Description of cherries of the Drogana Yellow variety, planting, care and pollination
The exact origin of the Drogan Yellow cherry (with yellow drupes) has not been established. The variety is one of the oldest, named after a Saxon breeder. Due to its unpretentious cultivation, high resistance to fungal diseases, as well as excellent taste, it has become widespread in regions with a warm climate.
Description and characteristics of the variety Drogana Yellow
Sweet cherry up to 6 meters high has a spreading, rounded or pyramidal, well-leafy crown. Shoots of uniform brown color with a greenish tint, lilac-gray bloom. Conical buds with shoot primordia are dark in color. Generative flower buds are lighter, oval, close to the shoots.
The leaves are large, about 16 cm long, 7 cm wide, without edging, smooth, elastic, with a sharp base and apex, a double-serrated edge. Inflorescences consist of 2-3 medium-sized flowers with snow-white petals. Corollas are described as a saucer. Bell-shaped calyx with sepals, without serrations. Flowering and fruiting occurs to a greater extent on bouquet branches.
Cherry variety Drogana yellow gives medium (about 2 cm) rounded-heart-shaped fruits with a deep wide funnel and an oval top, weighing about 7 g. Skin color is rich yellow. The pulp is dense, lighter, juicy, sweet. Taste qualities are assessed by experts at 4.3 points. The percentage of dry matter in 100 g of sweet cherry fruit is 17.3, sugars - 13.5, acids - 0.2, vitamin C - 6.6 mg. The possibilities of using the fruits are not limited.
Due to poor transportability, it is recommended to consume fresh berries in a short time, or process them into juice, dry them, make wine, cook jams, compotes.
The most optimal for growing yellow cherry varieties Drogan are the territories of Volgograd, Astrakhan, North Caucasus and Lower Volga regions, Central Asia, as well as Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan.
Pros and cons of the Drogan Yellow cherry variety
The main advantages of sweet cherries are considered to be medium early periods of fruiting (for 4-5 years), a long period of productivity (up to 25 years), regular abundant yield (up to 150 kg per tree, up to 22 tons per 1 ha), versatility of berries.
When laying a garden, it must be borne in mind that the variety is self-fertile.Several pollinators should be planted side by side to ensure fruiting. Cherry blossoms and ripens quite late in the second half of June - early July.
The frost resistance of perennial wood, young branches and flower buds is average. Due to the late development, the generative organs rarely freeze under early frosts in spring. The variety is resistant to drought as well as the most common fungal diseases.
Among the shortcomings, one can note the poor transportability of the fruits, their cracking in rainy weather, and unsuitability for freezing. In addition, Drogan cherries with a moderate frequency fall ill with fruit rot, are highly vulnerable to cherry flies.
Growing Drogan Yellow Cherry
When laying a garden, it is necessary to select several inter-pollinated varieties. Drogan's cherry is not self-fertile, therefore, to increase yields, 2-3 suitable pollinators are planted nearby, coinciding with it in terms of flowering (Bryanochka, Revna, Bagration, Franz Joseph). Trees grow fast. To ensure good nutrition of the root system, the optimum spacing between seedlings should be 5-6 m.
When to plant?
It is recommended to plant young trees at the stage of slowing down the development processes. For warm regions, where there is a risk of rapid onset of hot weather, the best landing time is September - late October. In autumn, the soil is well moistened; additional watering is not required. During the winter, the seedlings will be able to grow young roots, therefore, they will retain the strength for the development of the crown and flowering.
In the fall, you can buy seedlings at a discount, see which cherries bear fruit and compare different varieties.
If in the fall they did not manage to plant a seedling on the site, they sprinkle it with soil until the end of winter, placing it at a slope of 45 degrees. In the northern regions of Russia with a cool climate, it is better to plant Drogan cherries in spring.
Choosing a place and soil for cherries
For planting this variety, areas protected from the wind with light, moist soils are most suitable. In the first year, the root system grows rapidly; deep near-stem feeding cannot be done without damaging the roots. Therefore, you should take a responsible approach to the preparation of a permanent place.
Landing holes are dug 80x100cm in size. Having previously mixed with the upper fertile soil 3 buckets of humus or organic matter, 2 kg of ammonium sulfate, 3 kg of superphosphate, 0.5 kg of potash fertilizers fill the pit to a third of the depth in the form of a mound.
