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Fruit trees need systematic fertilizer, without which they begin to get sick and produce a meager harvest. Feeding cherries in autumn and spring is aimed at strengthening the immune system and abundant fruiting. Let's consider the basic principles of using fertilizers in different seasons of the year.
Types of fertilizers for cherries
Organic fertilizers and agrochemicals are used for fertilizer. Let's look at the most commonly used fertilizers:
- urea;
- superphosphate;
- potash fertilizers;
- ammonium nitrate;
- compost;
- green manure;
- ash;
- lime;
- dolomite.
Note! The first two years after the young tree is rooted in the hole, fertilizing is not carried out.
Fertilizers are applied in two ways:
- root irrigation;
- Irrigation of the crown and trunk.
Watering the tree is carried out in a circle around the trunk. One young tree requires up to three liters of water; an adult cherry tree will require at least six buckets. After abundant watering, fertilizing is applied. When using dry agrochemicals, granules are embedded shallowly in the soil with a fork or rake (a shovel is not used in these cases).
Spraying with solutions begins 2 years after planting the seedling. When processing the tree, thoroughly wet the leaves, trunk and root circle. Irrigation is carried out with a special sprayer.
Features of spring feeding
Since there are many schemes for fertilizing cherries, agronomists recommend proceeding from the characteristics of the local climate and type of soil. A prerequisite before fertilizing is to check the soil for acidity every 2 years. The optimal value is pH 7. If the values are higher, then the soil is treated with lime, dolomite flour, and ash. For lower numbers, it is recommended to add acid to the soil: citric, malic or oxalic.
In spring, cherries need mineral and organic substances. The first type (urea, saltpeter, potassium salt, superphosphate, etc.) are necessary for normal life activity, immunity, and fruiting. The second group (compost, humus, litter, manure, sawdust) improves fertility and soil structure.
Mineral fertilizers are applied in dry or dissolved form. The granules are sprinkled on the snow or used in rainy weather. Liquids are used during drought, and also if it is necessary to speed up the flow of nutrients to the roots.
As the foliage increases, spraying is used to enhance it. Foliar treatment is also used to attract bees.
Organic supplements
Organic matter not only enriches the fertile layer with nutritional components, but also structures it well: making it loose and breathable. Compost and ash are used as a source of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
Compost
Compost richly saturates the soil with nutrients. A compost heap is formed from peat, kitchen food waste, chicken/cow droppings. The compost heap is also watered with a solution of nitrate, superphosphate and urea. The compost matures in 3-4 months, and it takes up to 5 kg of finished mass to feed a young seedling. For an adult cherry, 30 kg of compost mass is required.
Ash
Ash is a source of phosphorus and potassium, which are essential for cherries. The powder also contains other useful microelements: zinc, iron, sulfur, calcium and magnesium. Plants are fertilized with ash throughout the growing season, and in preparation for winter, ash is an indispensable component.
Lime
Lime is necessary not only for whitewashing trunks, but also for alkalizing the earth. Cherries do not like acidified soil, so it must be deoxidized regularly with lime. Lime also contains a sufficient percentage of calcium, which strengthens the root system and improves plant immunity. Dolomite also has these same qualities.
Green manure
Green manure is a quick and easy way to enrich the soil with essential microelements. To do this, plants are planted in a circle around the trunk, then stems 15 cm high are simply buried in the ground. You can grow green manure in the garden, and then mow it and bury it in the tree trunk. As green manure decomposes, it releases all the necessary substances (especially nitrogen) into the soil.
Main types of fertilizers, how to apply them correctly
Spring feeding of cherries is carried out several times. This procedure is performed using various methods - root and foliar. This helps to activate the development of shoots after winter and increases their effectiveness subsequently.
For spring feeding of plums and cherries using the root method, you can use the following types:
- Dry scattering. Mineral compositions in the form of granules interact with moisture in the form of precipitation. As they dissolve, they enter deep soil structures. This saturates the roots with nutrients.
- Watering the tree. In this case, nutrients are added in the form of aqueous solutions. They provide quick access of useful elements to the roots. However, the fertilizer cannot be kept in this form. Therefore, after preparing the solution, it must be used immediately.
- Spread as mulch. This method helps enrich the soil with the necessary substances and prevents strong evaporation of moisture. It is permissible to use peat, humus, and straw as mulch.
To fertilize cherries, it is also possible to use the foliar method. In such a situation, trees should be sprayed along the leaves and branches. This procedure must be combined with the prevention of the development of diseases and pests. This helps reduce the number of spring treatments.
Fertilizers are used in different types
As trees develop, their need for microelements changes. Young plants 1-2 years old do not require additional nutrition if a complex of fertilizers was added during planting. However, with subsequent growth, the roots become larger. Therefore, the need for nutrients is growing.
