Selection Of Varieties And Cultivation Of Cherries In Dachas And In Gardening

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

Sweet cherry berry

Sweet cherry or

bird cherry belongs to the Cherry genus of the Plum subfamily of the Rosaceae family. It is a plant of a moderately warm climate. The area of natural distribution of wild cherries is the Balkan Peninsula, Iran, North India, the Caucasus, Asia Minor, North Africa, southern Ukraine, Moldova.

Features of culture

In Western Europe,

sweet cherries(Cerasus avium Moench) grows from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, possibly feral, spread by birds from gardens. In youth, this culture grows very quickly. Wild cherry reaches a height of 18-35 m and a trunk diameter of 60 cm. It lives up to 100 years, grows in mountain deciduous forests as part of the first tier. The root system is well developed, lies relatively shallow, but very wide, significantly extending beyond the crown. Most forms and varieties of sweet cherries do not give root suckers, but in some of them they do occasionally arise. In a plantation (in a forest), the trunks grow straight, slender, full-wood, but in open places they can be short. Cherry wood is light, hard, strong, elastic, viscous, flexible, with a beautiful pattern. The kernel is reddish yellow, the sapwood is pinkish. This wood is used for the production of furniture and musical instruments. It is also used to imitate mahogany, since when soaked in hydrochloric acid it easily turns into a beautiful red color.

