Cherryhas relatively low soil requirements, most varieties of cherries are self-pollinating, and the tree does not grow too large. These advantages make it a good fruit tree to grow in home gardens and allotments. In the following article, you will learn whatcultivating and pruning cherryin your garden looks like. We also present the bestcherry varietiesfor amateur cultivation and suggest how to protect them against diseases and pests.
Cherry - Prunus cerasus
Fig. pixabay.com
Cherry - nutritional values of fruit
Common cherry(Prunus cerasus), also sometimes known as common cherry, belongs to the rosacea family. It is a species that occurs only in cultivation, sometimes it becomes wild.Cherry fruits are a treasure trove of valuable nutrientsWhen eaten raw, they are not very tasty, but they can be used to make excellent preserves, compotes, juices and plum jam.
Cherry fruits are richin organic acids, sugars, carotenes, pectins and tannins. We find vitamins C, PP, B vitamins and important minerals such as potassium, copper, iron, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium.
Cherries also contain inosit , which prevents graying and helps to remove cholesterol and coumarin from the body to reduce blood clotting. For this reason, it is recommended to eat cherry fruits after a heart attack or embolism.
Despite their many benefits,cherry fruits can irritate the digestive tract . They should be avoided by people with gastric or duodenal ulcers and patients with type II diabetes.
Good to know!
Cherries contain antioxidants (anthocyanins) to slow down the signs of aging and bioactive ingredients with anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties.
Cherry - varieties
When choosing a cherry for your home orchard , it is best to choose a variety that starts fruiting early and is not very susceptible to diseases. Trees that grow moderately vigorously will be easier when pruning and harvesting the fruit.
Cherry lovers who have a lot of space in the garden can choose severalvarieties of cherries with different ripening times , which will allow you to pick the fruit from the end June until the beginning of August.
The varieties of cherries grown in our gardens can be divided into :
- cup cherries- having fruit with colorless juice and light flesh,
- Juice cherries- their dark juice is used in processing.
Cherry varieties recommended for garden cultivation include:
Cherry Groniasta z Ujfehertoi- variety with strong initial growth, then weakening. It starts bearing fruit early, is partially self-fertile, and yields profusely only in the presence of pollinators. Round fruit, quite large (5.5-6.5 g), dark red with sweet and sour, pink-red flesh. They are suitable for harvesting in the second half of July. You can make preserves from them and freeze them. The variety is frost resistant, but in cooler springs the flowers may be damaged by frosts. Susceptible to minor leaf spot on stone trees.
Cherry Kelleris 16- moderately strong growth, starts bearing fruit early and yields abundantly in the second half of July. The fruit is slightly elongated, dark red, of medium size (4.5-5 g). The flesh is sweet and sour, fleshy and red. The variety is not very susceptible to Moniliosis, but it is sensitive to fine leaf blotch. Quite resistant to frost.
Fruits of different varieties of cherries
Fig. pixabay.com
Lucyna Cherry- grows moderately strongly. It starts to fructify in 2-3 years after planting, giving better yields in old age. Tasty, dark red fruit has a sour - sweet flesh with a red color. They ripen in the second decade of July. They are suitable for direct consumption and processing. The variety is not very susceptible to fine leaf blotch. She was bred at the Institute of Horticulture in Skierniewice.
Wiśnia Łutówka- the most popular variety in Polish orchards, moderate growth. It starts bearing fruit very early - already in the second year after planting. With proper care, it bears fruit regularly and abundantly. The fruit is large (about 6 g), dark red, spherical with acidic flesh, also suitable for preserves. They ripen at the end of July. Dark red juice oozes out when the stalk is detached. The variety is sensitive to small leaf blotch and brown rot.
Cherry Nefris- a small tree that starts bearing fruit early, it yields regularly and abundantly. The fruits are quite large with dark raspberry, juicy flesh. They ripen in early July. The variety is susceptible to small leaf spot.
North Star Cherry- grows moderately fast. It starts fruiting very early, yielding profusely with properly performed pruning. Medium-sized, vivid red fruits have a slightly sour, tasty flesh. They ripen in early July. The variety is not very susceptible to fine spots, but it is sensitive to Moniliosis.
Pandy Cherry 103- a vigorously growing tree, forming a rather loose crown. It yields moderately abundantly and starts bearing fruit not too early. The dark red fruits are very large (6-7 g). They ripen in the second half of July. Extremely tasty, the pink flesh is sweet and sour. Bright red juice does not leak after the stalk is detached. The variety is not very sensitive to moniliosis and bacterial cancer, but it is susceptible to small leaf blotch.It is frost resistant, although early flowering flowers may be susceptible to frost damage.
Cherry Debreceni Botermo- a tree that grows vigorously, forming an upright crown. It blooms early and flowers are moderately sensitive to frost. Dark red fruits are medium-sized, ripen in the second decade of July. The red flesh has a sweet and sour taste. After detaching the peduncle, the juice does not leak out. The variety is not very susceptible to diseases and is sufficiently resistant to frost.
Cherry Meteor Korai- one of the earliest varieties, the fruit ripens at the end of June. The tree grows moderately, forming a loose, spherical crown. The fruit is bright red, tasty with a sweet and sour flesh weighing approx. 4.5 g. The variety is resistant to diseases but not very resistant to frost, so it should be planted in warm places.