Inorganic additives
Urea
Urea (carbamide) contains up to 46% nitrogen, which is very important for increasing green mass. Urea is often combined with potash fertilizers, which forms a complete nutritional complex for spring feeding of fruit trees. In addition to nutrition, urea protects seedlings from fungal mold - coccomycosis. It is used to treat trunks and branches before the first frost.
Superphosphate
Superphosphate contains up to 50% phosphorus compounds, useful for the development of seedlings. Phosphorus promotes the development of a strong root system (especially important for young seedlings) and improves the taste of fruits. With a lack of phosphorus, the leaves become covered with yellow spots and acquire a purple tint. However, superphosphate cannot be used together with urea, chalk and saltpeter. A week should pass between fertilizing.
Potassium salts
Potassium salts ensure the resistance of seedlings to frost, so they must be added when preparing for winter. However, the dosage should be strictly observed, because excess chlorine (included in the composition) negatively affects the well-being of cherries.
Ammonium nitrate
Ammonium nitrate replaces urea, as it contains a sufficient percentage of nitrogen. The potassium content has a beneficial effect on the taste characteristics of the fruit and on the active greening of the crown.
Feeding cherries in spring
In spring, all plants urgently need nitrogen, which activates the rapid development of leaves. The source of nitrogen is ammonium nitrate and urea (urea). Fertilizers are applied even before the cherry blossoms begin. To do this, moisten the tree trunk abundantly and irrigate the ground with the prepared solution. You can also apply dry agrochemicals (granules), but the aqueous solution penetrates the soil faster and is absorbed by the root system.
Two-year-old trees are sprayed with a urea solution before flowering: take no more than 30 g per bucket of water. For root feeding, use saltpeter: 20 g of powder per square meter of tree trunk circle.
Trees older than 4 years are fed with saltpeter and urea in the same proportion before flowering. During flowering, trees are fertilized with organic matter: an infusion of cow manure and ash. For one seven-year-old tree, take a bucket of infusion (a liter of mullein and a glass of ash per bucket of water); for older trees, use up to three buckets of infusion.
After flowering, the cherry tree needs additional minerals, so the tree is fertilized with humus or a solution of mullein/chicken droppings. Before watering, the tree trunk circle is well irrigated with clean water, and then watered with an organic solution. Gardeners also recommend using an ash solution to feed cherries in the spring.
To attract bees during cherry blossoms, the tree is sprayed with honey solution. To do this, you need to dissolve a tablespoon of honey in a bucket.
Do cherries need fertilizer? How to understand that a tree needs feeding?
One of the first questions that novice gardeners who grow fruit trees ask is whether they need fertilizing in the fall? Not everyone knows that fertilizing cherry trees in the fall is just as necessary as in the spring. A tree that has put a lot of effort into ripening the crop is depleted by the fall, so it definitely needs fertilizers to replenish the balance of minerals and vitamins.
Weakened cherry trees do not tolerate winter well, suffer from frost and cannot withstand bad weather. The bark cracks, the branches are damaged by snow and winds, and become brittle and brittle from frost.
If the cherry is young, then autumn feeding will not harm the root system. Its additional strengthening allows you to strengthen the tree and nourish it before the onset of winter.
Fertilizing can begin almost as soon as the cherry berries are picked. The tree has already given its strength to the harvest, so the time has come to take care of it. If it is not possible to fertilize cherries in the summer, do it before the onset of cold weather. The main thing is that at least 20-30 days must pass before cold weather and frosts after the fertilization procedure.
Young cherries need annual fertilization; mature trees can be fertilized once every two years.
The fact that a cherry tree needs feeding is best indicated by its appearance and the quality of the harvest. Spots of purple or brown shades appear on the leaves of the cherry, the shoots do not grow and the branches become weak. After harvesting, the leaves quickly wither, and the fruits become smaller, the bush looks sickly. The taste of the berries deteriorates.
Summer care
In summer, the tree also needs nourishment. Organic fertilizers are used: humus, herbal infusion, compost. Only mature trees are processed: from four years old. At the beginning of June, ammophoska (or its derivatives) is used. To fill 1 m2 of furrow around the tree trunk, 30 g of powder is consumed.
In August, mature trees also need nourishment. Apply fertilizing with phosphates and ash. One and a half liters of working solution of superphosphate (25 g per bucket) and ash mixture (2 cups of ash per bucket) is required per square meter of tree-trunk furrow.
Note! In August, buds are laid for a new harvest, so feeding cherries is extremely necessary.
As soon as the fruits are collected, the cherries need to be fed by foliar feeding - by spraying. Foliar feeding of cherries quickly saturates the tree with essential substances, and also repels pests and strengthens the immune system.
In summer, cherries are treated with iron sulfate. The crown and trunk circle (in the projection of the crown) are well moistened with the solution. The treatment is carried out in dry, windless weather so that precipitation does not wash away the solution.
How to feed cherries in summer?
In summer, it is necessary to fertilize cherries not only at the roots, but also to spray the crown. This type of spraying is considered the most effective, because a large amount of nutrients are absorbed through the leaves.
