What kind of cherry are you?
Who would have thought that in addition to the usual name, the felt cherry has several more names.
China and Mongolia are considered to be the birthplace of the plant. This is probably why it is often called Chinese cherry. Because of the delicate sweetness of their fruits, which differ from the sourish garden cherries, Chinese berries are also called baby cherries. It is noteworthy that in Kyrgyzstan, growing wild, it received the name chiya.
It’s strange that this crop is called cherry. In fact, it is a distant relative of the plum, but because of its round, small-shaped fruit, it received its current name.
This crop grows not like a tree, but like a bush. Its height is approximately 1.5 meters and it grows more in width than in height.
Although, without pruning and forming a bushy form, it can grow up to 3 meters. The cherry received the adjective to its name because of the white, felt-like fluff covering the bottom of its leaves.
To the description of the felt cherry, we can add that the fruits are small in shape, smaller than ordinary cherries. The berries sit on short petioles and, in their close proximity, resemble sea buckthorn.
Another feature of cherries is that they do not like loneliness. Next to it, experts advise planting 2-3 bushes of the same variety. The reason is that the felt cherry is self-sterile.
Although female and male flowers grow on it, it requires the presence of “brothers” and “sisters” to set fruit.
But despite the impossibility of cross-pollination with an ordinary cherry, gardeners note an interesting fact: the felt “namesake” growing nearby, while flowering simultaneously with the cherry tree, produces larger and juicier fruits.
Application of fruits and benefits
Photos of felt cherries are available in this article. You can see from them that this is a real decoration of the site! But the benefits of the plant lie not only in beauty. The fruits of felt cherries are used for making juices, compotes, jams; they are also good fresh.
Their benefit also lies in the fact that they are recommended for anemia and cardiovascular diseases. In addition, the fruits are widely used in folk medicine for:
- temperature reduction;
- increasing appetite;
- antiseptic effect;
- mild laxative effect;
- prevention of colds and viral diseases.
Cons of growing
Felt cherry has few disadvantages and they are not significant. The flowering bush does not tolerate sudden spring frosts.
The lifespan of felt cherry is shorter than that of ordinary cherry. If a tree lives 50-60 years, then the bush will wither in 15-20 years.
Cherries are so delicate that they are difficult to transport. That is why it is not for sale on store shelves.
Varieties of felt cherries for Siberia and the Urals
There is no point in listing the varieties growing in the Urals and Siberia. Almost all felt cherry cultivars were bred in the Far East, the vast majority - by the experimental station of the Research Institute of Plant Growing named after. N. I. Vavilova. Climatic conditions make it possible to plant china not only in gardens, but also as a hedge or to strengthen slopes.
In the northernmost regions, where the temperature in winter drops below 40 degrees and there is a danger of the cambium freezing, it is recommended to grow china as a creeping crop. To do this, the bush is planted at an angle of 45 degrees, and covered with spruce branches for the winter.
Choosing a sunny location
Before you have a berry beauty on your plot, decide on the choice of location. Cherry bushes do not like soil where groundwater comes close to the surface. Excess moisture will lead to rotting of the roots.
But if the area is very wet, choose elevated places for planting, or arrange drainage and outflow of excess water.
The bright beauty does not like heavy soil. If the soil is not suitable for it, but you really want to plant a flowering miracle, the heaviness of the soil is diluted with baking powder.
Felt cherry prefers to grow in sunny places for a reason. If the summer is rainy, the tender cherries of the bush will rot in a dark corner of the garden.
Varieties of felt cherries for the Moscow region
The most difficult thing is to choose the best varieties of felt cherries for the Moscow region. From the photos of numerous online stores, the consumer looks at elegant bushes with red berries, and advertising claims that the plants will take root well. Of course, Chinese cherries are unpretentious, but only in the Far East.
In the Moscow region and other regions of the central zone, it faces such troubles as recurrent frosts and damping off of the neck. The plant also does not like acidic, dense soil - it needs to be improved by adding lime, a large amount of organic matter and ash.
