.

What you should pay attention to when choosing a place to plant cherries:

• the most suitable direction is the southern or southwestern side of the site;
• A draft at the landing site is unacceptable;
• good access to sunlight;
• Cherries do not like waterlogging, so groundwater should lie at a depth of more than 1.5 m.

It would be a good idea to plant a cherry seedling on a small hill near the southern wall of a house or some building. The hill can be man-made: just make a half-meter mound and plant cherries.

How to prepare the soil

For proper development and abundant fruiting, plant cherries on fertile loam or sandy loam; it is advisable that the acidity of the soil is close to neutral.

Cherries grow well in light, fertile soils.

The ground should be light , well absorbs moisture and allows air to pass through. You shouldn’t plant cherries on peat bogs, deep sandstone and heavy clay soil, they simply won’t take root.

If you plan to plant cherries in the spring, then prepare the planting site in the fall: dig it up, fertilize it with organic matter (manure or compost) and mineral fertilizers (superphosphate and potassium sulfate). If the soil is highly acidic, add fluff lime or chalk to reduce the acidity. When planting in autumn, the same must be done in mid-August so that the seedling can be planted in mid-September.

How to plant cherries correctly

The time for planting cherries depends on the region.

• IN southern region best time For planting - autumn, so that before frost the seedling gets stronger and can survive the winter.
• IN middle lane Russia Spring planting is recommended, around the end of April, until the buds swell. If you plant several cherry trees, make sure that there is at least 3 m between them.

10–14 days before planting the seedling, prepare a hole 0.6 m deep and about 1 m wide, during which time the soil will settle.

Make a drainage layer at the bottom of the hole.

Just before boarding:

Lightly compact the soil in the hole and pour 1-2 buckets of water into it. After this, fill the tree trunk circle with mulch (peat, humus).

For a two-year-old seedling, you need to lightly trim the branches, focusing on the central leader. If you are planting late, pruning is not recommended; it is better to do it next spring.

After spring planting, the seedling is pruned (a), and by autumn new branches grow (b).

Advice! If the roots of the seedling are slightly dry, then before planting, keep it in water for several hours.

In order not to provoke the active growth of shoots in the fall, do not get carried away fresh manure and large doses of nitrogen fertilizers. Cherries perceive better spring feeding. In the second half of September, cultivation of the soil in the tree trunk circle should be completed, as the tree begins to prepare for winter. To make this task easier, feed the cherries with phosphorus fertilizer. To do this, add superphosphate in granules (4–5 tablespoons).

Care and pruning of cherries in the first year after planting

Scheme for pruning cherries from the first to the fifth years of life.

After you have finished planting the seedling, you need to prune to balance the above-ground and below-ground parts of the plant. To begin, take a close look at the tree, mark 3 or 4 well-placed branches, in your opinion, and shorten them by a third.

Keep in mind that the length of the branch after pruning should not be less than 40 cm.

Everything else can be cut out without stumps. Trim the central conductor so that it rises above the skeletal branch by 20–25 cm .

Next spring, before the buds begin to swell, formative pruning is carried out by shortening the shoots that have grown in a year by half. This will stimulate the formation of side branches for planting the crop.

Important! In the autumn-winter period, pruning cannot be carried out. It is done only in early spring, before the buds begin to swell.

Crown formation

Before the tree begins to bear fruit, form a tiered crown: every spring, prune last year’s shoots, shortening them by 1/5 of their length.

When the tree reaches height 3–3.5 m trim the main conductor to control growth.

Until the age of 5, a cherry tree usually does not require crown thinning. After 5 years, it requires sanitary pruning, during which damaged and improperly growing branches are removed.

Attention! It is important that the angle between the shoot and the trunk is not less than 45°. Branches that extend from the trunk at a smaller angle should be cut so that they do not break under the weight of the berries.

The branch broke

If the branch turns out to be broken, remove it, clean the cut and treat it with garden varnish.

Well-groomed cherry tree.

With the onset of spring and autumn, do not forget to whiten the trunk of the cherry tree and cover them before the onset of winter, protecting them from rodents. Keep the tree trunk clean, periodically clearing fallen leaves from it, loosen it and water it on time - and then the cherry tree will thank you with a good harvest of delicious berries.

To fruit tree actively developed and bore fruit well, a sunny place is chosen for it, which is not blown by cold northern winds. A good option It could be planting a seedling on the southwest or south side of a building. Cherry loves fertile light loams, sandy loam soils, and feels absolutely uncomfortable on poor sandstones, heavy peat and clay soils.

You only need to plant zoned seedlings that are sold in specialized nurseries. In addition, they will definitely tell you how to grow cherries without unnecessary hassle. To improve pollination, experts advise planting two or three trees on a plot, but if there is not enough space, growing cherries from your neighbors will save the situation.

The main, beloved varieties:

• very early - " Ruby early", juicy " Skorospelka»;
• early - unsurpassed " Valery Chkalov", tender " Homestead" And " Jaboulet»;
• average - " Pink pearl», « Adeline" and dark red " Veda»;
• late - " Leningradskaya black", sweet " Drogana yellow" And " Bryansk pink».

Practiced in the middle zone spring planting cherries, since this is a heat-loving species that can freeze out in the first winter.

Planting correctly

You can plant a cherry orchard in the spring from April until the second ten days of May, provided that the seedlings have unblown leaves. The most favorable months for planting in autumn are September and October, because the young tree will have time to take root before the onset of frost (applicable only to the southern regions).

Planting a tree:

1. Planting holes must be prepared in advance. If you plant in the spring, prepare it in the fall, and for planting in the fall - around August. It is best to make the holes round, so the roots will develop well, filling the space evenly. The optimal diameter of the hole is about a meter, the depth is about 80 cm. We pour two buckets of good soil and 12 kg of manure, which must be rotted, into the hole. Mix everything thoroughly and leave for the earth to settle and settle;
2. At the time of planting, we dig a hole, leaving a small mound in the middle. We drive a strong stake 5 cm from the center, which will initially protect the trunk of a fragile tree from strong wind and sunburn;
3. We examine the root system for damaged roots and cut them back to healthy tissue. In addition, do not forget to place the seedling in water a day before planting so that it is well saturated with moisture;
4. We place the young tree on a mound and carefully place the roots, while monitoring the position of the root collar, which must not be buried;
5. We tie the seedling to the stake and fill the hole with earth, compacting it with our feet perpendicular to the trunk (heel to the edge of the hole);
6. Create a hole around the stem and pour out 3 buckets of water.