Wiśnia Galena- Polish cherry variety bred at the Institute of Horticulture in Skierniewice. Trees grow vigorously, yielding depends on the year, as flowers may be exposed to spring frosts.Large, bright red fruits (6-7 g) ripen in the first decade of July. Creamy-yellow flesh, very tasty with low acid content. Colorless juice. The variety is resistant to frost and diseases.
Cherry in the backyard garden
Fig. pixabay.com
Cherry - cultivation
Cherries grow well in sunny, sheltered places , on hills and gentle slopes. Depressions of the terrain, where frost pools form, are unsuitable for them. Trees in such places may freeze in winter and in spring their flowers, which bloom at the end of April, will be exposed to frost damage. However, it is worth knowing that in order to obtain a satisfactory harvest, it is enough if the fruit develops 25-30% of flowers.
The best for growing cherries will befertile, airy, sandy loam soil. These trees grow poorly in heavy soils with a high level of groundwater. Cherry trees are most often produced on two generative rootstocks - an antistress and a bird cherry.
Good to know!
Cherries grafted on the seedlings of Antipark grow slightly less than on the seedlings of bird cherry trees, have more frost-resistant roots and tolerate well-drained and light soils better.
Young cherry trees are sensitive to freezing , so it is better to plant them in spring. Before planting cherries, a stand should be prepared, it is worth applying natural fertilization with compost or composted manure. It is advisable to sprinkle trees with these fertilizers every year in the fall. Optionally, you can use mineral fertilizers, selected according to the needs of the plant and the season.
Cherry - pruning
Proper pruning of cherries , done in the right time, results in more abundant fruiting and improves the quality of the fruit, which will be more fertile after cutting. It also improves the he alth of trees. Sick and dead shoots, which may be affected by fungi causing brown rot of stone trees, are then eliminated.The penetration of sunlight and air inside the crown means that the fungi do not have such good conditions for development.Newly planted trees are pruned in spring to form a crown.
Fruit cherries are cut after fruit harvest- this is the best term for them. There is then a lower risk of infection of the tree by fungi and bacteria. Cutting should be done by mid-August. About 1/5 of all shoots are cut out during this time. We shorten the long shoots hanging down to the ground, cut the crowns crossing and pointing towards the center, and also remove diseased and dry branches.
Cherries bear the best fruit on annual and biennial shoots , therefore in older trees a more intensive rejuvenating pruning is performed. It involves removing and shortening parts of the old branches to stimulate the tree to produce young shoots.
Pruning cherries should be doneon dry and sunny days. Wounds are carefully protected with garden ointment or emulsion paint with the addition of a fungicide.
Cherry - diseases and pests
Brown rot of stone trees(moniliosis) is a disease caused by fungi of the genus Monilinia. They attack not only cherry trees but also cherries, plums, apricots and peaches. In cherries, this disease causesdrying and browning of flowersat the beginning of flowering, followed by leaves and shoots, and sometimes even larger branches.Rotting spots with clusters of spores appear on ripening fruits
Brown rot of stone trees - infected cherry fruits
Fig. Agronomist, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
If you findsymptoms of this cherry disease , remove infected flowers, leaves, shoots and fruit, including dried and mummified ones. For ecological spraying of fruit trees, you can use horsetail decoction, yarrow extract and horseradish spraying.Chemical preparations against brown rot of stone trees are Miedzian 50 WP, Miedzian Extra 350 SC, Signum 33 WG and Switch 62.5 WG.
Small leaf blotch of stone trees- a very dangerous disease of cherries, caused by the fungus Blumeriella jaapii. Warm and humid weather creates excellent conditions for the development of infections. It attacks trees after flowering, from the end of Maysmall spots appear on the leaves , which over time cover their entire surface, creating necroses. The leaves turn yellow and fall off, and the fruit becomes smaller and does not ripen. The fungus spores usually infect the lowest leaves, but in extreme cases, they can all fall off before harvesting. The fungus hibernates on fallen leaves that were infected last season.
Fine leaf spot on stone trees
To combat this cherry disease , fallen leaves should be raided and removed. Before all the leaves fall, an autumn spraying of 5% urea solution can be done. Preventively or when the first symptoms of infection appear, spray Syllit 65 WP.
Trześniówka seed- it is a small black fly with a yellow shield between the wings, causingcherry fruit wormingThese flies appear at the turn of May In and June, they lay eggs to the fruit, from which white larvae hatch after about 10 days. For about 3 weeks they feed in cherries, which become soft with a slightly concave surface. Trześniówka seed winters in the soil. The most vulnerable to this pest arelate-ripening cherry varieties
Trześniówka seed on cherry fruit
Fig. Bauer Karl, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commona
You can useecological methods to catch seeds, which include:
- hanging yellow sticky stickers from mid-May to mid-July,
- collecting all the fruits to prevent the larvae from descending into the soil where they hibernate,
- the ground is tightly covered with a dense fleece, which will prevent fly rods from escaping,
- digging the soil under the tree after harvesting the fruit - it will destroy some of the larvae.
Forchemical control of kernelduring its flight and egg laying, Mospilan 20 SP can be used. We spraying at the end of the first and third decade of June.
Monika Glory
