Felt cherry is not the easiest crop to grow. Having pretty much suffered at one time with these capricious trees, today I want to talk about how I grow it now.
Landing
Before I begin, I note that despite the name, this plant is closer to the plum than to the cherry. So if you already know how to grow plums, cherry plums or apricots, you will have something to focus on.
When I choose a place for a new cherry, I focus on the following:
- The place should be sunny and open. Shade felt cherry does not like.
- The soil must be strictly neutral. So if you haven't done this before, buy a set of litmus test papers for gardeners and test it with a soil extract. If the soil is acidic, add gypsum or lime. Many advise deoxidizing with ash, but I don’t do this: too much ash will be required.
- The soil should be loose and fertile. Cherry grows best on sandstone or loam if there is good drainage.
- Only self-pollinated (self-fertile) varieties can be planted alone. If you have chosen a different variety, immediately buy 3-4 seedlings, otherwise there will be no harvest.
I plant cherries in the spring before the buds open. Usually in the nursery I take seedlings at 1-2 years old: they take root and grow faster. I plant like this:
- in a row between seedlings at least 150 cm;
- between rows - at least 3.5 m;
- a pit 50 cm deep and of the same diameter.
Before planting, I add a bucket of humus, 50 g of phosphate, 20 g of potassium salt to each hole and mix everything with the soil and plant the plants along the root collar in the resulting mound. If this is done, then for two years it will not be necessary to feed additionally, and the cherry will grow more vigorously.
Well, a little trick: I cut the roots of a seedling to 30 cm and dip it in a clay mixture - this way they are less damaged during planting and grow into the soil faster.
How to care for felt cherries
In the first year, I don’t touch the seedlings much - I just cover them for the winter with spruce branches and non-woven material. After planting in the first and second year, I do not feed it, then I start after flowering and fertilize at the end of August:
- in spring, a mixture of 5 kg of compost, 30 g of ammofoska and 50 g of superphosphate is planted in the soil along the trunk circle on a shovel bayonet;
- in the fall I give 40 g of superphosphate or other fertilizer without nitrogen - it is not needed in the winter and is even dangerous.
Sometimes, if the cherry does not look good, I additionally feed it with wood ash: it has a lot of potassium. At the same time, the ash also deoxidizes the soil a little.
The rest of the time, I water the cherries about once every two weeks (more often in dry summers) and make sure that there are no diseases. To be honest: at first it turned out badly, my first plantings died out from moniliosis. Yes, and now you regularly have to cut out the affected branches and treat the plants with Bordeaux mixture.
pruning
In principle, felt cherries do not need to be pruned: they do not live and bear fruit for so long to engage in molding and rejuvenation. However, I noticed that with pruning, cherries do not bear fruit for 10, as usual, but for 15-17 years. So it's worth working as a secateurs.
The pruning principles are simple:
- I regularly remove old branches - only the shoots of this year bear fruit;
- every five years I spend rejuvenation;
- I do not leave more than 10-12 shoots;
- once every 2-3 years I cut off the old skeletal branches;
- I do not let annual shoots grow longer than 55-60 cm.
reproduction
Since felted cherries do not live very long, they must be renewed regularly. I used to buy seedlings only from a nursery, but now I sometimes grow them myself.
Cherry grows well from the seeds, but wild ones are obtained, which are not very tasty. Therefore, I mainly grow them from cuttings or layering.
When cutting in the first half of summer, I cut off young shoots 15-17 cm long so that at the base there are 2-3 cm of last year's branch. I process the roots with "Kornevin" and place them in the cuttings. I have it made of boards and film, it is in the shade and looks like a mini-greenhouse: the cuttings need stable humidity and temperature and the absence of direct sunlight. In my cuttings, they sit at a depth of 3 cm (that is, the entire last year's part plus 1 cm of a young shoot). When the cuttings develop a root system (usually after a couple of months), I transplant them to a permanent place.
As for the layering, everything is simple here: I take last year's long branch, bend it to the ground and pin it with a hairpin - I specially made them from thick wire. If there is no hairpin, you can simply press the branch with a stone. Then, around the end of the layering, I pour fertile soil and leave it in this form until autumn. It usually takes root in autumn and can be carefully cut from the mother plant and planted.
Conclusion
Felt cherry is not the easiest plant, it gets sick regularly. But when it begins to bear fruit, the harvest justifies all the work. I tried to grow it - and still keep it on the site, not regretting it. Have you tried this culture?
Read also: The best fertilizer for currants: potato peelings
Another related article: Morozko pepper: description, secrets of successful cultivation
Friends, do not forget to subscribe to the channel and leave a LIKE if the article is useful!
#felt cherry#garden#cultivation and care