Planted young cherry trees are subsequently watered at least 4 times.

Making the cut

Young trees grow very intensively, so for the first 6 years before the leaves bloom, formative pruning is done. The tree must be kept within certain limits to make harvesting convenient.

The most common types of crowns are:

• sparsely tiered. In total, three tiers are laid, leaving 4 skeletal branches in the lower one (3 are possible), on average 50 cm apart - 3 branches, and in the upper one, at the same distance, 2 more branches.
• flattened. The principle of pruning is based on the compilation of three tiers: in each of them two branches are placed perpendicular to each other. After laying the last tier above the weak side branch, the main conductor is cut off. Subsequently, the branches in tiers are pruned, adhering to the sparse-tiered principle;
• cup-shaped. Such a crown consists of mainly four or five strong branches that form something like a bowl. Thanks to good lighting, fruit branches will live for more than ten years.

Upon completion of formation, pruning is done moderately for ten years, removing all broken, unnecessary shoots and shoots growing towards the conductor. So, the time for the first rejuvenating pruning is imperceptibly coming: you need to shorten all two- and three-year-old branches. Three years later, they make another one, cutting out branches with five- and six-year-old wood. Between “rejuvenation” trees continue to be thinned out annually.

Water and fertilize

In the year of planting, it is very important to destroy weeds in the circle of cherry trees and subsequently continue to carefully monitor this. The ground around the tree can be mulched to retain moisture as much as possible.

Experts recommend the first watering only after flowering, the next one in mid-June and then in July. Do not water during the flowering period, the tree may react by completely dropping the ovary. Water-charging irrigation is carried out in October - up to 100 liters per adult tree. For good harvests, the tree will need a lot of nutrients, which means it can’t do without fertilizing.

Once every three years, 8 kg of organic matter is dug up with soil per square meter according to the projection of the crown. Nitrogen fertilizers are applied in early spring and in July under loosening in liquid or dry form. The tree is treated with phosphorus and potassium fertilizers in September so that it has time to prepare for the winter cold. In addition, growing cherries requires whitewashing the trunk and skeletal branches in autumn and spring to prevent sunburn and frost damage.

Pests and diseases on our way

We have already figured out how to care for cherries, but how to protect them from feathered raiders is a real problem. Experienced gardeners take various measures - hanging shiny CDs, rustling bags, foil, hanging ratchets, installing stuffed animals. But smart sparrows quickly get used to it and again, without fear, begin to help themselves to juicy berries. Only covering nets, which are lightweight and convenient, can really help here.

Among the most common pests are aphids and gypsy moths. The first one feeds on the juice of the shoots, the second one eats the leaves. Spraying trees with a solution will help get rid of them. Inta-Vir before or after flowering.

The thick stalk, which lays eggs inside the fruit, can completely destroy the crop. The emerging larvae eat the berries, which eventually fall off. Treatment with the drug will save the situation Insegar.

The cherry tree is threatened by diseases such as gray mold(moniliosis), perforated spotting (clasterosporiasis), coccomycosis. Treatment and care of cherries in the fall in such cases begin with the removal of damaged berries, leaves and shoots. Treatment with Bordeaux mixture several times in summer and autumn helps save the harvest.

Picking berries

Cherry varieties ripen from the beginning of June to the twentieth of July. It is customary to distinguish between two types of ripeness: technical, when the fruits tend to acquire their inherent color and taste, and consumer, when they are the most tasty and juicy. The crop is harvested in dry weather within just a couple of days, otherwise the harvest may be lost. The berries are removed from the stalk and unripe and diseased specimens are immediately removed. For transportation, the fruits are picked at the stage of technical ripeness.

Everyone loves cherries, because they contain many valuable elements, including vitamin C, nicotinic acid, and carotene. Doctors recommend eating berries for those who have thyroid diseases, as they are also rich in iodine. And how many delicious preparations can be prepared from it - compotes, preserves, jam, juices, you can marinate and eat as a side dish for meat dishes. And how delicious frozen berries are in winter: you open the jar, and there... summer.

The last berries have been picked from the cherries. Now it's time to reward the harvest with good care. After all, the plant spends a lot of vital energy on the growth and ripening of fruits. Our task is to help it recover, lay fruit buds for next year and prepare for winter.

Get organized

First of all, clear the tree trunk circle:

• Pull out all the weeds.
• Remove diseased leaves and berries from the ground and branches. Remove them from the site.
• Cut out all the growth, as well as branches growing close to the ground. The bottom of the cherry up to a height of 50–70 cm should be free, that is, create a gap between the ground and the crown for better aeration and disease prevention.
• Loosen the soil and cover it with mulch made from old sawdust or straw.

Below, between the branches and the ground, there should be a gap

Water

The above-ground part of the cherry tree has been growing all summer, and now it’s time for the root system to grow. If there is not enough moisture in the soil during this period, then the roots will not only not grow, but may also partially dry out. This means that next year the tree will not have the strength to produce good growth, which will affect future harvests.

Water the cherries immediately after fruiting at the rate of 30 liters per 1 m² of trunk circle. But this is an approximate norm; be guided by how quickly the earth absorbs water. More or less water may go under your cherry tree.

Different ways of watering trees: in circular grooves and holes along the periphery

The second mandatory watering should be done in September-October, before the arrival of cold weather. Water consumption is 1.5 times higher than usual in summer. During this period, you need to wet the layers of earth to a depth of 1.5–2 meters. As a result, a reserve is created that has been depleted over the summer and will be consumed by the cherries in the spring to awaken and bloom the leaves.

Apply fall fertilizer

The easiest option is to buy ready mixture for the garden marked “autumn”. It contains phosphorus-potassium fertilizers necessary for root growth and good wintering. But if you already have superphosphate and potassium salt, then use them. For 1 m² of tree trunk circle you will need 1 tbsp. l. both fertilizers. But do not pour them over the entire area under the tree, but into a groove 20–30 cm deep along the periphery of the crown, this is where the thin feeding roots approach.

Organic matter in the form of humus, compost, dry bird droppings, bedding from poultry and livestock can be laid out under the cherry tree only in late autumn, when all the foliage has fallen and the tree has fallen asleep. All these materials will be useful only in early spring. In the second half of summer and autumn, plants do not need nitrogen. It promotes the growth of greenery, and the cherries prepare for the dormant period. For this reason, not only organic matter is prohibited, but also urea, ammonium nitrate and other nitrogen-containing fertilizers.