In fact, any varieties approved for cultivation in all regions are suitable for the Moscow region, if you choose an elevated place for planting and cultivate the soil. It is important under no circumstances to buy seedlings brought from the southern regions, Moldova or Ukraine. They are almost 100% likely not to survive the winter.
Among other varieties suitable for planting in the Moscow region, I would like to highlight:
- Alice;
- Natalie;
- Fairy tale;
- Triana;
- Jubilee;
- Altan;
- Damanka;
- Beauty;
- Summer;
- A dream.
There is no point in worrying about self-fertile varieties of felt cherries for the Moscow region. It is difficult to find a plot where plums or apricots do not grow. And in places where there are no these trees within a radius of 40 m, there are no felt cherries.
Comment! In the Moscow region, china should not become the main crop; it is simply a good addition to your table, and not a replacement for ordinary cherries.
The right purchase is the key to a good harvest
So, the place has been chosen, it’s time to purchase seedlings. Experts advise buying them not from hand or at the market, but from nurseries.
In specialized places, the felt cherry is grafted; after planting and with proper care, it will quickly take root and the fruits on it will be large. When bargaining at the market, you are not insured against buying a wild bush that has grown from a seed. The berries of such a sprout will be small, 1-2 cm, no more.
If you made a purchase in the fall, do not plant the sprout in open ground for the winter. It is better to plant it in a large bucket with loose soil or sand, and put it in the basement for the winter.
When purchasing a seedling in the spring, pay attention to the absence of awakening buds on it. If the purchase occurred in the fall, then the cherry tree should not have leaves.
Features of agricultural technology
Basically, the rules for growing felt cherries are no different from the agricultural practices characteristic of common cherries. But there are some nuances.
Landing
- For planting, choose only a dry place well warmed by the sun, preferably a small hill or hillside. Felt cherry categorically does not tolerate shade and heavy silt, clay, or peaty soil. Failure to comply with these conditions negatively affects the quantity and quality of berries, the growth and development of the plant, and its winter hardiness.
- It is advisable to immediately plan to plant three or more seedlings, even if the selected variety is declared as self-fertile. The minimum distance between bushes is 1.5–2 m.
- If possible, remove plantings as far as possible from ordinary cherries. Crops suffer from the same diseases and pests; mass infection and loss of the entire crop are possible.
- The best time to plant felt cherries is early spring, before the leaves appear. In warm southern regions, the procedure can be postponed to the beginning of September, but not later.
- They dig a shallow hole - take out a cube of soil with an edge of about 0.5 m. Good feeding is required - rotted manure or humus (2.5-3 l), dolomite flour or sifted wood ash (700 g or half as much), simple superphosphate (50 g ), potassium sulfate (25 g). Everything is thoroughly mixed beforehand.
- Immediately before planting, trim the roots to a length of 15–20 cm to better develop the lateral ones. When purchasing a seedling, ask the nursery at what depth it was planted there, and try to maintain the parameters in the garden plot.
- A lot of water is poured into the planting hole. It should be enough to get a thick porridge of soil and fertilizers mixed with it at the bottom. It is in this “chatterbox” that the roots are placed.
- After planting a felt cherry, be sure to mulch the tree trunk with dry peat. This way you can reduce watering and, if necessary, regulate soil moisture.
The place for the felt cherry must be sunny and dry
Top dressing
Felt cherry is demanding on the presence of nutrients in the soil. Therefore, when the plant fades, 5 liters of organic matter, 30 g of urea or ammonium sulfate, 70 g of simple superphosphate, and 20 g of potassium nitrate are added annually to the tree trunk circle. Every 3–5 years, the soil acidity level is brought to neutral by adding dolomite flour or wood ash.
Simultaneously with the application of fertilizers, the soil is loosened, but very shallowly (maximum 4–5 cm). The roots of the felt cherry are located very close to the surface.
