Felt Cherry Ando - Varieties And Agricultural Technology

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Ando cherry: fruitful and tasty, suitable for hedges and curbs

In early May, on many household plots, you can admire the light pink clouds of blooming felt cherry; in July, juicy fruits light up on these bushes against the background of emerald corrugated green leaves with bright rubies.

In appearance they are similar to common cherries, but genetically these cherries are very distant relatives. By its nature and biological characteristics, felt cherry is closer to plums and crosses with plums, peaches, cherry plums and apricots, and is incompatible with “real” cherries - common and steppe cherries. It is distinguished into a special genus - micro cherries.

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Felt cherry (Prunus Tomentosa) originates from Central China, which is why it is also called Chinese. From there, the culture moved to Korea, Japan, North America, and at the end of the 19th century reached the Far East. There, until now, the concept of cherry is associated with felt cherry, and mostly unvaccinated seedlings grow in the gardens. Felt cherry owes its appearance in the European part of our country to I. V. Michurin, who developed a large-fruited form and described it under the name Ando. Felt cherry was named because of the pubescence that resembles felt that covers the shoots, leaves and even fruits.

The virtues of culture and agricultural technology

This shrub with a spreading crown has a lot of advantages: unusually high frost resistance, stable productivity, early fruiting. Ripe fruits, ripening a week or one and a half earlier than ordinary cherries, are convenient to pick (the maximum plant height is 2.5-3 m), they practically do not crumble.

Unfortunately, in years with many snows with cold, protracted spring, felt cherry often suffers from stem growth. Some varieties lose juice when removed, poorly transported.

Cherry is suitable for creating hedges, curbs, fortification of slopes, you can plant it in rows (1.5 m in a row and 3 m in a row). Since it is self-fertile, that is, it is not capable of self-pollination, several varieties are placed nearby. The best time to plant is early spring, before bud break. You can plant cherries in autumn - in September, but seedlings purchased in mid - late October are better to dig in until spring.

Soils for felt cherries are preferable to light loamy, sandy loam. Heavy waterlogged soils and peat bogs are not suitable for it. The landing site is sunny, elevated, without stagnation of spring waters.

The bushes are fertilized after flowering, applying 5-7 kg of organic fertilizers, 20 g of potash, 30 g of nitrogen, 70 g of phosphorus fertilizers along the edges of the trunks. Once every five years, the soil is limed.

The center of the crown is annually thinned out, preventing thickening, and 10-12 strong shoots are left.

Felt cherry bears fruit abundantly, usually already in the third year, and annually, for 15-18 years. With proper planting and proper care, yields can be up to 4 kg per plant. Fruits, ripening almost simultaneously, densely stick to the branches, which looks very beautiful, but such an abundance makes picking difficult. The berries are juicy, aromatic, sweet, weighing up to 4 g with a color from light pink to dark red.

Ripe fruits are best eaten immediately, as they are poorly stored. For processing or transportation, cherries are harvested before they are fully ripe, as soon as they reach their maximum size and are almost completely colored.

To protect against hares and mice, which can completely destroy the landings, poisoned baits are laid out, the trunks are covered with a net at the base.

Felt cherry in our conditions has long been considered a culture that is practically not affected by diseases and pests, but recently there has been an outbreak of a dangerous fungal disease - monilial burn: first, flowers, leaves wither, then the whole branch. In two to three years, the entire plant may die. To combat the disease, use a 0.1% solution of foundationol (10 g per bucket of water). Spray during flowering. If the weather is wet and cool, the operation is repeated at the end of flowering. Affected shoots are removed, it is advisable to cut them off completely, without leaving "hemp", which then dry out and can break off further damage the shoot. The cut must be isolated with a garden pitch.

In gardens located in lowlands, in places where a lot of snow accumulates in winter, with frequent thaws in winter, plants often suffer from damage to the bark of the lower part of the stems - the so-called "damping out of the root collar". The defeat is possible with separate foci or a solid ring. In the spring, the cherry begins to bloom normally, but then it gets sick and dries up.

Reproduction of felt cherries

The main breeding method of a species (but not varieties!) Is simple sowing of seeds. The seeds are collected, washed and slightly dried in the shade. At the end of August, the seeds are mixed with wet sand and stored in a cool room until October, and then sown on a garden bed in grooves 2-3 cm deep. In spring, friendly shoots appear. With good care, seedlings grow quickly and already in the first year of life reach a height of 40-50 cm. In the fall or spring of next year, they must be planted.

Propagation by green cuttings allows you to get varietal planting material, but this method is applicable when there is a greenhouse equipped with a fogging installation.

Reproduction by grafting is carried out during the period of active sap flow, which can be established by simply cutting off the shoot. The grafting is done either by budding with a bud, or by copulating with a cuttings on a stock - thorny plum, cherry plum or Vladimirskaya variety.

Felt cherry varieties

The first varieties were created by scientists of the Far Eastern Research Institute of Agriculture: Pionerka, Ogonyok, Khabarovsk, Amurka, Leto. As a result of crossing sand cherries and felt cherries, new wonderful varieties were obtained: Alice, Delight, Vostochnaya, Children's, Krasavitsa, Okeanskaya virovskaya, Skazka, Smuglyanka, Tsarevna.

It is worth noting that the bulk of dry matter in fruits is carbohydrates, sugars contain from 6 to 16% (with the advantage of glucose over fructose). By the amount of iron, cherries are superior to apples.

The positive properties of P-active substances are anti-radiation, tonic, capillary-strengthening and antihypertensive action; vitamins C, B ₉, B ₂ prevent anemia, oxycoumarins - the formation of blood clots.

Felt cherries are used fresh, suitable for making juices, compotes, wine, delicious jams, preserves, marmalades, marshmallows are obtained from it.

Other materials about felt cherry:

Vladimir Starostin. Felt cherry

G. Alexandrova. Peculiarities of growing felt cherry

V. Stepanychev. Growing felt cherries