The easiest way is to buy a special autumn complex fertilizer and apply it to the cherries.

Treat the cherry

It is unlikely that your cherry will not have a single leaf with spots and not a single damaged berry. All these are sources of infection this year and next. Spray against diseases with Horus, against pests with Aktara or Karbofos. Repeat after 10–14 days of treatment.

This cherry is sick with coccomycosis

Carefully inspect the trunks and skeletal branches. You may notice gum growths. This is a very dangerous phenomenon, the plant loses juice, and with it strength, becomes vulnerable to disease, and winter hardiness decreases.

Juice leaks through cracks and wounds in the bark, the cherry loses its strength

1. Remove the gum: scrape with a wooden spatula or the back of a spoon, fork, or round-nosed knife until the wood is dry.
2. Wash the wound with a 1% solution of copper sulfate.
3. Cover with garden putty, or even better, if you have time, periodically approach the cherry tree and rub the wounds with the leaves of sorrel, plantain, and wormwood until droplets of gum stop appearing.

After leaf fall, whitewash the trunks and skeletal branches to a height that your hand can reach. This way you will disinfect all the cracks in the bark and protect the tree from frost damage.

Whiten the trunk and branches to arm's length

Is pruning necessary?

In the second half of summer - autumn, it is difficult for a non-professional to understand: whether the cherry has laid fruit buds for the next year, on which branches they are located, which of them have ripened and will overwinter, and which will freeze out. Therefore, it is better to postpone pruning until spring. Frosts will make their own adjustments, and after them, in the spring, you will have to do the final pruning. After fruiting, you can only remove broken, dry branches growing down and inside the crown, as well as shorten those that have climbed into a neighbor’s plot or interfere with free passage.

Video: original opinion on cherry pruning

After harvesting, you should not throw cherries to the mercy of fate. The soil has become depleted over the summer, and there is often a moisture deficit. And the tree has to gain strength for wintering and future fruiting. Help with care: free the tree trunk from weeds and growths, water the cherries, feed them, treat them against diseases and pests.

Plant cherry (lat. Prunus avium), or bird cherry- a tree of the Rosaceae family, up to 10 and sometimes up to 30 meters high, growing naturally in Europe, Western Asia, North Africa and widespread in culture. This is the oldest form of cherry, dating back to 8000 BC. was already known in Europe, in the territory of modern Switzerland and Denmark, as well as in Anatolia. The name of the tree is derived from the toponym of the city of Kerasunta, which was located between Trebizond and Farnakia and was famous for planting delicious cherries on its outskirts. From Kerasunt came the Latin name for the cherry cerasi, the Neapolitan cerasa, the Turkish kiraz, the French cerise, the English cherry, the Spanish cereza, and the Russian word cherry of the same origin. Moreover, in many languages, the word meaning cherry also means cherry, which is why Chekhov’s play is known abroad as “The Cherry Orchard,” and there is no contradiction in this, since these cultures are very close relatives.

• Landing: in the north they are planted only in the spring, before the buds swell; in the south they can be planted both in spring and autumn, in September-October.
• Bloom: at the end of March or beginning of April.
• Lighting: bright sunlight.
• Soil: chernozems, nutritious loams or sandy loam soils, in areas with deep groundwater.
• Watering: on average 3 times per season: before flowering, in mid-summer and before winter. Water consumption is 1.5-2 buckets for each year of the tree’s life.
• Feeding: from the age of four: in May – mineral fertilizers at the root, at the end of July (after harvesting) - foliar fertilizing with potassium-phosphorus fertilizer and microelements, in August - with a solution of mullein (1:10) or chicken manure (1:20) at the root.
• Trimming: annually in the spring, before the start of sap flow, or in the fall, until the end of September. If necessary, you can prune cherries even in the summer, after fruiting, but not in August-September.
• Reproduction: seeds and grafting.
• Pests: aphids, cherry flies, leaf rollers, cherry tuberollers, winter moths, skin moths, brown fruit and red apple mites, cherry shoot, leafminer and fruit stripe moths, cherry, yellow plum and slimy sawflies, sapwood, gypsy bark beetle, ringed, downy and gypsy moth, apple glass.
• Diseases: coccomycosis, moniliosis, brown spot, witch's broom, plum dwarf, false or sulfur-yellow polypores, mosaic ringing, branch dieback, scab, fruit rot, glassenberg virosis and clasterosporiosis.

Read more about growing cherries below.

Cherry tree - description

Cherry is a large woody plant, distinguished when young rapid growth. The root system of a tree is most often located horizontally, but under certain conditions powerful vertical roots can also form. The first two years of life, the plant forms a tap root, which branches out over time. The crown of the cherry tree has an ovoid shape, which, depending on conditions, can become cone-shaped. Cherry bark is brown, silvery or reddish, sometimes flaking in transverse films. Cherry shoots are formed of two types: brachyblasts - short shoots with one internode, and auxiblasts - powerful long shoots. Buds on cherry shoots are of three types: vegetative, generative and mixed.

Cherry leaves are obovate, elongated, short-pointed, serrate along the edge, located on petioles up to 16 cm long with glands at the base of the leaf blade. White flowers open at the end of March or early April - a little earlier than the leaves, and form few-flowered sessile umbrella-shaped inflorescences. The fruit of the cherry is a spherical, oval or heart-shaped drupe berry with a juicy, fleshy pericarp of light yellow, red, dark red or almost black color; there are also varieties with a blush, and the fruits of wild cherries are smaller than the berries of cultivated cherries. The diameter of the fruit reaches 2 cm; inside the pericarp there is a slightly elongated or spherical smooth stone with a seed consisting of endosperm, embryo and peel of a yellowish-brown color with a reddish tint.

Cherries live up to 100 years, and begin to bear fruit at the age of four to five. In this article we will tell you, how to grow cherries from seedling to mature tree, how to properly care for cherries in order to maintain their health for many years, how to feed cherries so that they bear fruit abundantly year after year, and we will provide many more important and interesting information about growing cherries and caring for them.

Planting cherries

When to plant cherries

In areas with warm climate Cherry seedlings are planted in the fall, a few weeks before the soil freezes, and in the northern areas - in the spring, before the buds swell. Cherries grow best on slopes facing south, southeast or southwest or in other well-lit, warm places, protected from north and east winds. It is unacceptable to plant cherries in areas where groundwater lies too high, since the vertical roots of the plant can go 2 m deep into the ground. Low-lying places where melt water stands for a long time in the spring are also not suitable for planting cherries.

