Can cherries pollinate cherries? Could cherries be a pollinator for cherries? How to pollinate with different species

The word "cherry" is associated with the hot southern sun, the Black Sea and the ancient Greek city of Kerasund. It was there that the Romans saw this plant several thousand years ago and gave it the name Cerasus avium.

The traditional regions of sweet cherry cultivation lie in warm regions. Until recently, it was difficult to imagine that this crop could be grown in the cold climate of Central Russia. But, as Napoleon said, "genius consists in the ability to distinguish the difficult from the impossible." The breeders got down to business, and the Iput cherry was born.

It all started with the Lupine Institute in the Bryansk region. There, in the department of fruit growing, a unique geneticist Mayina Vladimirovna Kanshina has been working for more than forty years. She devoted all her talent and all her life to breeding cold-resistant varieties of sweet cherries.

Variety Iput is a "daughter" of selection forms numbered 3-36 and 8-14. After crossing them followed long years breeding and strict selection of hybrid seedlings. In 1993, a new sweet cherry variety was included in the register of selection achievements and recommended for cultivation in the Central and Central Black Earth Region of Russia. Mayina Vladimirovna gave her name to her brainchild from the name of the Iput River flowing through the Bryansk region.

Today, through the efforts of breeders in Russia, 14 varieties of cold-resistant sweet cherry have been introduced (10 of them were bred by M.V. Kanshina). In 2008, at a meeting of the Institute of Fruit Growing, it was suggested that cherries will very soon replace cherries in Russian orchards. This is due to the greater resistance of "northern" cherry varieties to moniliosis and coccomycosis - the main reasons for the death of cherry orchards.

Cherry Iput: variety description

Practical gardeners, thinking about acquiring a new "tenant" for their garden, are guided by several parameters: the size of an adult tree, early maturity, early maturity, resistance to weather and other conditions, and yield. All characteristics of Iput cherries for convenience are collected in the table:

Thus, the advantages of the Iput variety include:

• winter hardiness;
• disease resistance;
• compactness of the tree;
• high productivity and large-fruited;
• excellent fruit taste and their universal purpose;
• good transportability and keeping quality good for cherries;
• early maturity.

A few cons:

• tendency to cracking the fruit;
• self-infertility;
• exactingness to the ground.

All cherry varieties are divided into two types. Cherry Iput with dense pulp and colored juice belongs to the bigarro group. Varieties with clear juice and tender pulp belong to the gini group.

Landing

The harvest starts from a seedling, like a theater from a hanger. Therefore, you need to choose a seedling for your site very meticulously.

1. Sweet cherries are usually planted at the age of 2 years. A two-year-old seedling should have 3-4 well-developed lateral shoots.
2. If you are purchasing a seedling with an open root system, you need to inspect it. The roots should not be rotten, dry; healthy roots have a creamy color when cut.
3. The trunk thickness of a good cherry seedling is about 2 cm.
4. Wrinkled bark is a sign that the plant has dried out. Also, there should be no growths, cracks, or swellings on the trunk.
5. It is important to clarify on which rootstock the cherry is grafted. Practice shows that cherry rootstocks have weak anchoring, and an already mature tree can break at the fusion point. The best rootstocks are Izmailovsky and Moskovia cerapadus (cherry and bird cherry hybrids), VTs-13 and VTs-52 (cherry and cerapadus hybrid).

Choosing a "pet", you need to immediately wrap its roots with a moistened cloth, put in a bag and tie. In this state, the seedling can be transported to the site without fear that the root system will dry out.

Sweet cherry is a light-demanding culture, and you need to choose a place for it that is sunny, protected from the wind. Drafts are destructive even for zoned "northerners". The soil on the site must be breathable and well-drained. Swampy or clayey dense soils, lowlands with stagnant spring melt waters are not suitable for cherries. The subsoil water horizon should be at least 2 meters deep.

In cold regions, cherries can only be planted in spring. This means that the preparation of the seat should be taken care of in the fall:

• dig a hole 1 meter in diameter and 80 cm deep;
• fill it with four buckets of humus, pouring it with a mound.

It is better not to add mineral fertilizers to the planting pit for cherries. They stimulate too intense growth. Shoots of a young tree may not have time to ripen before the cold weather, and the tree will be damaged by frost.

The purchased seedling can be held for some time without planting in a permanent place, if you lay it down and sprinkle the roots with earth. And yet it is better not to pull for a long time, but immediately place it in the landing pit.

