Felt cherry in the garden - planting, growing, pruning and propagation

Cherries always remain one of the favorite treats in the summer. And cherry trees were an integral decoration of every orchard. The most popular type of cherry today is felt. Korea, Mongolia, and China are also called its homeland.

This tree is popular in North America and European countries. Many gardeners plant this tree in their garden simply because it has a very attractive appearance and tasty, juicy fruits with rich colors. If we are talking about a tree such as felt cherry, its propagation will be possible in the garden in several accessible ways.

Features of felt cherry

The shrub came to temperate latitudes from China. Therefore, it is often called Chinese cherry. Also in nature, its habitats are concentrated in Korea and Mongolia. The plant owes its second name (felt cherry) to botanical features. Its oval leaf blades are dark green in color with pointed tips below, pubescent and reminiscent of felt.

Flowering occurs at the end of spring. At this time, beautiful miniature flowers of white and pink tones bloom. In mid-summer it is already possible to harvest. The period of intensive fruiting with proper care is up to 20 years.

Felt cherry belongs to small-fruited shrubs

Characteristics of xylo-sweet berries:

Where can it be grown?

Currently, the widest growing area of ​​felt cherry is in Russia. The plant feels especially in high places protected from the wind. Favorable regions for planting and growing some varieties are Central Russia and the Moscow region.

The climatic conditions of the Far East, certain regions of Kazakhstan and Southern Siberia are quite similar.

The thick snow cover covering the frozen ground and the absence of thaws do not pose any threat to planting. But already at a temperature of -30...-35°C, flower buds can freeze .

In Belarus, northern Ukraine and the European part of Russia, the situation is the opposite. In winter, these areas experience constant temperature changes, periodic thaws and frosts in the absence of snow. Such conditions pose a threat to the plant. Not only buds, but also entire branches can die at temperatures of -25..-30°C.

Expert opinion

Chernyaeva Tatyana Dmitrievna

Absolutely loves gardening and grows only organic vegetables

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In the northern regions there is a risk of the bark becoming warm at the root collar. This can happen when snow falls on unfrozen ground or temperatures begin to rise, causing the snow to melt. Therefore, you should not insulate the felt cherry tree during the winter, and if there is a large amount of precipitation around the planting, you should remove the snow so that the ground can freeze.

The Leningrad region and adjacent areas of the North-West are not entirely suitable for planting some varieties. Frequent rains and dampness contribute to outbreaks of fungal diseases and destructive damping off.

Popular methods of reproduction

Felt cherries can be propagated in several ways - generative and vegetative. Using the first method, standard species are bred, since it does not allow preserving varietal characteristics, which is especially important for large-fruited hybrids. In the latter case, preference is given to cuttings or propagation by layering.

You can get felt cherry seedlings in different ways.

Seeds

Felt cherry reproduces by seeds. This is the main way to get strong plants. Cherry seeds have a high germination rate - up to 87%: when sowing 10 copies, 8 will germinate.

There are other advantages to seed propagation:

• high growth rate of seedlings;
• rapid entry into the fruiting phase;
• the opportunity to obtain Far Eastern forms of culture in other climatic conditions.

To achieve excellent germination, you need to properly prepare the seed material.

When the berries reach biological ripeness, large specimens without the slightest signs of disease are selected from the bush. Then the selected berries are washed and laid out in one layer to dry. A shaded place is suitable so that there is no access to direct sunlight.

Dried specimens are subjected to stratification, which consists of two stages:

1. The seed is mixed with sand in August and stored until October in a cool place. As a rule, the container with the mixture is placed in the refrigerator compartment in the vegetable compartment.
2. In October, seeds are sown in the ground, where they undergo natural stratification. In the spring, immediately after the snow melts, you can see the shoots of felt cherries.

Location requirements

Felt cherry is unpretentious to growing conditions. But when choosing a location, preference should be given to sunny areas, otherwise, with a large deficit of light, the fruits may rot right on the shoots. If the plant develops in the shade, the branches begin to grow rapidly in length, and the yield and quality of the fruit are significantly reduced. The crop is not very demanding on the composition and structure of soils.

Attention! But Chinese cherries will demonstrate higher yields on light sandy and loamy soils.

Seeding technology

When the optimal time for sowing arrives, the main work begins.

Before sowing seeds, furrows are prepared

The sequence of actions is as follows:

1. Shallow grooves are prepared in the selected area. Maximum depth - 6 cm. Distance between copies - 3 cm.
2. Seeds are placed in them.
3. Sprinkle with sand or sawdust.
4. Finally, cover with garden soil.

The next year in the spring, the plants are inspected and the weaker ones are removed.

Strong seedlings are left to grow for a year or two, and then they are transplanted to a site chosen for permanent growth.

In order for the seedlings to grow better and enter the fruiting phase faster, it is better to grow them without replanting.

Propagation of cherries by pits

But in this case, the sowing technology changes slightly:

1. Make holes at a distance of 20 cm from each other.
2. Manure and nitroammophoska are placed in them.
3. Sprinkle with soil.
4. I lower the indentations of 4-5 seeds.
5. When the seedlings sprout, the strongest one is chosen, and the others are cut off.

Cuttings

Propagation of felt cherries by cuttings is advisable when you need to obtain new plants of highly productive and large-fruited varieties. Material for propagation is harvested from shoots 10-15 cm long of the second or third orders of branching this year. Cut the cuttings so that each one has 2 cm of last year's wood left. The optimal time for taking cuttings is morning.