Sweet cherries prefer nutrient-rich loam or sandy loam soil, and peat soil, sand or clay is the worst thing you can offer her.

For cross-pollination, cherries will need pollinators - cherry trees of 2-3 varieties located in close proximity to it. Or at least a few cherries whose flowering period coincides with the flowering of your cherries.

Planting cherries in autumn

Planting cherries in the fall involves preliminary preparation plot. Two, three weeks before autumn planting The area for cherries is dug up, adding up to 10 kg of compost, 180 g of superphosphate and 100 g of potassium fertilizer for each m². You can use complex fertilizer for cherries at the rate of 200 g per m². Acidic soil must be limed: 400-500 g of lime per m² is added to sandy loam soil, 600-800 g is added to heavy loam soil. This should be done a week before applying fertilizers, since lime and fertilizers are not added to the soil at the same time.

If you plant cherries in clay or sandy soil, you will have to add the opposite type of soil for digging: into sand - clay, into clay - sand, but the application should be carried out several years before planting, and then, annually after such mixing of soils, the area needs to be fertilized. Only years later will cherries planted in such soil grow and develop normally.

The pit for cherries is prepared two weeks before planting. Its depth should be 60-80 cm, and its diameter should be about a meter. When digging, throw the fertile layer of soil to one side and the lower, infertile layer to the other. A stake is driven into the center of the pit at such a height that it protrudes 30-50 cm above the surface of the site. The fertile layer of soil is mixed with aged compost, 200 g of superphosphate, 60 g of potassium sulfur and half a kilogram of ash.

Nitrogen fertilizers and lime are not applied during planting, as they can cause burns to the root system of the seedling. Part of the top layer of soil thoroughly mixed with fertilizers is poured in a heap around the peg, crushed, a layer of infertile soil is poured on top, leveled, watered and the hole is left for two weeks so that the soil in it settles.

How to choose planting material? When inspecting one-year or two-year-old seedlings when purchasing, you should first of all pay attention to their trunk: there should be a mark from the grafting on it. The grafted plant is almost certainly a varietal one, and varietal trees begin to bear fruit earlier, and the taste of their fruits is also higher. The advantage of the seedling is the large number of branches, because the more there are, the easier it is to form the correct crown of the cherry tree.

But the most important thing is to have a guide. It must be in good condition, otherwise after the tree begins to grow, the weak conductor will have competitors from strong branches. If a seedling has two conductors, then with abundant fruiting there is a risk of the tree breaking between them, which can lead to the death of the cherry. There must be one guide, and he must be straight and strong. And finally, the roots: they should not be dry or damaged. IN open ground Only seedlings with a developed, strong root system will take root.

When transporting, the root system of the seedling is wrapped in a wet cloth, and then in oilcloth or polyethylene. It is better to remove leaves, if any, from the tree, otherwise they will dehydrate the tree. Before planting in the ground, remove dubious-looking roots, as well as those that do not fit into the hole, place the plant roots in water for 2 hours to swell, and if they are dried, then for a longer period - up to 10 hours.

You can plant cherries as long as the ground is not frozen. When planting, place the seedling in a hole so that the root collar is 5-7 cm above the surface level, spread the roots of the tree over the mound that was poured two weeks ago, and fill the hole with soil from the bottom layer, shaking the seedling slightly so that the soil fills the voids . Pour a bucket of water into the hole to settle the soil and finish planting. Compact the surface around the seedling and water it with another bucket of water, making a furrow 5 cm deep around the cherry tree at a distance of 30 cm and fencing it with outside a shaft of soil.

Over time, the soil in the tree trunk circle will subside, and you will need to add soil to it. If you are planting several cherries, place them on the plot at a distance of 4-5 meters from each other: cherries are a large tree.

How to plant cherries in spring

Cherries are planted in the ground in the spring according to the same principle and according to the same scheme as in the fall. The planting area is dug up in the fall, holes are dug and compost or humus is added to them in October-November, and then the pits are left until spring so that the soil in them settles and settles. When the snow melts and the ground dries out a little, mineral fertilizers are added to the holes, including nitrogen fertilizers, which are not applied in the fall, and after a week the cherries can be planted. After planting, mulch the tree trunks with peat or humus.

Cherry care

Cherry tree care in spring

Seedlings that have just been planted in the ground or those that you planted last fall are very easy to care for. If you managed to plant before the buds swell, prune the crown, leaving a few skeletal branches on the seedling and cutting the rest into a ring, leaving no stumps. Treat the cuts with garden varnish. If sap flow has already begun, then postpone pruning until next spring.

Mature cherries are subjected to formative and sanitary pruning in the spring, but you need to have time to do this before the start of sap flow. When the air warms up to 18 ºC, trees are sprayed to remove pathogens and pests that have overwintered in the soil or bark.

The fertilizers placed in the soil during planting will last for three years, and from the fourth year of life the cherry trees again need additional feeding. Nitrogen fertilizers, unlike potassium and phosphorus fertilizers, will be needed by cherries already in the second year of life, and they are applied when the frosts have passed and warm spring weather has set in. Repeatedly nitrogen fertilizers, already in liquid form, is added at the end of May.

In the spring, if necessary, cherry grafting is carried out - the old tree is used as a rootstock, growing young, more productive cherries on its roots.

And, of course, in the spring the garden needs watering, loosening the soil, removing weeds and root shoots.

Caring for cherries in summer

In summer, it is necessary to loosen the soil in the area with cherries to a depth of 8-10 cm. This can be done with a garden hoe or a hand cultivator a day after rain or watering, which is carried out 3 to 5 times per season, depending on the amount of rain. If you find signs of disease or the presence of harmful insects on trees, do not hesitate to take protective measures so as not to risk the harvest. It is necessary to diagnose the problem and immediately try to deal with it.

In the summer, the formation of cherries continues: improperly growing shoots are pinched to weaken their growth, shoots and branches that thicken the crown are cut off. Regrown with root shoots cut out without allowing it to grow. The summer cherry harvest begins in late May or early June. If too many fruits are weighing down the tree, place supports in the right places to prevent branches from breaking off.

In mid-summer, cherries are fertilized with potassium and phosphorus fertilizers with the addition of microelements. In August, cherries need to be fed with organic matter - mullein or a solution of bird droppings. The most important point Caring for cherries is to keep the tree trunk circles and row spacing clean.