Planting Drogan Yellow Cherry
In seedlings (preferably annuals), damaged roots are removed by cutting them to healthy tissue. The tree is placed on an earthen mound, the roots are straightened, and densely covered with prepared soil. The root collar is placed 3 cm from the soil. Water well - 10 liters per tree. Thoroughly mulch the soil with peat or humus.
Further care of the variety
The development and fruiting of cherries is largely dependent on care. Trees need to be regularly watered, properly fertilized, treated against disease, and properly pruned on time.
How to water and fertilize properly?
Moisten the soil around the yellow Drogan cherry according to the standard scheme. In the summer, taking into account the precipitation, several additional watering of the tree is carried out. Each time the soil is loosened and mulched with humus. In the fall, before the onset of frost, the cherries are thoroughly watered to completely saturate the soil with moisture.
If it did not work out on time, it is necessary to water in the spring before flowering.
In the first year after planting, in the area with seedlings, they regularly loosen the soil and completely destroy the weeds. This ensures maximum moisture retention. Before the onset of cold weather, cherries require additional watering before loosening the soil.From the second year, they cultivate the land within a radius of 50 cm, annually moving away from the trunk by another 50 cm.
The amount of preparations depends on the characteristics of the soil. It is preferable to use liquid fertilizers, it is easier to embed them to a depth of at least 20 cm. Dry mineral fertilizers must be dissolved before application. Watering the soil with nutrient solutions should be in the growth zone of young roots, which intensively absorb liquid.
You can improve the yield by sowing green manure that accumulates nitrogen. Any plants of the legume family will do, as well as honey plants. They are sown in the second half of the growth and development phase of yellow cherries. In the fall, the resulting grass cover is mown and used as mulch.
Crown decoration
Drogan's cherries are pruned every spring at positive temperatures, in dry weather. Annual branches are shortened above the bud by about a third so that the central shoot remains at least 20 cm higher than the skeletal ones.
The annual shortening of annual branches prolongs the fruiting period of yellow cherries, as this increases the yield and strength of the branches that form the frame.
Sweet cherry does not branch well, so young trees should not be heavily pruned. Pruning and thinning is useful in the sustainable fruiting stage. Pruned branches give a greater yield and abundant growth of young shoots.
Removal of old, diseased or damaged branches is carried out with the onset of extinction of the vital processes of fruit trees. In this case, 7-8 year old wood is subject to removal.
You need to use a sharp pruner. During thinning pruning, do not leave long stumps, they will subsequently rot. Cutting close to the trunk is also undesirable, this can lead to the appearance of a hollow. To accelerate the regeneration, sections with a diameter of 1 cm or more are coated with pitch.
Protection of the cherry tree from frost, pests and diseases
In autumn, the soil around the tree is abundantly moistened. Such soil will freeze more slowly. The soil next to the cherry tree trunk is spud and mulched. In young seedlings, the trunks are covered with tin or roofing material, wrapped in burlap, tied with spruce branches. This not only insulates, but also serves as a reliable protection against rodents. In winter, the trees are covered with snow. In the spring, to protect the garden from frost, smoke is used (with checkers or setting fire to heaps of herbs and branches prepared in advance).
To protect cherries from fruit rot, they destroy pests that carry the pathogen to healthy trees. Fallen fruits with signs of damage are removed. Plants are treated with boric solution.
The cherry fly, which lays eggs in green fruits, causes significant damage to gardeners every year. The larvae hatch from them and eat the pulp of the berries. The fight against the pest begins with the onset of spring, yellow traps with sticky glue are hung up.
After flowering, and then after harvesting, cherries are treated with copper oxychloride or Bordeaux mixture. When the leaves fall off, cover the trunk with garden whitewash or a mixture of equal parts of clay, lime, mullein.
Harvesting and storage
Cherries ripen at about the same time, you can harvest the entire crop from the tree in the second half of June. The skin of the berries is thin, so it is undesirable to transport and store the fruits for a long time. When frozen, drupes crack and lose their shape. Drogan's cherry is suitable for drying, making juice, compote, making jam, wine.