Cuts of planting material are placed in a growth regulator, collected in bunches. After 12 hours you can start disembarking. Planted in a pre-prepared light substrate with a distance of 10 cm. Deepen the cutting so that the entire lignified part and 1 cm of green shoot are in the soil.

The plantings are protected with polyethylene, the edges of which are crushed with garden soil. Gauze will help protect the structure from sunlight. Sometimes a double coat may be required. Thanks to this, it is possible to create greenhouse conditions that promote rapid rooting.

Why he dies: common diseases

Common cherry diseases are not always dangerous for felt cherry. However, some may well disturb her too.

Moniliosis (monilial burn)

The most common disease, more about which you can read here. Wet fruit rot immediately affects the fruits and they dry out .
If they remain on the plant until next year, this contributes to the spread of the disease. In spring, the opened buds darken, the leaves and young shoots begin to dry. This dangerous fungal disease can destroy a seedling if it is not treated with copper-containing fungicides in a timely manner.

If dried fruits are noticed on the bushes, then in the fall after leaf fall and in the spring before the buds open, it is necessary to spray with nitrafen (2-3%) or iron sulfate (5%). If affected branches are found, they must be cut out , capturing 2 cm of the healthy part of the branch and immediately burned.

Important! To avoid infection, felt cherries should not be planted close to other stone fruit crops.

Pockets and gray rot

If, instead of beautiful berries, deformed bag-shaped fruits are formed on the felt cherry, then the plant is affected by a fungal disease - deforming tafrin (“cherry pockets”). And if the fruits have rotted and are covered with gray mold-like spores in the form of “pads,” then the felt cherry is affected by gray fruit rot.

With these two diseases, the fruits are collected and destroyed, the affected branches are cut off and burned . Before and after flowering, two sprays with copper-containing fungicides are carried out. Bushes and stone fruit plants growing nearby should be treated with Fundazol or Topaz for preventive purposes.

Clusterosporiasis

Identified by the leaves, which are covered with dark brown growths that dry out after a while. The leaf becomes like a sieve. The buds affected by the disease do not open, and gum is released from them. This discharge can also be seen on the affected shoots.

Attention! It is important to carry out three-stage processing on time. Before the buds open, spray with Bordeaux mixture. During bud opening - Kuproxat, and after two weeks re-treat the plants.

Coccomycosis

A fairly common disease of stone fruit crops.
Although felt cherries are quite resistant to this disease, some varieties may become affected. Small reddish spots appear on the leaves, which gradually merge with each other. With severe damage, dried spots on the leaves turn brown and fall out, forming holes.

Fungicides are used for prevention and treatment. Read more about the symptoms and treatment of coccomycosis here.

Further care

Since felt cherry is an unpretentious crop, it requires minimal care. Mandatory pyrotechnic measures are limited to irrigation and fertilization.

Watering

The crop is drought-resistant, but at a young age you should not allow the soil layer to dry out. This negatively affects the growth rate of the crop and its productivity. Watering is carried out in the morning or evening, when the sun is less active.

Cherries cannot be over-watered, otherwise moisture stagnation and root rot may develop.

Soil treatment

After watering or heavy rainfall, you should loosen the soil under the bush. This will ensure good air exchange. Simultaneously with loosening, the tree trunk circle is weeded.

Attention! Weeding is important in the first stages of development of a young specimen, when the root system is still weak - weeds compete with the cherry for nutrients and moisture.

Top dressing

Start applying fertilizer in the third year of development of seedlings or rooted cuttings. Until this moment, the nutrients added during sowing or planting are enough for them. In the future, the plants are fed twice per season - in spring and autumn. In spring feeding, use a complex fertilizer with the addition of nitrogen. And in the fall it is excluded, which allows the plant to have time to prepare for winter, and not to build up green mass.

Breeding a garden crop is an important event in its cultivation. The procedure ensures stable and constant fruiting of the bush.

Choosing the right growing method

Not everyone will agree to grow this cherry and care for it, since the plant bears fruit for no more than 10 years. The berries are small in size, and the seed is quite difficult to separate from the pulp. However, if you have felt cherry trees in your garden, why not experiment and choose a good propagation method.

There are 4 options for the procedure, each gardener will be able to choose the most suitable one for himself:

• propagation by seeds;
• graft;
• green cuttings;
• propagation by layering.

Answers on questions

What are the advantages of felt cherry? The culture is very frost-resistant and practically not susceptible to diseases. But these are not the only advantages of the plant.

Among the advantages are the following:

• crown compactness;
• high decorative value during flowering and fruiting;
• early fruiting with green cuttings and grafting - 2-3 years;
• excellent yield - up to 20 kg per adult specimen.

Do you need to grow felt cherries the same way as regular ones? No, her agricultural technology is different. Growing this cherry is more like growing berry crops, only the distance between plants when planting should be greater.

Advantages and disadvantages

The plant has many advantages:

• ripens two weeks earlier than regular cherries;
• not demanding in care;
• wide scope of application: preparations, cooking, traditional medicine;
• quite resistant to diseases;
• frost-resistant, which allows it to be grown in northern regions;
• has high taste qualities;
• root shoots are excluded;
• there is no fruit falling.

Flaws:

• some varieties do not tolerate return frosts;
• does not tolerate waterlogging;
• not transportable.

Recommendations for gardeners

When planting cherries, you should carefully choose a place on the site. The plant loves hills and even surfaces. The tree will feel great near a fence or any other building. There is no wind here, and in winter a lot of snow settles.

The soil should be sandy or loamy. This type of soil warms up well in the sun, retains moisture and allows air to pass through. Do not plant the tree in a swampy area. There is always water there, which will negatively affect the root system. The tree will stop growing or die altogether.