Caring for cherries in autumn

In September or October, when the leaves begin to turn yellow and fall, apply the final fertilizing simultaneously with digging up the area to a depth of 10 cm. Before massive leaf fall, carry out pre-winter moisture-recharging watering of the trees, this is especially necessary if the summer was fruitful and the autumn was dry. Collect fallen leaves, burn them and carry out preventive treatment of cherries against pathogens and pests that have gathered to overwinter in the bark of trees or in the soil under them. At the end of October, whitewash the trunks and bases of skeletal branches.

When the first frost passes, the cherries begin to be prepared for winter.

Cherry processing

Preventive treatment of cherries against diseases and pests is carried out in the spring, before the start of sap flow, and in the fall, during the period of mass leaf fall. How to process cherries? Dissolve 700 g of urea in 10 liters of water and spray the trees to kill overwintered insects and pathogens.

Before processing cherries, make sure that sap flow has not yet begun, because if the solution gets on the opening buds, it can cause them to burn. Cherries are treated against migrating pests with such preparations as Akarin, Agravertin, Fitoverm, Iskra-bio. Simultaneously with preventive treatment, cherry trees are sprayed with Zircon or Ecoberin, which increase the trees’ resistance to adverse conditions and phenomena.

Watering cherries

Water cherries on average three times per season: before flowering, spending 1.5-2 buckets of water for each year of the tree’s life, in the middle of summer, especially if there is little or no rain, and before winter, combining moistening with application fertilizers Before watering, the tree trunk circle is loosened, and after watering and fertilizing, the area is mulched. In the fall, water-recharging irrigation is carried out, trying to saturate the soil with moisture to a depth of 70-80 cm. This measure helps to increase the winter hardiness of cherries and does not allow the soil to quickly freeze.

Cherry feeding

How to fertilize cherries to stimulate their active growth and abundant fruiting? At the beginning of May, mineral fertilizers are applied to the previously loosened trunk circles of cherries older than four years in the following quantities per m² of plot: urea - 15-20 g, potassium sulfate - 15-25 g, superphosphate - 15-20 g. At the end of July, after harvest harvest, carry out foliar feeding trees that have entered the age of fruiting, with potassium and phosphorus fertilizers with the addition of necessary microelements.

In August, those trees that bear fruit especially abundantly are fed organic fertilizers, diluting 1 part mullein in 8 parts completely water or one part chicken droppings in 20 parts water.

Each tree's need for fertilizing is individual, and when deciding what and when to fertilize it, you should focus on appearance cherries, soil conditions and weather conditions.

Wintering cherries

Adult cherries overwinter normally without shelter, and if you have mulched the tree trunk area with peat, whitened the trunks and bases of skeletal branches, then you don’t have to worry about them. Young cherries need to be covered for the winter. You can tie them with spruce branches, or you can wrap them in burlap, under which they will be just as warm. Do not use lutrasil and other artificial materials for covering, because the plants under them will rot.

Cherry pruning

When to prune cherries

Planting and caring for cherries would not be at all burdensome if it were not for pruning the plant, which requires skills and understanding of the essence of the process. Cherry trees are pruned annually, starting from the first year of life. Pruning helps to increase the yield and quality of fruits, reduces the likelihood of disease, and prolongs the life of the tree. It is best to prune cherries in the spring, before the sap begins to flow, when the weather is warm and there is no frost at night.

However, it is a misconception that it is impossible to prune cherries at other times of the year. Sweet cherries need annual pruning, so if you are suddenly late with pruning in the spring, reschedule it for the summer or fall.

How to trim cherries

Young seedlings are pruned when they reach a height of 50-70cm. The lower side branch of the cherry tree is shortened to 50-60 cm, and the rest - to the level of its cut. The guide should not be more than 15 cm higher than the skeletal branches. Branches located under the trunk acute angle, are completely removed. If there are only two or even one side branches, cut them 4-5 buds from the base, shorten the conductor 6 buds above and postpone planting the lower tier until next year.

Cherries bear fruit on annual shoots and bouquet branches. In addition, cherries, with strong annual growth of shoots that immediately grow back after pruning, are not capable of branching, so the crown is formed from skeletal branches in tiers. However, you are unlikely to be able to lay even one tier in one year. The first compact tier is formed from branches located along the trunk 10-20 cm from each other. On the next two tiers, the number of branches should be reduced by one, the branches should be weaker and located asymmetrically. The distance between tiers is maintained within 70-80 cm.

In the year when you lay the third tier, on the first tier you need to form 2-3 branches of the second order, located evenly relative to the conductor at a distance of no less than 60-80 cm from each other. A year later, semi-skeletal branches are formed on the second tier, and a year later - on the third.

From the fifth to sixth year of life, the main task of pruning is to maintain the height of the cherry tree at 3-3.5 m and the length of the skeletal branches within 4 m, that is, only thickening, improperly growing and damaged branches are removed. If the cherry fruits begin to become smaller and appear only in the peripheral areas of the crown, rejuvenating pruning of the tree is carried out at the end of February or beginning of March.

Pruning cherries in spring

In the spring, in mid-March or early April, formative and sanitary pruning of cherries is carried out: skeletal branches are shortened, the conductor is trimmed to a height of 3-3.5 cm, abundantly fruiting cherries are thinned out, removing thickening and competing branches. Frostbitten and broken shoots and branches are also subject to pruning. Do not forget that cherry branches are formed in tiers, and the lowest tier should consist of 7-9 skeletal branches.

Pruning cherries in summer

If there is a need to prune in the summer, this is done in two stages. The first is after the cherry blossoms, but its fruits are still just forming. The second stage of pruning is carried out after harvesting. In order to stimulate the formation of new horizontal branches on cherries, young shoots are shortened. Young cherries pincer, that is, they pinch the tips of non-lignified shoots, forcing the tree to form branches in the direction you want.

Pruning cherries in autumn

In the fall, cherries are pruned after the leaves fall, trying to do it before the end of September, since later the cuts on the branches heal less well. By removing weak, broken and improperly growing branches, you will make it easier for the tree to overwinter. Annual shoots are shortened by a third, non-skeletal branches are pruned to 30 cm. In trees that have not reached five years of age, the length of branches should not exceed 50 cm. It is better to do autumn pruning with a saw, because cuts from it heal faster and more painlessly than cuts from pruning shears.

