Cherry propagation

It's no secret that cherry is a fairly popular plant, and you can find it in the possessions of almost every gardener. And, of course, everyone wants to have a lot of cherries. However, you don't want to spend money on seedlings so much. That is why every gardener should know how cherries reproduce: in what ways it can be done and how not to harm the plant.

How to propagate cherries

If you want to grow not a lonely dull tree, but a whole garden of beautiful cherries, but you do not want to spend money on a dozen seedlings, then you just need to understand how cherry trees multiply. Thanks to this, you will be able to grow new cherry trees from the natural formations of the old ones. Moreover, this is not so difficult, because in this article we will look at four of the most popular and effective ways of breeding cherries. These include: propagation of cherries by cuttings and seeds, grafting and shoots.

When choosing a method, do not forget that breeding is carried out only in spring or summer. To make it easier for you to understand, we will consider in detail each of the methods presented.

Cherry propagation by cuttings in summer

This method is considered by many gardeners and experts as the simplest and most unpretentious. Propagation by cuttings is one of the types of vegetative propagation of cherries. In the summer (namely in June), you should start preparing shoots for reproduction. Young green cuttings, which have already hardened and acquired a crimson color at the point of attachment to the trunk, are best suited for this. It is with green cuttings that cherry propagation will be more successful. Having found such branches, you need to carefully, trying not to harm, remove them from the tree. It is advisable to do this in the evening or in the morning in not the hottest weather. By choosing the right conditions, you can make everything perfect.

Felt cherries are propagated by pre-prepared shoots, the length of which does not exceed 30 cm. After the shoots have been cut from the tree, they are placed in water for a while. If you want your cuttings to take root as soon as possible, you can add some growth promoter to the soak solution. In order not to overdo it with the drug, leading to negative consequences, carefully read the instructions on the package.

For soaking itself, it is necessary to tie the cherry cuttings into a "bouquet" of ~ 30 shoots. They have to stay in the water for 18 hours. However, pay close attention to the immersion depth: it will not be useful for the twigs to be too deep in the liquid. One and a half centimeters is enough.

During those 18 hours that the shoots will spend in their "bathroom", you can start preparing the beds. You will need to mix sand and peat to fill them. This soil will allow your twigs to grow into a mature tree as soon as possible. The layer of the mixture should not be more than 10 centimeters. After that, the layer must be covered with coarse sand and leveled. In addition, you should not plant shoots in "empty" soil. Water the prepared hole well and add some mineral fertilizer before planting.

If you nevertheless decide to use a growth stimulant when soaking, then you should not rush to planting. Better to wait until morning.

In addition, after planting, it is necessary to take very careful care of the young shoots. For a whole month, a protective film should lie over the seedbed. Watering the plant at this time should be done carefully: using a small sprayer or watering can.If you cared for the sprouts well enough and followed all the rules, after two weeks the shoots should have full roots.

In addition, we add that after spring or early summer, such propagation of cherries by root cuttings will not be effective, because too hardened and germinated shoots are much more difficult to root.

Care for shoots in the future is not strikingly different from caring for ordinary seedlings. You just need to be careful and monitor well the growth of the cuttings. Care must be taken during the entire propagation of cherries by cuttings.

As mentioned, grafting is not a complicated process at all, which is ideal for your wallet, as well as for varieties such as Turgenevka, Molodezhnaya, Polevka, Shubinka and Vladimirskaya.

Grafting a tree

What is the most effective way to propagate felted or any other cherry? This method can be the propagation of cherries by grafting, and if you take it as seriously as possible and follow all the instructions, an exceptionally positive result will await you.

Wild seedlings 1-2 years old are suitable for this method. It is on them that we will carry out the inoculation of the variety, the qualities of which we liked

Procurement of shoots for this method is not limited by the seasons and can be carried out both in spring and early winter. The diameter of the branches should not be less than 5 millimeters. If there is felt on the branches (it can be found on the shoots of some varieties), then it is removed. Cuts formed on remote branches must be soaked in water at room temperature. After soaking, a couple of cuttings should be cut off from the learned shoots. Each cut must have at least 4 buds.

To prevent the cuttings from drying out, each of them should be treated with a universal paraffin-wax mixture. If you decide to resort to such treatment, then after grafting, the cuttings should be covered with a film to protect the new young shoots from external influences.

Mid-March will be an excellent time for vaccination, since it occurs before the stage of active sap flow.

This method is ideal for breeding cherry varieties such as Fertile Michurina, Miracle Cherry, Sasha, Yuzhnaya, etc.

Cherry seed propagation

In addition to seedlings and cuttings, there is also the possibility of seed propagation of cherries. However, most often this option is not considered, because it is far from the best and most effective. Nevertheless, if you do decide to propagate cherries with seeds, you should make sure that they are planted in autumn or spring. Cherry seed propagation also occurs in summer, but only if the cherry was purchased.

The bone, which was planted in the spring, needs to be treated with care: rinse it and treat it with a solution of potassium permanganate. After that, place it in moss or sawdust, previously moistened with water. In the event that the planting is carried out in the fall, no additional procedures are required: immediately plant the seed where it will grow. A suitable hole depth is 3-4 centimeters. The distance between the holes must be at least 25 centimeters. You can fill up to five seeds in one hole and wait for the shoots to appear after winter.

However, all this is a very difficult undertaking, because you have no guarantee that the seeds will really sprout. In addition, cherries grown in this way will grow and develop much more slowly than others. Moreover, various varieties of cherries may not pass on their properties to the new generation through the seeds.

So it is better to refrain from this method, although this does not exclude the fact that it is possible. However, according to any experienced gardener, grafting and grafting methods are much more effective.

Cherry propagation by growth

The last method mentioned in this article is overgrowth reproduction.He's quite forgiven, and is often resorted to in the northern regions.

When using this method, it is important to know that young animals do not always manage to take root and inherit their "maternal" qualities. If you want a rooted shoot to bear fruit really well, you will need the strongest, healthiest shoot of all. Old shoots are obviously the worst for rooting. On the other hand, the best option is a branchy two-year-old shoot, which has great potential for becoming a new cherry tree.

Spring is a good time to build specimens. The shoot we need will most likely grow ~ 20 centimeters from the mother tree. With the help of special tools, it is necessary to dig out the selected growth as carefully as possible, having previously fertilized the mother tree. Already in the fall, the dug out shoot can be transplanted and started to grow.

A significant disadvantage of the method of propagation of cherries by root shoots is that there is a considerable chance that the shoot of a varietal tree will have a low survival rate. However, for such varieties as Michurina and Rastunya, this is not a problem at all.

Knowing this method, you can quickly and without advanced knowledge create a cherry meadow in your garden. Plus, the different methods mentioned in this article can be combined to give you an incredible leap in the growth rate of your future cherries.