When it becomes necessary to use additional fertilizers or chemicals to control pests, they are carefully tested on individual side branches 10–12 days before the intended treatment, experimentally determining the required concentration. The dose recommended by the manufacturer for regular fruit and stone fruit trees may severely burn felt cherry leaves.
Trimming
For regular abundant fruiting, felt cherries require annual formative pruning. When carrying out this process, it should be remembered that the fruits ripen mainly on annual shoots. About a quarter is cut off from them if their length exceeds 0.6 m.
The fruits of the felt cherry clearly demonstrate the origin of the name
A seedling planted in spring is pruned to a height of 40 cm after a year. After another year, a third of the length of all side shoots is removed.
After waiting for the first fruiting, 8–12 of the most developed and strong skeletal shoots are left in the center of the crown. The lateral ones are cut to the growth point, provoking the appearance of new growth. All small branches growing deeper and downwards are also removed.
Of course, you need to get rid of all dried and broken branches damaged by pests and shoot diseases. In the latter case, additionally cut off 7–10 cm that seem healthy to you. Most likely, there are pathogenic bacteria, fungal spores, and insect larvae present there.
Without regular pruning, the felt cherry quickly grows wild and stops bearing fruit.
Watering
Watering is needed very moderate and rare. In rainy, cloudy weather it is generally excluded. Excess moisture for felt cherries is destructive in the truest sense of the word. The plant tolerates prolonged drought much better than high humidity. By the way, research by biologists indicates that felt cherries can also grow on saline soils.
The felt cherry harvest is a spectacle that will reward the gardener for all the effort that goes into growing it.
Video: nuances of growing and caring for felt cherries in temperate climates
Landing
Preparation for planting felt cherries includes several stages:
Cherries are planted in early April
Carefully inspect the seedling. Dry and damaged roots must be removed. The central root is cut off to allow the lateral roots to branch out.
The tops also need to be leveled. The longest branches are shortened to the level of the rest.
For planting, a hole is dug 50 cm deep and the same width. Advice! In order for the bush to take root well, it is recommended to plant it at the same depth at which it grew in the nursery (this is noticeable by the marks on the trunk).
The hole is filled one third with well-rotted humus, potash and phosphate fertilizers.
A seedling is placed in the dug hole, covered with soil that remains after digging, and compacted tightly.
A small hole is formed around the trunk so that when watering, water reaches the roots.
The seedling is well watered, and then the hole is mulched to retain moisture.
The remaining trees are planted in the same way at a distance of 2 meters from each other. When designing a “living” hedge, bushes are planted at a shorter distance.
Diseases and pests
Felt cherry is unpretentious, so the biggest problems when growing it are related to diseases and pests. But they are also few in number, and with proper prevention they can be avoided altogether.
The main diseases of felt cherry and measures to combat them:
| Name of the disease | Features of the disease | Control measures |
| Moniliosis | Fungal disease. All vegetative parts of the plant are affected. The affected parts are removed and destroyed. | Treated with fungicides Horus or Topaz. |
| Pocket disease | This fungal disease affects the plant at the fruit set stage. Causes fruit deformation. Leads to crop losses. | In early spring, spray with copper sulfate or 3% Bordeaux mixture. |
For the prevention of diseases, Bordeaux mixture 1% is used. Felt cherries are sprayed until the flower buds swell. Spraying is repeated after flowering, at the very beginning of fruit set.
The most common pests of felt cherry:
- pocket mite;
- scale insect;
- aphid;
- cherry weevils;
- leaf roller.
Watering the plant with hot water before the buds open helps control mites. In the fight against other pests, insecticides show themselves best - “Karbofos”, “Aktara” and others. Traditional methods against these insects are ineffective.
Treatment with insecticides cannot be carried out on the formed ovary.
Felt cherries can be damaged by mice and other rodents. To prevent them, the trunk of the plant is covered with branches - spruce, juniper, and reed are suitable.
Variety of varieties
Whatever variety you choose, take note of the following advice: to prevent the fruits from becoming smaller, felt cherries growing in bushes must be thinned out, removing excess branches. If this procedure is carried out regularly, the bush tree can bear fruit for several years.
