How to plant and care for cherry plum in central Russia
In household plots, in orchards, you can find trees with fruits that outwardly resemble a plum - cherry plum. This is a real storehouse of nutrients and vitamins. It has a blood-purifying and anti-inflammatory effect. Fruits are used fresh, used for conservation, freezing, pickling, making sauces, seasonings. Let us consider in detail how the planting and caring for cherry plum in central Russia is correct.
Description
Cherry plum begins to bear fruit early, a year after planting the first fruits appear on the young tree. And after three to four years, the tree begins to give a bountiful harvest, up to 40 kg from one cherry plum. Fruits are juicy, sour, sweet and sour or tart honey taste of various colors. The stone is usually difficult to separate.
Cherry plum is planted in spring, if done in autumn, it can freeze and die.
Cherry plum, being a southern crop, is highly frost-resistant, therefore it is grown both in the middle lane and in the northern regions. The advantages of this culture are:
- yield: within 2-3 years after planting, 15 kg of fruits can be removed from the tree;
- early ripening;
- drought resistance, good high temperature tolerance;
- high frost resistance, capable of growing in regions where the temperature drops below 30 degrees;
- grows on any soil composition;
- resistance to diseases and pests;
- appearance, decorativeness, especially during the flowering period.
Among the disadvantages are:
- most of the cherry plum varieties are self-fruitless, which means there is a need to plant additional varieties as pollinators;
- a short period of rest, by the end of winter the cherry plum loses its frost resistance;
- early flowering period, due to which there is a threat of death of the future crop due to spring frosts.
A special distinguishing feature of cherry plum is its ability to interbreed with different cultures, for example, apricot, cherry, peach, plum and even cherry... This property allows breeders to breed all new cherry plum varieties.
Planting cherry plum
In order for a tree to take root and give a bountiful harvest, you need to know how to properly plant cherry plum in spring. First of all, you need to choose the right seedlings, namely those that were obtained by cuttings or propagation by shoots, they take root faster and adapt better.
If you purchased a seedling in late autumn, you need to dig it in on a hill in the garden.
The first thing to consider in order for the care and cultivation of cherry plum to be correct and not cause difficulties is the need to plant it not in acidic soil. Cherry plum does not like such soil, it begins to hurt and weaken.They take root best and begin to bear fruit earlier, two-year-old seedlings, about a meter high with a developed root system.
Cherry plum should be planted in well-lit, sunny places, protected from strong winds. Despite the ability to grow in soil of any composition, well-drained soil, loam is still preferred.
If you are planting several cherry plum trees at once, keep a distance of 2.5 m between them, otherwise the plant will not have room to develop. After planting cherry plum in spring, young trees are tied to pegs installed nearby. It is necessary to plant cherry plum trees in early spring, before the buds swell. Heavy, overly damp soil is best avoided.
Planting cherry plum in spring with seedlings is as follows: you need to dig a hole at least half a meter wide and deep, which you fill with a mixture of equal parts of turf and humus.
Care
Cherry plum is not demanding in care. After planting, the tree should be cut, watered at the rate of three to four buckets under each. In dry climates during the growing season watering exercise every ten days. If the cherry plum is planted in regions with severe winters and severe frosts, in late autumn they cover the trunk circle so that the root system does not freeze.
Top dressing is done mainly from nitrogen and potash fertilizers, less often from phosphorus. The feeding scheme is as follows:
- in the spring - the first nitrogen;
- during the formation of ovaries - the second nitrogen;
- mid-July: nitrogenous with potash.
In addition, you must:
- regularly weed the trunk circle;
- watering;
- pruning cherry plum;
- carry out preventive spraying with insecticides against pests and diseases.
Cherry plum is a fast-growing tree, actively gaining height, and after the start of fruiting, the size of the crown. Therefore, pruning cherry plum is a necessary procedure to form it and keep the tree in the right size. Cut it in such a way that the bole from the ground to the first branch does not have branches and twigs, the shoots are regularly removed. Young shoots should be pinned at the end of summer.
Pruning the cherry plum is also necessary to keep the skeletal part strong. Gaining too high a trunk height, the semi-skeletal branches of the tree become bare, the yield decreases.
By following the described steps for planting and caring for cherry plum in the middle lane, even a novice amateur gardener will be able to grow on a healthy tree that regularly delights with a bountiful and tasty harvest.
I love cherry plum very much. I associate it with childhood. Naturally, I have some trees in my garden. I was afraid to buy cherry plum saplings on the market, after all, there is no guarantee that it is good, I trusted the plant nursery in this matter and did not regret it. No complaints, I can only say thank you. The seedlings arrived perfectly packed, without damage, and took root well. My trees are already impressive in size. I'm waiting for the harvest.