Sweet cherries, like most fruit crops, are very convenient to plant "on a cone". The algorithm of actions is as follows:

1. Install a support stake on a humus mound (cone) poured at the bottom of the planting pit.
2. Place the seedling on the top of the mound and spread the roots so that they evenly descend along its slopes.
3. Fill the hole with good soil mixed with humus and tamp the hole a little.
4. Check the position of the neck... It should be just above the surface.
5. Tie the seedling to the support.
6. Make a groove around the circumference of the planting hole and water the seedling well along this furrow.
7. Mulch the trunk circle with organic mulch.

If the seedling was purchased in a container, the planting process is simplified. A hole 20 cm wider and deeper than the volume of the container is enough. The plant is placed in it together with an earthen clod and covered with a mixture of earth and humus.

Correct care

The trunk circle will require care throughout the life of the plant. It should be moist, loosened, weed-free and mulched. It is good to plant marigolds around the circumference. These flowers attract ladybirds - natural enemies of aphids, which likes to perch on young shoots of sweet cherry.

Immediately after planting, the cherries must be formed. The first step is to examine the crown. If there is no clear “leader” among the shoots, it must be “appointed”: choose a good upper one, pull it up to the support, giving vertical position, and tie up. The rest of the shoots are the future skeletal branches of the cherry. They should be shortened by the lower kidney to a length of 25 cm.

In the first year after planting, young cherries only need to be watered. In autumn, for better preparation of the plant for wintering, you can set a superphosphate top dressing (2 tablespoons per 1 square meter of crown projection). The Iput variety tolerates frost well, but at a young age it is better to arrange additional protection for it.

In this quality, nonwoven covering materials show themselves well. Before the onset of frost, a frame is installed around the seedling and covered in several layers with agrospan or spunbond 60 g / sq. m.

It is better not to use the popular burlap for sheltering cherries. This material strongly absorbs moisture and is not able to protect the shoots from freezing.

In the second year, the cherries will need spring nitrogen feeding. It is better to use good manure humus, then there is no risk of "overfeeding" the plant.

You also need to continue forming the crown. There are different opinions about pruning cherries. For example, the famous pomologist Lev Platonovich Simirenko believed that pruning was contraindicated in this culture. Cherry has a low shoot-forming ability, and its crown itself is formed sparse. Even in mature trees, sanitary pruning and simple embossing of shoots directed into the crown can often be dispensed with.

Nevertheless, in order to stimulate the entry into fruiting and better yield, it is necessary from a young age to accustom the skeletal branches of cherries to correct position... The following rule applies here: the greater the angle between the shoot and the trunk, the better the yield. To ensure this condition, in the old days, bast shoes were hung on the branches of young seedlings. Now you can apply the method of unbending shoots:

1. In the spring, a free twine loop is attached to the side branch, closer to the top.
2. The other end of the twine is tied to a peg in the ground so that the branch forms a straight or even obtuse angle with the trunk.
3. In this “crucified” position, the plant spends the whole summer. In the fall, the loop can be cut.

In the middle of summer, year-on-year growths are examined on a cherry tree. Cherry is capable of driving them up to 60 cm long and more per season. This is not very good - long growths do not have time to ripen before winter. Therefore, they should be pinched. Among other things, this procedure stimulates the branching of cherries.

To keep the tree compact, you need to keep track of the height of the center conductor. A leader's height of three meters will be sufficient. When it grows to this mark, it is cut off with transfer to the nearest skeletal branch.

3 facts about cherry pollination

Sweet cherry is a cross-pollinated plant. Even in partially self-fertile varieties, the yield is greatly increased if other cherries are planted nearby. But this does not mean at all that your entire plot needs to be turned into a cherry orchard. You can get by with minimal costs.

1. Sweet cherry is perfectly pollinated by its "sister" cherry. Thanks to this property, hybrids of these crops appeared - dukes. Therefore, if there is already a cherry tree in the garden with early date ripening, you can not plant another cherry next to Iput. As a pollinator for her, for example, a cherry of the Turgenevskaya variety can fit.
2. Option for even more economical use of garden space - grafting of donor material of the pollinator variety into the cherry crown Iput. Thus, you can get two different varieties on the same trunk, which will pollinate each other.
3. If there is a suitable cherry or sweet cherry in the neighboring garden, you can completely do without your own pollinator. The main thing is to take into account two points:

• plant your cherries no further than 30 meters from a neighboring tree;
• make sure that no pear or apple tree grows between them, which can interfere with cross-pollination.