How to feed cherries in summer:
- Most often, preparations containing nitrogen are used for these purposes, this can be saltpeter. It is diluted in a small amount of water and processed. This type of feeding is considered emergency and helps the cherry to quickly become saturated with nutrients. There should be three such treatments throughout the summer.
- The first one is carried out in the middle of summer, and then, each subsequent one, after 3 weeks. During this period, fertilizers are usually not introduced at the roots, as this is useless. In the fall, after the harvest is complete, fertilizing is carried out, but it is introduced into the root zone.
- As mentioned above, it is at the end of summer that new buds are formed, which will bear fruit the next year. If you skip this period, even under favorable climatic conditions, in the absence of frost, you will get a weak harvest. It is good to use in the middle of the season, before the harvest, green manure, manure, and compost. These are organic fertilizers that stimulate growth and improve crop fruiting.
Bloom
Autumn care
In autumn, fruit trees are prepared for winter frosts by supplying them with complex fertilizers. However, nitrogen should not be present in fertilizers, since this microelement enhances greening.
Autumn work begins immediately after the leaves fall and branches are pruned. The tree trunk circle is carefully protected from debris, and the soil is dug up deeply. After digging, fertilizer is applied.
Note! In the fall, digging is done with a pitchfork rather than a shovel. Dug up soil freezes less than compacted soil.
In autumn, it is best to apply mixed organic-chemical fertilizers:
- kuryak solution;
- compost;
- humus;
- sawdust;
- lime;
- ash;
- chalk.
Chalk is added if the tree is in dire need of iron.
Cherries are lovers of alkaline soil, so gardeners periodically lim the soil around the trunk.
Autumn preparation is also necessary for young two-year-old trees. Seedlings are fed with superphosphate (up to 60 g per square meter of trunk furrow) and an aqueous mixture of potassium sulfate (25 g of agrochemical dissolved in a bucket). Organic fertilizers (compost or humus) are applied every three years: 4-5 kg of mass is consumed per square meter of tree-trunk furrow.
Fallen leaves must be burned: they may harbor pests.
Trees from four to seven years old must be sprayed with a urea solution after the first frost. This will provide them with an easy winter. For the mixture, take 25 g of urea per bucket. For root feeding, use 310 g of superphosphate (if you use double superphosphate, the volume is halved). In addition to superphosphate, cherries are fed with an ash solution (it is enough to dilute one glass of wood ash in a bucket). Once every three years, cherries need humus or compost (up to 40 kg of organic matter is placed in the trunk circle).
Old trees (after 7 years) are also sprayed with urea solution after frost. Root feeding is carried out by adding a superphosphate solution in a volume of 0.5 kg per tree. Cherries also need potassium complexes (potassium sulfate or potassium chloride). Humus/compost is added once every three years in a volume of 50 kg per tree.
Autumn care allows trees to overwinter without problems and quickly awaken in the spring. Fertilizing also protects cherries from fungal diseases and attacks by insect pests. Experienced gardeners whiten trunks in the fall to prevent pests from settling under the bark for the winter.
Feeding in March
Calcium nitrate
Early spring feeding before flowering allows the plant to gently emerge from dormancy and begin active growth. During this period, nitrogen fertilizers such as urea, ammonium or calcium nitrate are used. They perfectly activate all the processes of the tree, improving the harvest in the coming season.
The fertilizer is spread in a dense layer around the tree directly on top of the snow. Do not sprinkle more, for fear that some of the fertilizer will be washed away. On the contrary, with melt water all the necessary components will go directly to the root system of the cherry. However, if the snow thickness exceeds 15 centimeters, it is better to wait for the snow to completely melt and apply fertilizer directly to the soil around the tree. This is also true if the tree grows on a slope and fertilizers simply do not stay at the roots of the cherry tree.
Rules for applying fertilizers
To properly fertilize fruit trees, it is necessary to form a circle around the trunk. It is a furrow up to 30 cm wide and up to 25 cm deep. Fertilizer is applied to this furrow. The distance of the furrow from the trunk changes with the age of the tree and is consistent with the projection of the crown:
- young seedlings - up to 15 cm;
- two-year-old tree - up to 35 cm;
- three-year-old tree - up to half a meter;
- older trees - according to crown projection or 1.5 more.
In spring, the tree trunk circle is the first to be cleared of snow so that the ground above the roots warms up well in the sun. After the soil in the tree-trunk circle has dried, it must be dug up (at least 15 cm deep). Digging is carried out twice during the summer and when preparing cherries for winter.
To better retain moisture in the tree trunk circle, mulch it after watering: lay humus, peat or dry/rotted manure. In the spring, mulch is laid on top, in the summer it is dug into the ground. Autumn mulching of the tree trunk protects the root system from the cold.
Inexperienced gardeners place fertilizers close to the tree trunk, but this does not benefit the cherry tree: the suction roots are located in the projection of the crown, and not near the trunk.