One-year-old seedlings are not pruned in the fall, because they are not yet strong enough and may suffer in winter. It is better to postpone pruning to spring or summer.

Cherry propagation

How to propagate cherries

Cherries are propagated by seeds and grafting. Flaw seed propagation is that you never know what you will get as a result, so generative propagation is used only for growing rootstocks, onto which a cultural scion is subsequently grafted.

Cherry seed propagation

In regions with a mild climate, wild cherry seedlings can be used as a rootstock, but for cool areas it is not frost-resistant enough, and it is not drought-resistant. To grow a rootstock, the seeds of the winter-hardy and productive common cherry are most often used, which grows normally in places with high groundwater. The only drawback of this rootstock is advanced education there is root growth around it.

The cherry pits separated from the pulp are washed, dried in the shade, mixed with wet sand in a ratio of 1:3 and stratified for six months at a temperature of 2-5 ºC, moistening and mixing the substrate from time to time. In early spring, the seeds are sown densely in the ground, maintaining a distance between lines of about 10 cm. The sowing depth in sandy and loamy soils is 4-5 cm. When seedlings appear, they are thinned out so that a distance of 3-4 cm remains between the seedlings.

Caring for the crops consists of loosening the soil, removing weeds and timely watering. Protect seedlings from rodents. In the autumn, grown and strengthened seedlings are dug up and selected for further use those of them whose trunk thickness at the base is no thinner than 5-7 mm and more or less developed fibrous root system about 15 cm long. Such seedlings are planted in the nursery according to the 90x30cm pattern. Next spring, varietal cuttings are grafted onto them.

Cherry grafting

Cherries are grafted onto the rootstock one or two weeks before the start of sap flow, since if you are late, the cut on the rootstock will oxidize, which does not contribute to the successful engraftment of the scion. Both common cherry seedlings and cherry root shoots can be used as a rootstock. The grafting is done on a one-year or two-year-old seedling or root shoot of a cherry tree at a height of 15-20 cm from the ground. It is necessary to prepare and carry out such an operation very carefully, since it is difficult for cherries to take root on a cherry rootstock.

The easiest way to graft a varietal scion is by using the improved copulation method: both the rootstock and the scion are cut obliquely so that the oblique cuts are 3-4 cm long, and then an additional cut is made on both sections with a depth of no more than a centimeter, after which the rootstock and scion are folded in sections “ into a lock” to form a fixed joint, which is wrapped with budding tape or tape. In order for the engraftment process to be as painful as possible, the cuttings for grafting should be short - with only two buds, but of the same diameter as the rootstock at the site of the cut.

Such cuttings are harvested after the first frost, when the air temperature drops to 8-10 ºC, then they are tied, sprayed with water, wrapped in polyethylene and stored under the snow or in the refrigerator for six months. Before grafting cherries onto cherry rootstock, The cuttings are soaked in water from melted snow for several hours. For the operation, a sharp sterile instrument is used so that the cut is precise and fusion occurs quickly.

Cherry diseases

The diseases of sweet cherries are mostly the same as those of cherries, and most often affect them fungal diseases coccomycosis, moniliosis and clasterosporiasis.

Clusterosporiasis, or perforated spotting, affects branches, shoots, leaves, buds and flowers of cherry trees. The leaves become covered with dark brown spots with an even darker border; at the site of the spots, the tissue of the leaf blade begins to crumble, holes form in the leaves, and they fall off prematurely. Tissues on the affected shoots die, gum production begins, and the fruits dry out.

Control measures: the affected parts are cut out, the wounds are cleaned and disinfected with a one percent solution of copper sulfate, rubbed with sorrel leaves three times with an interval of 10 minutes and then treated with garden varnish. Before the buds open, the area is treated with a one percent solution of copper sulfate or Nitrafen. The second treatment is carried out with one percent Bordeaux mixture immediately after flowering, the third after two to three weeks, and the last no later than three weeks before harvest.

Moniliosis, or gray rot, or monilial burn, affects not only cherries and sweet cherries. Any stone fruit crops can suffer from it - plum, cherry plum, peach and apricot. In diseased plants, flowers dry up, fruits rot, and branches dry up one after another. With increased air humidity, ovaries and fruits develop gray pads containing fungal spores, causing the berries to shrivel and dry out.

Control measures: Immediately after flowering, cherries are treated with one percent Bordeaux mixture; re-treatment is carried out two weeks after harvest. Simultaneously with the treatments, the affected fruits and ovaries are removed, diseased shoots are cut out, fallen leaves are collected and burned. If gum bleeding begins, you need sharp knife clean the wound down to healthy tissue and treat it, as in the case of perforated spot disease - copper sulfate, sorrel and garden varnish.

Coccomycosis most often appears on cherry leaves, less often on shoots, petioles or fruits. It develops most quickly in rainy weather: in June, small red-brown spots form on the foliage, which gradually increase in size, then merge with each other, affecting almost the entire plate, causing the leaves to fall prematurely. As a rule, with severe damage, secondary shoot growth begins. This delays the ripening of fruits, jeopardizes the harvest, weakens the plant and reduces its winter hardiness.

Control measures: Before bud break, cherries are sprayed with copper-containing preparations (copper oxychloride, Bordeaux mixture, copper sulfate), during the budding period, the trees are treated with a solution of 2-3 g of the Horus drug in 10 liters of water, repeated treatment with Horus is carried out immediately after flowering. After two to three weeks, the affected branches are cut out, including healthy tissue, and burned.

In addition to these most common diseases, cherries in the garden are affected by such diseases as brown spot, witch's broom, plum dwarfism, false or sulfur-yellow tinder fungus, mosaic ringing, branch death, scab, fruit rot, Glassenberg virus and others, sometimes completely diseases atypical for cherries. We have described to you how cherries are treated for fungal diseases, and medicines for viral diseases Unfortunately, it doesn't exist yet, so the best remedy The cure for all diseases is high agricultural technology and conscientious, timely care, for which fruit-bearing cherries will thank you with an abundant harvest of juicy, high-quality berries.

Cherry pests

Diseases and pests of cherries are almost the same as those of cherries and other stone fruits. There are many of them, and we will describe to you those harmful insects that are found in gardens more often than others.

Black cherry And apple plantain aphid worst enemies cherries and sweet cherries. Their larvae feed on the juices of the leaves, causing the growth of the central vein to stop, the leaves curl, dry out and turn black. Young plants on which aphids have settled are deformed and growth decreases, while fruit-bearing plants do not develop flower buds, and the quality of the fruit invariably deteriorates. Cherry leaves are covered with honeydew - sticky and sweet excrement of aphids, which is a substrate for sooty fungus.