Diseases and pests

Stone fruit scourge - fungal infections... Fortunately, Iput almost never suffers from either moniliosis or coccomycosis. If, nevertheless, the infection has occurred, you need to do the following:

1. Remove and burn affected shoots as soon as possible.
2. Treat the diseased plant with Horus. It is an extended spectrum fungicide. For better adhesion to the surface, you can dissolve it not in plain water, but with the addition of laundry or tar soap.

Aphids, which often attack cherries, have already been mentioned. It is possible to fight it with chemical preparations such as "Iskra", but at the same time one must remember: insecticides kill not only pests, but also beneficial insects - bees, ladybirds, lacewings. Noticing aphids on your tree, it is better to deal with it with a simple ash and soap solution.

Some experienced fruit growers advise not to take any measures with minor lesions of sweet cherry with aphids. It has been noticed that aphids perch only on the tops of year-old growths and, having trampled them, leaves the tree. The spoiled apical bud does not allow the shoot to grow, and it ripens safely without any pinching until the onset of frost.

Harvesting and storage

When pouring the fruit, cherries must be protected from starlings. These wonderful friends of gardeners can become lively competitors for a while, and in order not to be left without a crop, it is better to throw a protective net on the tree in time.

Mass harvesting of Iput cherries can be started when the fruits acquire a dark red color. It is important to monitor the condition of the stalks: if they begin to dry out, time is lost, and the cherries are overripe. Such fruits will have to be processed or eaten immediately.

Remove cherries from the branches carefully. Do not throw, but put the fruit in a container. Set aside damaged ones with cracked skin separately.

It will not be possible to keep Iput fresh for a long time - like any cherry, it quickly loses its taste and becomes watery. You can keep it in the refrigerator for 5 days, but then it is better to freeze it or make preparations for the winter. A jar of fragrant jam on a winter evening will remind you of the beautiful wanderer who has come a long way from “Greeks” to “Varangians”.

And finally, a short video describing cherries, including the Drozdovsky variety:

Cherries can bloom very abundantly in spring, however, every gardener knows that this is not at all an indicator of a rich harvest in the future. The key to high fruiting is high-quality pollination of cherries or shrubs by insects or a pollinator.

The pollination process consists in getting ripe pollen on the stigma of the flower pistil. The pollen grain then germinates in the pistil column, penetrating into the ovary, which contains the unfertilized ovule, and thereby fertilization occurs, which subsequently leads to the appearance of ovaries. The transfer of pollen on the stigma from the flower pistils is pollination.

Pollination is usually done by bees or other insects and wind. There are situations when pollination has to be done manually. For example, if cherries bloom too early, when insects are still insufficient, or the tree grows in a greenhouse, where access for pollinating insects is completely limited. First, they check the readiness of the pollen for fertilization by running a finger over the anther, and see if yellow lumps remain. After that they pick up optimal time - This is the middle of the day, after several days of warm and dry weather. And every day until the end of flowering, it is advisable to carry out manual pollination with a brush or cotton swab.

Not all cherries are capable of self-pollination; to ensure cross-pollination, they must be planted with other varieties capable of self-fertilization with their own pollen. Different varieties of cherries have different flowering times. Only those trees whose flowers bloom at the same time are able to adapt to cross-pollination. With the help of special guides, you can get all the information you need to choose the most suitable variety. However, not all cherries belonging to the same flowering group are capable of such pollination.

In terms of pollination and flowering biology, cherry is close to cherry, its yield also depends on pollination. It is noteworthy that cherries are capable of pollinating with pollinating cherries, but cherries in very rare cases.

Conditions for pollination of cherries

Weather conditions during flowering are of great importance to obtain an optimal yield. Too hot or cold and rainy spring weather affects flowering unfavorably. With very high temperature air susceptibility of the stigma of the flower decreases, and at low air, its delicate part is damaged. Moreover, both at low and at too high temperatures, the years of bees and other insects stop.

Rainy weather is also highly undesirable during flowering. The rain may not completely wash off the pollen from the stigmas and anthers, but high-quality pollination will not occur and the setting of berries will be negligible. In addition, high humidity can intensify or provoke the development of various fungal diseases, which negatively affect not only the harvest, but also the entire tree as a whole.

A strong wind will not give insects the opportunity to focus on high-quality pollination. In windy weather, the bee collects significantly less pollen, and, therefore, processes fewer flowers, in addition, it is difficult for the bee to return to the hive with a load in such weather.

