How to properly plant cherries in the summer with young green eyelids, methods, timing and care
Very often summer residents complain that, no matter how much they bought cherry seedlings, the trees do not grow well, after flowering the ovary crumbles, the berries cannot be tasted, and the plums and cherries that are cultivated in the same area give a good harvest. Grafting of sweet cherries helps to improve resistance to frost, strengthen immunity to fungal and bacterial diseases. As a rootstock, not only this type of stone fruit is suitable, but also other plants from the Pink family.
Method advantages
Although the procedure, in which petioles from one tree are spliced with another, seems difficult, it is available even for novice summer residents and gardeners. The advantages of vaccination include the ability to:
- Get large fruits.
- Significantly increase yields.
- Strengthen resistance to disease and unfavorable natural environment.
2 trees take part in the process. A graft in the form of a bud or petiole is attached to the plant. It is usually cut from a fertile but old culture and combined with another tree - the stock.
Grafting helps to improve the taste of berries, to move the ripening period. The procedure is resorted to when the cherry for some unknown reason does not bear fruit for a long time, the variety is not suitable for the local climate.
On a grafted tree, fruits appear after two years, and on a new tree, planted on the site of a sawn old one, not earlier than after 6 years.
Timing
The graft grows well together if the procedure is performed when sap begins to evolve and the air heats up to at least 5 ° C. Cuttings are cut in the fall, if the winter was not cold, the branches are engrafted in March.
In the spring
Sweet cherries can be grafted throughout the growing season, the main requirement is the absence of even small frosts. At the end of April, and in the south at the beginning of March, cuttings are taken out of the cellar and soaked in the Kornevin preparation. They are spliced with the stock using any of the methods in the form:
- copulation;
- into cleavage;
- into the corner cut;
- for the bark.
In the spring, for grafting, you can use not only cuttings harvested in the fall, but also cut on the same day, but it is not always possible to get a positive result at such a time.
Summer
They resort to grafting trees in July and August, but in the southern regions, and often in the middle lane, there is a heat during this period, experienced gardeners recommend starting the procedure in early June, when the weather is comfortable.
In autumn
If for some reason they did not manage to plant the cherries in spring or summer, this can be done in September, in the south - in October.The graft will still have time to take root before the onset of cold weather.
What fruit trees can be grafted with cherries
Only cuttings of related horticultural crops are spliced. A good stock for a peach is an apricot, for a pear - an apple tree. Sweet cherries are grafted onto cherries when it is necessary to preserve the variety, increase the size of the berries, and add flavor to the fruit.
In other cases, for the stock I use cherry plum, plum, apricot. Cherry is a closer relative of sweet cherry. The following varieties are best suited for grafting:
- Vladimirskaya;
- Gisella;
- Peak;
- Magalebskaya;
- Griot Rossoshansky.
Shoots of bird cherry hybrids grow long and badly. It is difficult to plant cherries on plums, but some gardeners succeed.
Before you start grafting the fruit tree, you need to prepare the tool. It is imperative to purchase a sharp knife, pruning shears; you will need a small hand saw. The shoots are fixed to the plant with electrical tape and tape.
Procedure options
Having decided on which stock will be used for grafting in the next season, in November, when all the leaves fly from the trees, cuttings are harvested. To do this, cut off annual shoots having a diameter of at least 50 mm with one growth and several lateral buds.
The branches prepared for grafting are taken to the cellar, where they are placed in the soil of sand, peat, sawdust. If there is no basement, the cuttings are wrapped in a wet cloth, then in polyethylene and stored in the refrigerator.
Cherries are grafted with young green branches from summer to autumn, sometimes such shoots are used in spring, but not always successfully.
Simple copulation
Even novice gardeners can master the method in which the stock has the same diameter as the grafted shoot. On the cherry, a smooth branch is chosen, wiped with a damp cloth. With a sharp knife, an even cut is made on it at an inclination of 35 degrees.
The stalk is prepared from a fertile stone fruit variety with 2 or 4 strong buds, stepping back 10 mm from the lowest one, perform the same operation as on the rootstock. At a distance of 2 cm above the third kidney, another cut is made, but even.
In order for the shoots to grow together correctly, only a sharp knife should be used during work, otherwise their cambium will not coincide. The stalk is carefully connected to the stock to make a straight and even branch.
With a strip cut out of polyethylene 1 cm wide, overlap the grafting site, making sure that the cuttings do not move 1 mm, otherwise they will not be able to grow together. The top cut on the cherry is covered with pitch. This is done in order to prevent the bud of the cutting from dying.
Improved copulation
In order for the shoot to take root sooner, the procedure must be performed very quickly, otherwise the tree on the cut will dry out. Gardeners who have been grafting stone fruit crops for a long time are resorting to improved copulation. They split the places of cuts in the center into a third both on the rootstock and on the cutting. The resulting tabs promote a tighter connection of both grafted parts.
Zakorkovy way
Gardeners cut the upper part of the stock with a pruner; this is done if it is much thicker than the harvested cutting. At the beginning of the growing season, wood is easily removed from the bark with a sharp knife, and knots are chopped off with a saw. After that, longitudinal cuts about 4 cm long are made on the rootstock and covered with polyethylene.
The stalk is applied to a puncture on the trunk of the plant and wrapped with tape or tape. A cut on a cherry is treated with a special pitch.
Many gardeners use this particular method of grafting, since several shoots are engrafted on one stock, at least one of them still takes root, the plant is less injured.