The crown of a sweet cherry is semi-spreading, pyramidal, free - wide. The shoot-forming ability of the plant is weak. Branching is rare, few skeletal branches. They are thick, directed upwards. The bark is beautiful, smooth, glossy, glossy, lilac-brown in color. The old bark, like birch bark, exfoliates in thin films. She is a good tanning agent. Gum can be released on the branches and trunk where the cherry has been wounded. Its appearance is dangerous for the tree, because it is easily colonized by pathogenic organisms (fungal spores, etc.). But at the same time it is curative, it is an excellent enveloping agent for inflammation of the gastric mucosa in humans. The leaves, when blooming, are brown-purple in color, unfolding - they become juicy-green, in the fall they become pale yellow or reddish. They are large - up to 16 cm long and 8 cm wide,oblong-ovate, coarsely toothed, double-serrate, shiny. Petiole up to 5 cm long with two yellow or red glands located at the base of the leaf blade. Fruit buds are laid mainly on bouquet branches (70-80%) and in small numbers (20-30%) on annual shoots. Cherry blossoms simultaneously with the blooming of the leaves, usually before the apple and cherry, along with the pear and plum. Inflorescence is an umbrella of 2-5 large white melliferous flowers with a diameter of about 3 cm each. In flower buds, it happens that in winter the rudiments of stamens and pistils are damaged by frost, and the rudiments of the petals remain alive. Such buds bloom in the spring, at first glance, they bloom, but naturally, they do not set the fruit, they die off and crumble, which is one of the main reasons for the periodic lack of cherry harvests.coarsely toothed, double-serrate, shiny. Petiole up to 5 cm long with two yellow or red glands located at the base of the leaf blade. Fruit buds are laid mainly on bouquet branches (70-80%) and in small numbers (20-30%) on annual shoots. Cherry blossoms simultaneously with the blooming of the leaves, usually before the apple and cherry, along with the pear and plum. Inflorescence is an umbrella of 2-5 large white melliferous flowers with a diameter of about 3 cm each. In flower buds, it happens that in winter the rudiments of stamens and pistils are damaged by frost, and the rudiments of the petals remain alive. Such buds bloom in the spring, at first glance, they bloom, but naturally, they do not set the fruit, they die off and crumble, which is one of the main reasons for the periodic lack of cherry harvests.coarsely toothed, double-serrate, shiny. Petiole up to 5 cm long with two yellow or red glands located at the base of the leaf blade. Fruit buds are laid mainly on bouquet branches (70-80%) and in small numbers (20-30%) on annual shoots. Cherry blossoms simultaneously with the blooming of the leaves, usually before the apple and cherry, along with the pear and plum. Inflorescence is an umbrella of 2-5 large white melliferous flowers with a diameter of about 3 cm each. In flower buds, it happens that in winter the rudiments of stamens and pistils are damaged by frost, and the rudiments of the petals remain alive. Such buds bloom in the spring, at first glance, they bloom, but naturally, they do not set the fruit, they die off and crumble, which is one of the main reasons for the periodic lack of cherry harvests. Petiole up to 5 cm long with two yellow or red glands located at the base of the leaf blade. Fruit buds are laid mainly on bouquet branches (70-80%) and in small numbers (20-30%) on annual shoots. Cherry blossoms simultaneously with the blooming of the leaves, usually before the apple and cherry, along with the pear and plum. Inflorescence is an umbrella of 2-5 large white melliferous flowers with a diameter of about 3 cm each. In flower buds, it happens that in winter the rudiments of stamens and pistils are damaged by frost, and the rudiments of the petals remain alive. Such buds bloom in the spring, at first glance, they bloom, but naturally, they do not set the fruit, they die off and crumble, which is one of the main reasons for the periodic lack of cherry harvests. Petiole up to 5 cm long with two yellow or red glands located at the base of the leaf blade. Fruit buds are laid mainly on bouquet branches (70-80%) and in small numbers (20-30%) on annual shoots. Cherry blossoms simultaneously with the blooming of the leaves, usually before the apple and cherry, along with the pear and plum. Inflorescence is an umbrella of 2-5 large white melliferous flowers with a diameter of about 3 cm each. In flower buds, it happens that in winter the rudiments of stamens and pistils are damaged by frost, and the rudiments of the petals remain alive. Such buds bloom in the spring, at first glance, they bloom, but naturally, they do not set the fruit, they die off and crumble, which is one of the main reasons for the periodic lack of cherry harvests. Fruit buds are laid mainly on bouquet branches (70-80%) and in small numbers (20-30%) on annual shoots. Cherry blossoms simultaneously with the blooming of the leaves, usually before the apple and cherry, along with the pear and plum. Inflorescence is an umbrella of 2-5 large white melliferous flowers with a diameter of about 3 cm each. In flower buds, it happens that in winter the rudiments of stamens and pistils are damaged by frost, and the rudiments of the petals remain alive. Such buds bloom in the spring, at first glance, they bloom, but naturally, they do not set the fruit, they die off and crumble, which is one of the main reasons for the periodic lack of cherry harvests. Fruit buds are laid mainly on bouquet branches (70-80%) and in small numbers (20-30%) on annual shoots. Cherry blossoms simultaneously with the blooming of the leaves, usually before the apple and cherry, along with the pear and plum. Inflorescence is an umbrella of 2-5 large white melliferous flowers with a diameter of about 3 cm each. In flower buds, it happens that in winter the rudiments of stamens and pistils are damaged by frost, and the rudiments of the petals remain alive. Such buds bloom in the spring, at first glance, they bloom, but naturally, they do not set the fruit, they die off and crumble, which is one of the main reasons for the periodic lack of cherry harvests.together with pear and plum. Inflorescence is an umbrella of 2-5 large white melliferous flowers with a diameter of about 3 cm each. In flower buds, it happens that in winter the rudiments of stamens and pistils are damaged by frost, and the rudiments of the petals remain alive. Such buds bloom in the spring, at first glance, they bloom, but naturally, they do not set the fruit, they die off and crumble, which is one of the main reasons for the periodic lack of cherry harvests.together with pear and plum. Inflorescence is an umbrella of 2-5 large white melliferous flowers with a diameter of about 3 cm each. In flower buds, it happens that in winter the rudiments of stamens and pistils are damaged by frost, and the rudiments of the petals remain alive. Such buds bloom in the spring, at first glance, they bloom, but naturally, they do not set the fruit, they die off and crumble, which is one of the main reasons for the periodic lack of cherry harvests.which is one of the main reasons for the periodic lack of sweet cherry harvests.which is one of the main reasons for the periodic lack of sweet cherry harvests.

Fruits of wild cherries are spherical or slightly elongated with a diameter of up to 10 mm and a mass of 2.5-3 g. In trees of most wild forms, berries are usually bitter and only occasionally tasty and sweet. Their color is from light yellow to dark red, almost black. The stalks are short to long.

Cultural fruits of a heart-shaped or ovoid shape with a diameter of up to 30 mm and a weight of up to 12 g, a pleasant sour-sweet dessert taste; are yellow, red, dark red. The cherry stone is smooth.

