TOP 7 Answers to Frequently Asked Questions on How to Increase Your Cherry Yield

Do you have planted cherry trees on the site? Congratulations! These amazing berry trees will delight you not only with lush beautiful flowers in spring, but also with delicious ripe berries in summer. Just planting it correctly is, of course, not enough. In this case, you will get a fairly modest harvest. If you are striving for a high yield, then correct pruning, competent feeding and timely treatment from pests are necessary. Moreover, all this applies not only to young cherry trees.

How to prune cherries in the early years?

Even if you have purchased the most productive and large-fruited cherry variety, you cannot do without pruning if you want to get a good harvest.

The main things to remember when cropping:

- Prune cherry trees once a year in spring until buds appear;

- the center of the crown must be open with the correct shape of the tree.

Cherry. How to prune a tree in the third year?

Crown formation takes place over five to six years, and, of course, it all depends on the cherry variety (bushy or tree-like). In a bushy variety, when pruning, it is worth leaving 6-7 main branches so that the crown is not too thick. In a tree-like variety, it is necessary to leave 5-6 main branches when pruning. In both cases, the central branch should be about 20 cm longer than the other shoots.

Cut vertical shoots in the place where the branches branch off, leaving those that turned to the peripheral part of the crown.

The base of the trunk (stem) should be clean to a height of about 40-45 cm.

Annual growths can be cut off from a young cherry tree only if it grows well (by 50 cm per year), but it is better not to touch annual shoots so that the plant does not dry out.

Cherry. How to water properly?

The main rule here is not to create excess moisture, otherwise the skin on the berries will burst.

As a rule, cherries are watered 4 times during the warm season. Once - as soon as it blooms, the second - at the end of the first summer month, the third time is watered in July, and the fourth - in September.

Cherries are watered so that the water gets into a depth of 0.5 meters, so two or three buckets of water are enough for one young tree, and the old one needs five or six buckets.

Cherry. How to feed properly?

They feed the cherry tree from the second year every year. It responds very much to feeding, but it is still not worth overdoing it and doing everything strictly according to the norm.

First, the frequency. Apply organic fertilizers no more than once every three years, and mineral fertilizers after 1 year.

The amount of fertilizer applied is as follows:

In the 2nd year in early spring, 100 g of urea is introduced for the trunk circle of one tree and dug up.

In the 3rd year, in early spring, nitrogen fertilizers are applied (dissolve 20 grams of urea and 30 grams of ammonium nitrate in 1 bucket of water). This amount is enough for 2 trees.

In the 4th year in the spring, 200 grams of urea is introduced for the trunk circle of one tree, scattered in a circle and dug up the soil. At the end of summer or at the very beginning of autumn, a second top dressing is done: for the trunk circle of one tree, double superphosphate (about 300 grams) and potassium sulfate (120 grams) are added; also scatter in a circle and dig up the soil.Also, in the 4th year, organic fertilizers (humus or compost) are added along the diameter of the near-stem zone: grooves of 5-6 cm are made and up to 20 kg of organic matter is introduced.

In the 5th and 6th years, in early spring, ammophoska is introduced (35 grams per 10 liters of water), also in the grooves along the diameter of the trunk circle.

In the 7th year, at the beginning of spring, up to 280 grams of urea is added, and in the fall superphosphate (up to 450 g) and potassium sulfate (200 grams) are added

In the seventh year, for digging, at the beginning of spring, 250-280 g of urea and up to 35 kg of organic matter can be added to the near-trunk zone, and in the same year in the fall - 350-450 g of double superphosphate and 200 g of potassium sulfate.

What else should you know about caring for a cherry tree?

It is necessary not to forget to look after the trunk circle, where various fertilizers are constantly being applied. Care consists in loosening the soil once a month (to a depth of no more than 10 cm). After rain, the soil is loosened with a rake to avoid crusting.

In the fall, they dig up the near-trunk circle more thoroughly, and near the trunk - up to 12 cm in depth.

In addition to digging and loosening, it is worth carefully removing weeds.

What to do to keep the cherry from getting sick?

Prevention is usually carried out in early spring and autumn. In the spring, for the preventive treatment of cherry trees from diseases and pests, copper sulfate is used (for 10 liters of water - 100 grams of vitriol), 3% Bordeaux liquid or iron vitriol (for 10 liters of water - 300 grams of vitriol). In autumn, urea will act as an antibiotic (for 10 liters of water - up to 600 grams of urea).

How to prepare cherries for frost?

First, choose a cold-tolerant variety that is recommended for your region. Secondly, insulate the wood, for example, with a non-woven covering material.

If there was a lot of rain in the summer, then it is worth feeding the cherry with potassium-phosphorus dressings, with their help the trees will survive even the most severe winters.

In the case of a dry summer, water-charging irrigation is necessary: ​​the volume of irrigation per tree is 150 liters of water.

The trunks of mature trees must be whitewashed in winter, which saves them from burns from the scorching sun.

Remove adhering snow from the tree, tie up branches, and remove dried or broken branches. Do not leave cherries on the branches during the harvest season to prevent rotting. Take care of your cherries, then your harvest will only grow.