Into the cleft
In early spring, when the buds have not yet blossomed, stone fruit crops have not woken up from hibernation, they resort to a more complex technology that allows grafting cherries:
- On a tree used as a stock, branches are cut, leaving only a few pieces at the bottom, the trunk is shortened to a height of 50 cm.
- Splits are made in the stump with a small ax and the prepared scion is inserted into each of the stumps, the bottom of which is sharpened like a wedge, fastening to the plant with a ribbon.
- Slices, the thickness of which should not exceed 50 mm, are covered with garden var.
This method helps to renew old trees while preserving the cherry variety. Only thin branches are planted. It is better to resort to the procedure in March, in early April.
Semi-cleavage
With this technology, the cherry is almost not damaged, a small part is affected on the side. For grafting the cutting:
- The ax blade is inserted into the stump 30 mm deep, without reaching the opposite end, splitting is performed.
- The lower edge of the shoot is cut off so that it looks like a wedge.
- Wrapped in 3 layers of polyethylene.
The graft is tied up with twine. With this method, even a garden pitch is not needed.
Bridge grafting
It happens that in winter, hares in search of food get to the garden and gnaw on the bark. To close the wounds in the trunk and renew the cherries, they resort to bridge grafting technology. This is best done when the juice starts to flow.
The cuttings are inserted so that one end is over the lesion and the other over it. Shoots are placed in several places and cuts are made in the bark. The graft is fixed to the tree with a film, wrapped in burlap. The edges of the joint are treated with garden varnish. With this technology, grafts do not leave a single bud on the cuttings.
Corner cut
If the branches that are used for the scion have a diameter of no more than 20 mm, slightly stepping back from the edge of the hemp, a cut is made with a knife to a depth of 6 millimeters. Parallel to the first in the opposite direction at the same slope of 30 °, a second cut is made. The lower end of the cutting is grinded on both sides so that it fits easily but tightly into the stock.
Side cut
This grafting technology is within the power of experienced gardeners, since any operation with a knife and pruner must be performed very accurately.
First, an incision is made 20 cm from the base of the cutting so that one side is 10 mm shorter than the other. The shoot is shaped like a wedge, fixing it with plastic wrap, inserted into an incision in the stock.
When grafting a stalk to an old plant with a thick bark, the indentations are made not at an angle, but directly, where the branch is fixed, grinding it diagonally to make a blade.
Sweet cherry grafting technology
If stone fruit crops grow in a suburban area or in the yard and you want to increase the planting area with fruit trees, you need to take into account that cherries do not reproduce from a stone, but by grafting.
In order for the escape to take root correctly and quickly:
- A healthy stone fruit crop is chosen for the stock, which gives a stable yield.
- A large number of cuttings of different types and ripening periods are not grown on a tree.
- For grafting, strong branches are taken, which are located closer to the trunk.
- The harness is removed after the bark is formed at the junction of the shoot.
In the first year, flowers are plucked on the grafted cherry and the emerging ovary is removed. If this is not done, the tree will not grow and develop well. Experienced gardeners recommend using cherry and cherry plum as a rootstock, which are well adapted to the local climate. The established stalk after 4 years can be used again for work.
In the spring, any of the methods is suitable for grafting, starting with simple copulation and ending with the most complex technology, you can take pre-prepared shoots and green branches.
To change the variety of cherries, they start grafting. Such a procedure is in demand when the planted plant turned out to be poor, small and tasteless berries ripen on it.
Cherries up to 10 years old are used as a stock.The process is resorted to in the spring, when frosts are no longer expected. Re-vaccination with a kidney or an eye is performed even at the end of summer and is quite effective.
Taking care of the tree after the procedure
If the grafting of cherries is done correctly, just a few weeks later, fresh shoots begin to appear from the buds of the petiole, which are fused with the stock. It is necessary to ensure that hares do not gnaw the young bark on the tree. For this, the trunk and lower branches are wrapped for the winter with dense cloth or needles.
After vaccination, it is necessary to carry out preventive measures to prevent the invasion of aphids, the appearance of other insects that feed on leaf juice. Trees are sprayed with insecticides every 3 weeks, preparations "Biotlin", "Tanrek" are successfully used.
The shoot does not take root if the cherry does not have enough nutrition. Branches and twigs that grow on the rootstock below the grafted shoot are necessarily cut off. If the bark splits during the procedure, the damaged areas and wounds are treated with garden varnish.
It is necessary to monitor the soil moisture in the trunk circle. After watering, the soil should be at least 30 cm wet.
So that the scion does not break from the wind, does not bend by birds, 2 months after inoculation, it is necessary to put a splint on it. They make it from rowan branches and tie it to a support and a tree.
In August, pinch the top of the scion. The next spring, young shoots are cut to form a crown, and after 2 years they are shortened by half a meter, branches that grow inside the trunk are removed.
After grafting cherries:
- Acquires resistance to adverse climatic conditions.
- Gives a high yield.
- Pleases with larger and more delicious berries.
To obtain such a result, it is necessary to adhere to the timing of the procedure, do not forget about the features of each plant.
To transplant a sweet cherry after grafting, it is dug up along with a lump of earth. A pit 70 cm deep and wide is prepared in autumn, filled with peat, humus, fertilizer. The roots are carefully laid, the neck of the plant is left 8 centimeters above the soil surface. The soil is tamped and watered abundantly, the branches are slightly shortened. Sweet cherries are tied to a peg on both sides.