Cherry has been known in culture for more than two thousand years; it has been cultivated in the Black Sea region. In the first century BC. was brought to Ancient Rome, from where it later spread throughout Europe. Several thousand of its varieties have been bred. This is the earliest maturing stone fruit breed, which also has a high yield. Cultivated specimens of trees are usually noticeably lower than wild ones, rarely higher than 7 m. Cherry is less winter-hardy than cherry or plum. But as a fruit breed, however, it is grown much to the north of its natural range. In our country, it is industrially cultivated in the North Caucasus, in Dagestan and the Krasnodar Territory, where more than 70 varieties of it are zoned. The most northern regions of its widespread cultivation are Central Black Earth and Central. But among individual amateur gardeners, it is sometimes found in the Moscow region and in the North-West,up to the Vologda region, and even in the southern regions of Siberia and the Far East.

Cherry begins to bear fruit at the age of 5-7 years. She is self-fertile, although not absolutely. Therefore, it is advisable to plant other pollinating varieties nearby. It usually takes 35-65 days from flowering to ripeness of fruits, they ripen at a time. In terms of ripening, cherry varieties are early, middle and late. In the Leningrad region, depending on this, the collection of fruits can be from the end of June to the end of August.

Useful properties and uses of fruits

Cherry fruitscontain up to 18% sugars, mainly glucose and fructose, up to 1.3% organic acids (malic, citric, succinic and lactic), about 0.7% pectins, 0.2 tannins, as well as coumarin, iron and copper salts … In addition, they contain up to 15 mg% vitamin C, 0.15 - carotene and up to 900 mg% vitamin P (it is contained only in dark colored fruits). Its fruits quench thirst well and are indicated in the treatment of hypertension. Cherry pits are small and bitter, they have no nutritional value, but large processing plants produce oil from them, which is used for the manufacture of cosmetics. The transportability of fresh fruits is low, they are stored for a short time, and quickly deteriorate. Depending on the density of the pulp of the fruit, cherry varieties are subdivided into gini and bigarro. When breeding cherries, this must be taken into account. Ginis have tender, juicy, sweet flesh, are used,mostly fresh. The flesh of bigarro is firm, elastic, therefore varieties with such fruits are usually used only for canning, primarily for the production of compotes. Less often they go to cooking jam, making sweet cherries in sugar and other processed products. In addition, the fruits of all varieties of sweet cherries can be dried (from 1 kg of fresh, about 250 g of dried ones are obtained) and frozen. Cherry juice is used in the alcoholic beverage industry. Cherry juice is used in the alcoholic beverage industry. Cherry juice is used in the alcoholic beverage industry.

The movement of cherries to the north is noticeably complicated by the fact that it is a self-fertile breed, i.e. cross-pollination is imperative, it is impossible to acclimatize one of its varieties or forms, you need to simultaneously introduce two, or better - 3-4 varieties, otherwise there will be no harvest.

Cherry varieties

There are no varieties of this culture, zoned for cultivation in the Northwest, yet, and there are not many suitable for amateur gardening either. For example, there are only two recommended varieties: Seda and Yurga. They are being tested, precisely because their winter hardiness has not yet been finally clarified.

Seda is a medium-late ripening variety, table variety. The tree is tall, the crown is spherical, of medium density. The fruits are large, weighing 5.5 g, round. The skin is red with a dark, almost black blush. The pulp is red, sweet taste. The stone separates well from the pulp.

Yurga is a medium-ripening variety. The tree is medium-sized, the crown is flat. Fruits weighing 5 g, heart-shaped, dark red skin. The pulp is red, juicy, tender, sweet and sour taste. The bone is easily separated from the pulp.

In the Central region there are much more new, recommended varieties of sweet cherry. These are:

Bryanochka, Bryanskaya rose, Veda, Gastsinets, Iput, Krasavitsa, Krasnaya Gorka, Orlovskaya rose, Raditsa, Revna, Rosy sunset, Severnaya, Teremoshka, Tyutchevka, Fatezh and others.

Sweet cherry in the North-West, and in the Middle Lane, is still a breed for enthusiasts moving it to the north. But in some of them it has been successfully growing for a long time. The most realistic way is to transfer it to the north of the zone of wide cultivation not by cuttings and layering, but by seeds of the most winter-hardy varieties from the northern border of distribution in culture - from central Russia, Belarus and, to a lesser extent, from the Central Black Earth zone. You can propagate cherries by grafting, root suckers (some varieties), seeds. But vegetative propagation is possible only for local, well-acclimatized forms or zoned varieties (which are not available in the Northwest). And there will be no sense in planting the brought cuttings, cuttings, seedlings and even seedlings, they are already accustomed to the warmer southern climate with a long growing season. You can only change something by seeds. Sowing them is preferable in the fall. Spring sowing (mandatory after stratification) should be carried out as early as possible. Such seed propagation forms a wide variety of trees in terms of growth, crown shape and other indicators. Differences in fruit size, color, taste are also significant. But most trees that have grown from seeds of cultivated varieties usually still produce quite edible and tasty fruits.usually they still give quite edible and tasty fruits.usually they still give quite edible and tasty fruits.