It would seem that an ordinary felt cherry bush is capable of growing from a seed, whatever varieties it may have. It turns out that home gardeners have plenty to choose from.
Knowing the name of the variety, it is not difficult to understand the characteristics of a particular species and choose the one that is suitable for growth, fruiting and climate.
"Natalie"
Tall bushes reach 1.8 meters in height. The variety is suitable for beginning agronomists because it is unpretentious, resistant to winter frosts, summer drought and spring frosts.
But the plant cannot tolerate waterlogging—the roots, foliage and fruits rot. The harvest will delight you with large berries weighing up to 4 grams.
Variety "Summer"
Mother of many felt cherry species. If you want to reap a good harvest from it at the end of July (up to 9 kg per bush), protect the plants from the codling moth, which is partial to this variety.
Bushes of medium height are strewn with very large fruits weighing up to 5 grams.
"Alice"
Medium-sized bush with red berries, 3-4 grams each.
"Queen"
The description of this variety of felt cherry deserves special attention. Low-growing bushes will be of interest not only from the point of view of harvesting, but also of landscape design.
The variety is great for creating hedges. Bushes 1.2 meters high in July give a generous harvest. Gardeners collect 10 kg of berries from one bush.
"White"
This variety is suitable for those who want to add something unusual among the felt cherry bushes.
Rare for Chinese cherries, the white fruits are not inferior in taste to their red counterparts. The fruits are small, 2 grams each, but their yield is up to 8 kg per bush.
"Damanka"
Another variety with non-standard fruits. Small dark burgundy berries on two-meter bushes yield a yield of up to 9 kg.
All varieties have several factors in common: the fruits are juicy, sour-sweet, their pulp is difficult to separate from the seeds
The berries are ideal for making jam and compotes, but are absolutely not suitable for transportation and long-term storage due to their delicate skin.
How to choose felt cherry for the Leningrad region
In the North-West the climate is unstable. Spring thaws give way to frosts - these are return frosts, which are dangerous for felt cherries. The plants overwinter well, but the root collar often withers. Due to the untimely emergence of bees, early Chinese varieties will bloom profusely, but will not be able to bear fruit annually. It is better to plant late and mid-ripening varieties.
The following varieties performed well:
- Alice;
- Dream;
- Natalie;
- Fairy tale;
- Triana;
- Altana;
- White;
- Damanka.
Note to home breeders
To grow cherry bushes yourself, you do not need to be an agronomist breeder. Felt cherry is propagated by cuttings, layering and seeds.
The option of growing bushes from seeds is suitable for creating green fences. In this case, the yield is not important, because the offspring from the seeds cannot boast of large fruits.
Reviews from gardeners
As promised, at the end of the article we will give examples of reviews from gardeners about felt cherries. People who have already dropped her off and got to know her well write the following:
The berries sit well on the branches, even when ripe, they do not fall off for about a month. They are easily removed from branches without stalks, so the berries do not need to be peeled before processing. But this is also bad, because the harvested crop is not even stored in the refrigerator; it needs to be processed as quickly as possible. It is for this reason that felt cherry berries cannot be found on sale.
The seeds in the berries are very small, they are quite difficult to remove from the pulp, and it is difficult to peel for jam. But the fruits are sweet; preparation requires less sugar than those made from ordinary cherries.
The plant is unpretentious, it waits patiently for the owner to cope with his important affairs and take care of it. It does not dry out and does not drop its fruits during drought, which is popular with residents of the southern regions.
In general, the reviews mostly contain only positive comments; there are few comments on the varieties, and even those are not that serious.
Bone kids
The germination rate of Chinese cherry seeds is quite high—7-8 seeds germinate out of ten seeds. Planting material is harvested in the summer.
The seeds, washed and cleared of pulp, are dried (not in the sun!) and stored until October, mixed with sand.
