Felt cherry - cultivation and care

Many summer residents highly appreciate and love a shrub called felt cherry, since it has very high economic, biological and, of course, taste. The felted cherry is a distant relative of the wild cherry, which was quite widespread in China. Gradually, thanks to the efforts of breeders, many varieties of felt cherries were bred, which began to serve not only for decorative purposes, but also so that a certain amount of fruit could be removed from them. Today, felt cherry is very common in countries such as Korea and Japan, as well as in America and Canada. It is quite unpretentious, although there are still some peculiarities in caring for felt cherries, given its varieties.

In this article, we will talk in more detail about the felt cherry: how to grow and care for the plant, as well as its key species and varieties.

Description of the felt cherry, the place of its growth

The leaves and berries of the felt cherry very well justify its name: they are covered with a light fluff, just as the shoots and pedicels are covered with it. By the way, the stalks of the felt cherry are short, the flowers are small, have a delicate pinkish-white tint, which becomes completely white as the plant matures. The berries that the grower eventually receives are red in color. But there are also some varieties that produce white, pink and even black fruits. Again, this depends solely on which variety was chosen by the gardeners, as well as how carefully he provided the plants.

The berries have an attractive sweet taste, there is no sourness. That is why felt cherries are also often called children's cherries - children love them very much because they do not have any additional flavor notes, but only sweetness. The berries reach maturity very quickly - they take less than 14 days after setting. The core is very tender and soft, but if we take individual varieties, it should be noted that the fruits can be quite dense. For example, this number includes the beloved and very popular cherry.

As for the applicability of the fruits, they are usually consumed fresh. You can also make jams and preserves from the harvested crop, make marmalade. Although, as practice shows, and more experienced gardeners tell, it is quite problematic to get a small stone out of the fruit, so it can take a very long time. Also, felt cherries make excellent compotes, juices and alcoholic home drinks - cherry wines. In addition to the fact that the fruits have excellent taste, they also include organic acids, vitamins and carbohydrates in their composition, which makes these fruits as significant and useful as possible. It is also worth emphasizing that in terms of the iron content in fruits, these berries are ahead of apples, although even from a scientific point of view, it has been proven that for a long time apples were leaders in this regard.

As we mentioned earlier, in addition to the fact that a rich and tasty harvest can be harvested from felt cherries, the plant can also be used for decorative purposes. Felt cherry is great for creating hedges and for strengthening slopes. It turns out that in all respects, the culture of felt cherry becomes a very useful and attractive culture, which is extremely popular with many gardeners.

However, for all the benefits, felt cherry also has some drawbacks.One of them is that her life span is approximately 10 years. If you take care of the plant, competently provide it with watering, feeding and everything you need, then you can extend its life cycle to 18 years. If we talk about such a parameter as size, then an adult shrub can reach a height of 2.5 meters, but it is very rare to find a felt cherry, which reaches a height of 3 meters. On a small compact plant, it is much easier to produce formative pruning, and its size can also optimize the harvesting processes, solve the problem of territories and plots, because sometimes the gardener simply has nowhere to plant the desired plant.

Planting and caring for felt cherries, pruning them

As a rule, the felt cherry variety most of all likes lighter and, most importantly, fertile sandy loam soils or loams. It is also best to select non-acidic, drained soil, because it is these conditions that are ideal for felt cherries. If excessive soil moisture is observed, this can lead to the spread and development of a variety of diseases, as well as affect the growth of the plant, the ability to bloom and bear fruit. Also, if the soil is excessively moistened, this will negatively affect the plant's immunity, how it will cope with bacteria, diseases and fungi.

It is important to remember: in order to get a generous and high-quality, tasty harvest, it is necessary to plant at least three bushes of various cherry varieties close to each other. This is very beneficial for the pollination process and can improve the quality and quantity of future crops. The most suitable self-fertile varieties are such as Summer, Story, Delight and A twinkle. If we are talking about self-infertile varieties, then here we should make a choice between Autumn Virovskaya, Natalie or Alice. All of them take root very well in the soil, from them you can get the very necessary effect in pollination. Pollination suggests that the fruit on the tree will be better, and this is a definite plus for every gardener who focuses on the yield of his own plot.

As a rule, the crop ripens by the middle of summer. If the felt cherry is grown in the southern regions, then the first crop can be harvested by mid-June, and this is very early, as you might already have understood. Despite the fact that the felt cherry has significant genetic differences from the regular cherry, there are some aspects in which they generally overlap. For example, they are able to bloom in the same period, and this mainly positively affects the taste of the felt cherry berries, as well as its size and other external characteristics.

Of course, you should list the advantages that the gardener will master when growing felt cherries:

- it is possible to eat the fruits of the felt cherry approximately when the ovaries of other representatives of fruit crops are just beginning to form;

- due to the fact that the fruits contain a minimum amount of acid, the berries have excellent taste, and this allows you to use them in absolutely any form - both raw and in the form of jam, and as juice, wine, for making sauces and marinades);

- the culture very quickly adapts and adapts to the conditions of the region where it is planted. The advantages are also resistance to frost or excessive drought, because such qualities are inherent in not all fruit crops;

- the fruiting of a felt cherry seedling begins the next year after it was planted in open ground. The berries ripen early, stay on the branches for a long time, do not crumble, which is also an undoubted advantage;

- the variety has a fairly high level of yield, with normal and proper care, we can observe how the berries literally stick around the branches;

- root shoots are absent in this type of felt cherry.Let's just say that it does not appear at all throughout the entire life cycle of the plant;

- felt cherry acts as an excellent element of landscape design. The plant can be used as a hedge, as well as for border decoration, as in mixed plantings. In general, it can become an indispensable element of any personal plot, as it combines productivity and an attractive appearance.