Method of fight: in early spring, on dormant buds, cherries are treated with Confidor, after two weeks the treatment is repeated. Against aphids, you can use herbal preparations that have insecticidal properties, for example, a solution of 200 g of tobacco dust in 10 liters of water, to which a little liquid soap is added.

cherry fly– the main fruit-damaging pest of cherries and cherries, capable of destroying up to 90% of the berries. Fly larvae feed on the nectar of flowers and the juice of fruits, damaging them in the process. The most dangerous fly is for mid-season and late varieties cherries. Fruits damaged by the fly darken, rot and fall off, and the larvae crawl out of the berries and burrow into the ground.

Ways to fight. Flies are lured with traps made of plastic or plywood and painted bright yellow, then covered with Vaseline or entomological glue and hung on a tree at a height of 1.5-2 m. If 5-7 flies stick to the traps in three days, then it’s time to treat the cherries with Actellik or Confidor. After two weeks, if you sprayed the cherries with Actellik, and after three, if with Confidor, repeat the treatment of the cherries with the same insecticide. The last treatment can be carried out three weeks before harvesting mid-season and late varieties.

Leafrollers not as harmful as aphids and cherry flies, but the caterpillars of these moths, feeding on the leaves, twist them and fasten them with a web along the midrib - this is what the caterpillars of the roseate and hawthorn budworm do. And the caterpillars of the variegated golden leaf roller roll the leaf across the central vein. But both of them eat up buds, flower petals and eat leaves, leaving only a skeleton of veins, and older caterpillars damage ovaries and fruits, gnawing out the pulp. The caterpillar of the budworm damages the cherry trunk in its lower part, burrowing into the wood and making passages in it.

Ways to fight: After collecting the fruits, the damaged areas of the trunk are cleaned and the wounds and the entire tree are treated with a concentrated solution of chlorophos. In the spring, before the buds open, another such treatment is carried out.

Cherry pipe maker It is a pest not only of cherries, but also of other stone fruit crops. The larvae of the tubeworm feed on the kernels of the seeds, damaging the pulp of the fruit.

Ways to fight: Two treatments are carried out against the cherry borer. The first - immediately after flowering, using a solution of 1.5 g of Aktara in 10 liters of water, the second - two weeks later with Actellik, Karbofos, Corsair, Ambush or Metafox.

Ripped off moths And winter moths frequent residents of cherry and sweet cherry orchards. Their caterpillars, eating buds, leaves and flowers of cherry trees, hide in foliage held together by cobwebs. A massive invasion of these insects can leave only veins of cherry leaves. It is easy to distinguish these caterpillars from others: since they do not have eight pairs of legs, like other caterpillars, but only five, they move by bending their back in a loop.

Ways to fight: Before flowering, trees are sprayed with Karbofos, Zolon, Metaphos, Phosfamide, Cyanox and other preparations of similar action. In early spring, before the buds open, the area is treated with Nitrafen or Oleocuprite.

In addition to the described insects, cherry pests include the less common brown fruit and red apple mites, cherry shoot, leaf miner and fruit stripe moths, cherry, yellow plum and slimy sawflies, sapwood, gypsy bark beetle, ringed, downy and gypsy moths, apple glass and others. Fortunately, they only attack trees weakened by improper maintenance conditions and poor care. To combat them, they use the same means of destruction as to clear the garden of the insects we described.

Not only insects damage the crop, but also birds that peck ripe fruits. You can scare away birds by hanging ribbons of rustling foil on a tree or old, worn-out computer disks that sparkle in the sun. If this does not give the desired result, you will have to throw a mesh with cells measuring 50x50 mm over the cherries.

Cherry varieties

Cherry varieties for the Moscow region

Growing cherries requires a lot of sun and heat, and not so long ago it could be argued that the cool climate of the Moscow region is too harsh for this culture. However, thanks to the work of breeders, cherry varieties have appeared that are characterized by winter hardiness, which grow well within the Moscow region and even to the north. For example:

• Bryansk pink– productive self-sterile cherry of late ripening period, which begins to bear fruit at 4-5 years of age. Juicy fruits with a diameter of 20-22 mm and weighing up to 6 g, pink color with yellowish flesh and brown seeds, they have a sweet taste;
• And the way– tall, up to 4 m, self-fertile, productive early ripening cherries with burgundy-colored fruits weighing up to 5.5 g, up to 22 mm in diameter, with an easily separated brown pit and juicy, sweet pulp;
• Fatezh– a mid-early self-fertile variety of average yield with yellowish-red round berries weighing up to 5 g with juicy pulp with a sweet and sour taste;
• Tyutchevka– self-fertile, high-yielding, late-ripening cherries with dark red, wide-round fruits weighing up to 7.5 g, diameter 20-23 mm and red, dense and juicy pulp of excellent taste;
• Revna– the dark red fruits of this self-fertile late-ripening cherry weigh on average up to 5 g, they are up to 20 mm in diameter, their pulp is very dense, juicy, dark red and sweet in taste.

The varieties Malysh, Poeziya, Orlovskaya rozovaya, Sinyavskaya, Cheremashnaya, and Krymskaya are also gaining popularity.

Early varieties of cherries

According to the ripening period, cherries are divided into early, mid-ripening and late. Early ripening varieties of cherries include the following varieties:

• Valery Chkalov- a large self-sterile cherry, the pollinators of which can be the cherry varieties Aprelka, Iyunskaya rannyaya, Zhabule, Skorospelka. Trees of this variety begin bearing fruit in the fifth year. Their fruits are broad-hearted, with a blunt apex, weighing 6-8 g, black-red, their flesh is dark, with pink veins;
• Danna– partially self-fertile fruitful cherry, which begins to bear fruit in 5-6 years. Round, one-dimensional, dark red, slightly conical fruits with an average weight of up to 4.5 g contain tender and juicy dark red pulp with a sweet taste;
• Lesya– winter-hardy, undemanding cherries, unfortunately, are affected by coccomycosis. It begins to bear fruit at 4-5 years. Heart-shaped dark red fruits weighing 7-8 g with dense juicy pulp have a sweet and sour taste;
• Rubinovaya Nikitina– a productive, pest and disease resistant, partially self-fertile variety that begins to bear fruit in 5-6 years, with dark red fruits weighing up to 3.8 g with juicy tender pulp of a sweet taste;
• Early pink– a winter-hardy, productive, fungus-resistant cherry with round-oval pink fruits with a red blush that begins to bear fruit in 4-5 years. Berry weight 6-7, taste excellent. Requires pollinators of the Ugolek, Annushka, Etika, Donchanka, and Valeria varieties.