Cherry propagation and planting in a permanent place

Seedsfor acclimatization, it is better to sow in sandy, but not lean soil to a depth of 4-5 cm. Sowing is done in a thick, three-line, with a distance in a row of 2 cm, between lines - 10 cm, and between ribbons - 45 cm. Rarer placement can lead to overgrowth of seedlings. In the second year, they can already be transplanted to a permanent place. Of course, there will inevitably be a very large mortality among the seedlings, but the plants that survive and acclimatize have a chance in the future to become the first zoned cherry varieties in the Northwest. The criteria-indicators for their breeding are as follows: trees should be of moderate vigor, early-growing, with a compact crown, have a mixed type of fruiting, preferably self-fertile, productive, resistant to fungal diseases, especially to coccomycosis and moniliosis. Have attractive fruits weighing at least 5 g. But the most important thing is to be winter-hardy, for the sake of this, you can temporarily forgive low data on some other indicators. In the future, already on the basis of such winter-hardy forms, more perfect local varieties can be created.

It is necessary to take seeds for acclimatization from the most winter-hardy varieties. After harvesting, they must be preserved in a moist substrate - sand, sphagnum, etc. Dried up, they often lose their germination, but even if they germinate, they noticeably lose their cultural properties in the future. Sowing, despite the increase in mortality, is better before winter, before the onset of persistent autumn frosts. Then the future plants, even at the seed stage, will begin to adapt to the local natural and climatic conditions. You cannot pamper the seedlings. On the contrary, Spartan conditions should be created: do not fertilize, water only in a critical situation (in a drought). At the end of summer, young plants (1-7 years old) should be pinched - pinching the non-lignified tips of the shoots in order to teach the plants to start preparing for winter in time. The only indulgence is that they should be planted in places well protected from the wind, in a calm place, because the wind has a very negative effect on the growth, development and winter hardiness of most woody plants, incl. and cherries. And since it is photophilous, although it can withstand partial shade, one should not sow, and then plant it in shady places. The decline, of course, will be great, but the surviving seedlings will become much easier to adapt to new conditions. The most winter-hardy varieties of cherries, the seeds of which are promising to sow for acclimatization, are:will be great, but the surviving seedlings will become much easier to adapt to new conditions. The most winter-hardy varieties of cherries, the seeds of which are promising to sow for acclimatization, are:will be great, but the surviving seedlings will become much easier to adapt to new conditions. The most winter-hardy varieties of cherries, the seeds of which are promising to sow for acclimatization, are:

Vidzeme, Gedelfingen, Deneisena yellow, Early mark and others. In addition, seeds of such Belarusian varieties as Zolotaya Loshitskaya, Krasavitsa, Likernaya, Narodnaya, Osvobozhdeniye, Pobeda can be used to acclimatize cherries

. At the Pavlovsk experimental station of VIR in the Leningrad region, the following cherry varieties were bred:

Zorka, Leningradskaya yellow, Leningradskaya pink, Leningradskaya black, Svetlana, Black early. And also

Muscat black (old name -

Negritenok),

Red sweet, Black late, Red late, Large pink … But the winter hardiness of all of them in the Northwest is only average. Therefore, although these varieties can grow here, and are even grown by some amateur gardeners of the Leningrad, Pskov and Novgorod regions in protected gardening places, they are still more widely cultivated much further south - in the Moscow region and other regions of the Middle Belt, and even there in they were not included in the zoned assortment. Nevertheless, in our natural and climatic conditions it is safer to grow these particular varieties, and even better - seedlings from the seeds of these most winter-hardy varieties. Of course, when such varietal seeds are sown, plants will appear with a wide variety of fruit sizes, their colors, and tastes. However, most of them will still be quite edible and tasty, but during the selection process such seedlings will adapt much better to the local climate, especially to harsh winters. They will become more frost and winter hardy.

The end is followed by

Vladimir Starostin,

dendrologist, candidate of agricultural sciences