This culture is quite unpretentious, its cultivation does not require a lot of time and physical costs from a person, as well as some kind of professional skills. Even a beginner can get a perfectly folded and fruitful tree. Felt cherry is also great as a deciduous shrub for decorating plots. As practice shows, it is best to plant the plant outdoors in the fall or spring, and the procedure is standard for most plants and crops. The buds have not yet blossomed by this time, and the tree is no longer threatened.

Consider that if you plant the bushes in the fall, then you should not do this later than September. It is especially worth considering that in the fall, seedlings are planted that have already turned 1 or 2 years old. They are more adaptable and can truly maintain their strength even under the harshest conditions.

Felt cherry has a root system that is extremely sensitive to waterlogged moisture. Therefore, it is worth considering its reactions when planting, since excessive moisture can lead to rotting of the root collar, which can provoke the development of bacterial and fungal diseases.

We will also outline some planting conditions that must be adhered to in order to get a strong and strong plant that will delight with its fruits and productivity:

- the hole into which the felt cherry seedling is planted should be at least 70 centimeters wide, but the depth of the hole should be no more than half a meter. If the gardener wants to comply with absolutely all the rules, then he must also add a special complex mixture to the hole: it includes rotted manure, phosphorus, lime, potassium. It is necessary to fill the hole with this soil mixture, and it will give additional strength and energy to the newly planted seedling;

- the roots of the seedling are usually very carefully pruned, and then dipped in a clay solution to protect them from attacks from pests and rodents;

- the seedling is placed in a hole, covered with the same soil mixture that was prepared and placed in advance. It is recommended to deepen the bush a little, but not more than how it grew initially, when it was still in the nursery;

- the area around the planting can be mulched so that weeds do not germinate on it and do not take away the vital energy of the plant. Mulch can be different, but it is recommended to use peat for these purposes.

Felt cherry varieties and common diseases

According to the ripening period, the type of felt cherry can be divided into three main subgroups:

- early;

- medium;

- late.

Berries, depending on the variety, can differ from each other, have different colors, and we already mentioned this at the very beginning of our article. Of course, it is not possible to give a description of each variety of felt cherry, since there are so many of them. But in this part of the article, we will mention the most popular ones, which are most often planted on plots, and are respected among professional gardeners.

Natalie - this is one of the most common varieties of felt cherries, which our gardeners love very much. The bush is very small, it can be no more than two meters in height, the crown is lush and spreading, flowering occurs in large flowers. The berries are large, dark red. With proper planting and care, about 9 kilograms of fruit can be removed from one bush.

Story Is a variety that produces very low bushes, and the maximum height does not exceed 130 centimeters.The crown is not too thick, which facilitates the process of harvesting fruits and pruning the bush for sanitary or decorative purposes. Flowering occurs in mid or late May, and the gardener will be able to pick berries by the end of July or early August. The fruits themselves, despite the small size of the bush, are large, elongated, dark in color.

Salute - This is a shrub that has a rather spreading oval crown. In width, it can be compared with the height of a tree - about one and a half meters. Flowering also occurs at the end of May and can be harvested in 60 days. The berries are oval, bright pink, medium to large in size.

Delight - a variety of felt cherry, which is more suitable for growing in the middle zone of our country. The shrub reaches a height of one and a half meters, the crown is very dense and spreading, it needs periodic pruning. The flowers are arranged tightly to each other, the fruits are medium, bright scarlet in color. The pulp is very dense, even a little fibrous, which should be noted. The shrub also blooms around the May holidays, and the crop is usually harvested in late July and early August. A gardener can remove about 9 kilograms of berries from one bush, but it is worth considering the peculiarities of care, since the plant, even though it is unpretentious, needs care - watering, pruning and feeding.

We will also list a few more varieties that a gardener needs to pay attention to if he decides to grow felt cherries and strives to get a decent harvest: Oceanic virovskaya, Alice, Summer, Damanka, Children's. All varieties differ from each other in the size of the shrubs, their shape, but the period of flowering and harvesting in general is the same for them. Also, differences may also lie in the appearance of the berries themselves, some of them have a dark shade, and which are bright, scarlet and red. Again, everything should be based on the choice of the variety, and only in this case you can get a really excellent and worthy result.

Of course, felt cherry, like any plant, can be susceptible to a variety of diseases. they negatively affect its appearance, root system and, accordingly, fruiting. shrubs can wither, foliage curls, falls off or shrivels, fruits wither and crumble before they have ripened. Felt cherry diseases have similarities, so it is not so difficult to identify them and choose the appropriate treatment to get rid of the disease and its harmful consequences.

The most common diseases include:

- moniliosis or monilial burn;

- clotterosporia or perforated spot;

- coccomycosis;

- pocket disease.

To get rid of diseases and pests, every gardener's first-aid kit should have such tools as Bordeaux mixture, garden var, slaked lime, and copper sulfate. They very quickly find the source of the fungus or disease, and act on it. In addition, the above funds are completely safe for human life and health, they do not accumulate in fruits.