In the fall, having chosen a permanent place for the bushes, make a furrow 6 cm deep, plant the seeds, sprinkle with sawdust and cover with earth on top. In the spring, seedlings will appear, which will reach half a meter in height by autumn.
How and where it grows, growing conditions
The unpretentious shrub has spread throughout Russia thanks to the efforts of the famous scientist-breeder Ivan Michurin . It was he who developed the Ando variety, widely known to domestic gardeners.
Felt cherry is unpretentious, but you should follow the basic recommendations to get a good harvest:
- The shrub is highly frost-resistant, but is very sensitive to drafts, so for planting it is worth choosing an area protected from the wind.
- The cherry grows quietly in the shade of other fruit plants, but for normal development and fruiting it is better to move the bush away from the trees by at least 1.5 meters.
- Felt cherry does not take root well in low-lying areas, this is due to stagnation of moisture in such places. Excessive soil moisture can lead to winter freezing of the bush and its further death.
- The fruiting period of felt cherries ranges from 8 to 13 years. It is recommended to renew the bush once every 10 years so as not to lose the harvest.
Important! Although the plant displays both male and female flowers, the cherry tree is not self-fertile. For pollination, 3–5 bushes need to be planted nearby.
Multiply by cuttings
Varieties that produce large berries are propagated by cuttings. Several shoots 10-15 cm long are cut from the selected bush, tied into a bundle and soaked in any growth stimulant for a day.
Then each cutting is planted in a nutrient substrate to a depth of at least 3 cm and covered with film.
Description with photo
itself comes from the Mongolian steppes ; the berry bush is also found in Korea, but they call it Chinese felt cherry.
The basis for the name “felt” was the pronounced light fluff that densely covers the small leaf plates of the plant.
Cherry fruits are small, very juicy, with a large pit inside , planted on a short petiole, and fit closely to the branches.
Care and cultivation, pruning and other procedures will not cause problems even for a novice gardener, which makes the felt cherry a favorite of household plots.
Proper agricultural technology allows you to remove from 10 to 15 kg of fruit from one bush per season . Fruiting is extended over time and can take a period from mid-June to the end of July.
Interesting! You can’t call the cherry tree a felt tree. Rather, it is a dense shrub with a rounded crown, prone to strong thickening, formed by several large skeletal branches. The size of the plant almost never exceeds 2 meters.
Among the positive aspects of the plant are the following:
- High yield: even with violations of agricultural technology, it is possible to remove about 8 kg of fruit from the bush.
- Tolerant to living conditions, easily tolerates both frost and drought without loss of fruit quality.
- Fast growth rate: the shrub begins to bear fruit already 2–3 years after planting.
- The harvest does not fall off the branches even after reaching full maturity.
- Blooming cherry trees are incredibly beautiful, which is why they are readily planted in park areas.
- Thanks to its compact size it fits even in a small area.
- Does not require much effort when growing and caring.
Move to the side
“Cloning” the mother bush is not a difficult procedure and is carried out in the spring, as soon as the snow melts.
They select the freshest shoot from last year, bend it to the ground, place it in a pre-prepared groove, and cover it with soil, compacting it.
For closer contact with the ground, it is recommended to “pin” the branch with a spear or bent wire. Don’t forget to water it all summer and by autumn the cuttings will take root.
Felt cherry is not difficult to care for and even the most inexperienced amateur can grow it. And if the plant is surrounded with care, attention and love, it will certainly reward you with lush flowering and a generous harvest of vitamins.
Advantages
Among the advantages of the type are the following:
- If the cultivation of felt cherries is correct, the tree will produce 2 times more fruit than other varieties.
- The taste of the fruit. The berries are sweet, juicy and aromatic.
- Fruiting varies among different types of plants: early, late, middle. In each case, the berries almost never fall.
- No growth. This makes caring for the berries easier.
- Beneficial features. Berries contain many vitamins B, C, PP.
- Quick start to fruiting.
The berries have a short shelf life. The bush requires care and regular treatment of the branches.