In addition to those described, they are popular early varieties Recognition, Debut, Lasunya, Melitopol Early, Fairy Tale, Melitopol Red, Electra, Ruby Early, Chance, Era, Homestead Yellow, Ariadna, Cheremashnaya, Krasnaya Gorka, Ovstuzhenka and others.

Medium ripening varieties

Mid-ripening cherries are represented by the following varieties:

• Velvet– begins to bear fruit after 5 years. A dessert variety resistant to fungi with large, shiny dark red fruits of excellent taste;
• Nectar– a productive variety that begins to bear fruit in 4-5 years, the fruit is shiny, dark red, the flesh is juicy, crisp, with a very sweet taste;
• Ember– cherries of average productivity with dark red fruits with dense, juicy pulp of a weak wine-sweet taste, which begins to bear fruit in 4-5 years;
• French black– winter-hardy cherries of average productivity that begin to bear fruit in the 7th year with almost black fruits with dense, juicy pulp with a dessert taste;
• Homestead- a fruitful cherry tree that begins to bear fruit in 6-7 years with large heart-shaped, shiny light yellow fruits with a red blush. The pulp is juicy, tender, wine-sweet.

Of interest to gardeners are the mid-ripening varieties Rubinovaya, Franz Joseph, Kubanskaya, Daibera black, Gedelfingenskaya, Totem, Epic, Adeline, Summer Resident, Dilemma, Prostor, Izyumnaya, Dneprovka, Vinka, Mirage, Rival, Tavrichanka, Talisman, In Memory of Chernyshevsky, Raditsa, Veda and others.

Late varieties of cherries

Of the late-ripening varieties, the most popular are:

• Bryanochka– a high-yielding, winter-hardy, self-sterile variety resistant to coccomycosis, which begins to bear fruit in the 5th year of life. The fruits are dark red, wide-hearted, weighing up to 7 g with dark red dense pulp of sweet taste. For pollination, Bryanochka needs the Veda, Iput or Tyutchevka varieties;
• Michurinskaya late- a high-yielding, winter-hardy, self-sterile variety that begins to bear fruit in 5-6 years. For pollination, trees of the Michurinka or Pink Pearl varieties are needed. The fruits of Michurinskaya late are broad-hearted, dark red in color, weighing up to 6.5 g. The pulp is red, juicy and sweet;
• Farewell– a drought-resistant, high-yielding self-sterile variety that begins to bear fruit at the age of 4-5 years. The fruits are red, round, very large - weighing up to 14 g, with light yellow, dense cartilaginous pulp. As pollinators, you can plant cherries of the varieties Annushka, Aelita, Donetsk Ugolek, Sesstrenka, Etika, Valeria, Valery Chkalov, Yaroslavna, Donetskaya Krasvitsa;
• Lena– cherries of this variety begin to bear fruit 4 years after planting. The variety is high-yielding, winter-hardy, resistant to fungal diseases, and self-sterile. Blunt-heart-shaped black and red berries weighing up to 8 g contain dense pulp. The varieties Ovstuzhenka, Revna, Tyutchevka, Iput are used as pollinators;

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Despite the fact that cherries are frost-resistant plants, they still require some attention and care. This especially applies to the time when the harvest has already been harvested.

Most often, we forget to pay due attention to caring for the plant when the fruits have already been picked, and then we wonder why the yield has decreased. And all because it is very important to properly care for cherries after harvesting, because the next season depends on it. We will talk about this in more detail today.

How to prepare tree trunk soil for winter

Since cherries begin to bloom quite early in the spring, the tree, immediately emerging from the dormant stage, actively consumes all kinds of useful substances and microelements from the soil, so it is recommended to carefully feed the soil in the fall. Moreover, after harvesting it is much safer to use chemicals from pests and diseases, without fear of harming your health.

Work on caring for cherries in the fall consists of:

• tillage near the trunk;
• fertilizing;
• thorough watering;
• prevention of various diseases;
• branch pruning;
• whitewashing the trunk.

When autumn arrives, do not forget to treat the tree trunks and get rid of weeds. It is very important that the soil around the tree is always clean, loose and has sufficient moisture. In the fall, it is recommended to dig it up deeply, and you can apply fertilizer at the same time. The trunk circle should be the same diameter as the crown of the tree.

After loosening, it is necessary to water the cherries thoroughly. It is recommended to add about 15-20 liters of water. For young seedlings – 8-10 liters. For the most effective moistening, it is recommended to make small depressions in the ground.

How to feed cherries in the fall

Since autumn feeding is responsible for the formation of the future harvest, it is important to take this process as seriously as possible. Therefore, he needs to devote a lot of time and effort.

Most suitable for fertilizing cherries:

• the simplest and in a convenient way for feeding in the fall there is organic matter: humus, compost, bird droppings;
• complex fertilizing. This type fertilizers also have a good effect on the plant. It can be used if organic fertilizer is not available;
• phosphorus-potassium fertilizers. This type of fertilizing must be applied when digging up tree trunk circles;
• nitrogen fertilizers. It is better to feed cherries this way in the spring, because nitrogen and ash help accelerate flowering and fruiting.

How to prevent diseases and protect cherries from pests

How to care for autumn:

• after the leaves fall, it is necessary to remove damaged branches from the tree by treating the cut areas with garden varnish;
• fallen branches and leaves around the plant must be removed by carefully digging up the trunk circle;
• at the first significant drop in temperature, the cherries should be sprayed with a 5% urea solution. This remedy is the most effective in the fight against most infectious diseases.

How to prepare for cold weather

Cherry is a fairly frost-resistant plant, but still it also needs some preparation for the cold season.

In autumn, it is recommended to cover the soil near the trunk with sawdust and straw so that the roots are not damaged by severe frost. If there are cuts left on the tree after autumn pruning, then they must be covered with garden varnish. The trunks of young trees should be wrapped in cloth to prevent rodents from damaging the bark.

As you can see, even this unpretentious plant, like cherries, they also require a certain amount of attention and care. But at the same time, in response you will receive good harvest delicious and healthy berries.