Cherry picking

Each summer resident is proud of his garden and self-grown vegetables. And by making some mistakes, you can correct them already next year, since you start all over again. With a garden, everything is somewhat more complicated, since any tree is a long-term project. Therefore, healthy, beautiful and regularly bearing trees will be a testament to your experience and undeniable hard work. It is not easy to take care of any fruit-bearing trees, including cherries: first you need to carry out a competent planting, then form a tree in a timely manner, fight diseases and pests, and fertilize. The most pleasant and long-awaited moment is picking cherries, and this is also part of the care of the plant. Of course, gardeners and commercial scale cherry growers use different harvesting methods, so let's talk about that in more detail.

Collecting cherries at their summer cottage and what to do with cherries after picking

The cherry harvest time can come in early July or mid-August - it depends entirely on the variety you choose, on the region in which you live, and on the weather this summer. The year may be more or less productive, an invasion of harmful insects may occur or a disease may appear, but in the end you will cope with everything and the time will come to harvest.

The process of picking cherries is not easy, it will require time, accuracy and effort from you. If you have several cherry trees of different varieties growing on your site, besides, they are located in different conditions (someone got more space and sunlight), then do not try to guess the time so as to harvest the entire crop at the same time, as a result, you may lose most of it.

As the cherries ripen, collect and process them, otherwise the birds will bite them, they will begin to fall off or deteriorate. The number of trees in one summer cottage, as a rule, allows you to pick cherries by hand, you can act in several ways: pick berries with cuttings, pick only berries, or cut off some part of the cut with cherry pruners or garden shears. When choosing a method, start from what you plan to do with the berries next. Cherries without a cutting will need to be processed in the next day, and the berries that you cut from the tree along with part of the cutting can be stored for several days.

Most likely, during harvesting, you will have to use the stairs, while still holding the container in which to put the berries. All this complicates the process somewhat, so experienced gardeners invent various harvesting devices that can be built from improvised means, with a minimum of effort and without financial costs. Such a device can be made using a plastic bottle, a stick of the required length, a self-tapping screw and a screwdriver, as well as any sharp tool (knife, scissors).

Put the neck of the bottle on a stick and secure with a self-tapping screw. Then make a hole tapering to one side. Cherries will come off, falling into the narrowed part of the hole and stay in the bottle. As they fill, the berries are poured from the bottle into a larger container. Cherry picking with this tool is suitable for both regular and felt cherries.

Device for collecting cherries in agricultural associations

Since both cherries and sweet cherries are very popular berries, they are also grown on an industrial scale.And since picking cherries by hand becomes unprofitable, therefore, it becomes necessary to automate and simplify the harvesting process as much as possible. For this, special machines and combines are used. The principle of the berry picking machine is very simple and based on vibration. Geotextiles or tarpaulins are spread under the trees, the machine itself is attached to the trunk, which creates vibration and "shakes" the tree. As a result, the berries fall down and then are sorted from the fabric and packed into containers or boxes.

In addition, there is also the Felix Z harvester, which moves along the ground and, with the help of a frame and special brushes, crushes the ripe crop onto a belt that transports the berries to the tank. Then the harvested crop is loaded into containers.

Cherry care after picking berries

After the harvest, the gardening work does not end, it is necessary to continue to take care of the trees, without this they can weaken and the next year's harvest will not be so rich.

First of all, treat the trees with chemicals that protect against the development of diseases and the invasion of harmful insects. If earlier this could affect the harvest, now there is nothing to fear and it is imperative to carry out these procedures even if your trees are healthy, since any problem is easier to prevent than to deal with its consequences.

Don't forget about watering. If there is enough rainfall, then there is no need for it, but if the summer is dry, then 2-3 times a month the trees should be watered. Well, in the autumn period, it is necessary to carry out abundant water-charging irrigation, about 50-60 liters for each tree.

It is imperative to carry out sanitary and formative pruning of mature trees, avoiding thickening of the crown. It is also recommended to cut off the lower branches, since the berries are practically not formed on them, and they take a lot of strength from the tree.

And of course, you need to think about fertilizing, since the tree has spent a lot of energy and needs nutrients to get ready for winter. Experienced gardeners prefer organic matter, adding a ten-liter bucket of well-rotted compost for each square meter of the trunk circle. But it is allowed to use mineral dressings containing potassium and phosphorus - these are the elements that the tree needs to accumulate in order to ensure a good harvest next year. It is recommended to use nitrogen fertilizers only in the spring. But the use of fresh manure must be completely excluded, as it "burns" the roots of plants.
A large harvest of juicy and tasty berries can be achieved only by taking proper care of the trees, which begins in spring and continues until the onset of cold weather.