Cherry species by pollination method

Cherries are divided according to their ability to fertilize with their own pollen into: self-fertile, self-fertile and partially self-fertile. Practically, cherry varieties that tie about 5-6% of fruits are considered self-fertile. Self-fertile cherries are capable of forming 40-50% of the total number of flowers on the plant, partially self-fertile - within 7-20%.

Self-fertile

Among the self-fertile varieties, the most popular with high yields can be distinguished - these are Podbelsky, Brunetka, Griot, Apukhtinsky, Kensky, Rossoshanskaya black, Finaevskaya and others.

Most self-fertile cherries have a very unusual flower structure: the height of the stamen with the anther, in which the pollen is located, and the pistil, from which the fruit is subsequently formed, is practically the same for them. Due to this, pollination takes place inside the flower, even before it opens. In self-fertile varieties, pollen retains the ability to germinate for 13-16 days, this contributes to a large number of ovaries. A large number of these cherry varieties have a relatively high percentage of germination, even at 20-25 days. For comparison, common cherry varieties lose their ability to germinate in cool weather at temperatures of 10-14C.

Self-infertile

Common or self-infertile varieties include such varieties as Alpha, Chudo, Saratov, Ural, Vladimir, Chernokorka and others. This is the largest group. Cherries of these varieties are not able to self-pollinate flowers. But in order for them to bear fruit normally, they are planted together with self-fertile varieties. The hybrid between cherry and cherry is also self-fertile in most cases.

Partially self-fertile

Partially self-fertile include: Vstrecha, Malyshka, Maksimovsky, Long-awaited, Turgenevka, Rubinovy, Shpanka Donetsk, Alai swallows and others.

All of the above varieties are suitable for growing in farms and on personal plots. To obtain better compatibility, one should be guided by the zoned assortment of fruit crops and information from special reference books.

Variety compatibility

Not all varieties have good or sufficient inter-pollination. There are times when the varieties planted next to them are incompatible, so they practically do not give an ovary. It turns out that any self-infertile variety, although good in every way, can turn out to be low-yielding without a suitable cherry pollinator.

When laying a garden, you should choose several varieties. It is important that the pollinators of the cherry are close in terms of flowering, entry into fruiting, ripening of fruits and longevity of the plant as a whole.

The approximate most optimal combination of common varieties and pollinators Alpha (Vladimirsky, Griot, Shubina), Chernokorka (Lyubskaya, sweet cherries Yaroslavna, Donchanka, Aelita), Ashinsky (Rubinovy, Altai swallow, Nochka), Zhukovsky (Lyubsky, Vladimirsky).

Small-grained Kanzan cherry, of a shrub type, will bear fruit well, if such self-pollinated varieties as Turgenevka, Molodezhny, Podbelsky are planted no further than 10-15 meters from it. A self-pollinating cherry variety like Ashinsky requires proximity to late-flowering cherries, in this case the yield will be much higher.

Video “Pollination of cherries. Promising varieties "

The video shows promising cherry pollinators. The pollination process and its importance in fruiting are highlighted.

Many gardeners, both beginners and already experienced, are often interested in the question: can a cherry be a pollinator for a sweet cherry and vice versa. First of all, such concern is associated with the fact that very often the tree blooms profusely, and the harvest is very small or absent at all.

The thing is that cherry is a tree that needs "company", that is, a pollinator from which bees and insects will carry pollen to form ovaries.

1. Cherry varieties classification

Cherry varieties classification

True, not all varieties are completely self-fertile. Cherry, like most stone fruit crops, is a cross-pollinated crop. Its varieties are divided into three groups:

• Self-fertile (self-pollinated) cherry, that is, which is pollinated independently, with its own pollen. This group includes most of the new varieties and hybrids, but their yield is no more than 40-50% of the number of opened flowers.
  The most common varieties: Molodezhnaya, Altai, Crimson, Bolotovskaya, Veteranka, Griot Rossoshansky, Cinderella, Kent, Lyubimitsa, Nord Star, Lada, Rastorguevskaya, Sudarushka, Shokoladnitsa.
• Partially self-pollinated varieties. They can pollinate on their own, but not all the color, but somewhere only a tenth. That is, with a suitable pollinator, the yield will be 10 times larger!
  The most common varieties: Banquet, Bogatyrka, Vstrecha, Dessertnaya Morozova, Lebedyanskaya, Melitopol, Olympic, Kompotnaya, Sania, Trofimovskaya, Shpanka.
• Completely self-fertile varieties of cherry (own pollen pollinates 1-3% of flowers). These include literally all old varieties, as well as hybrids of cherries and cherries - dukes, the berries of which are very large and tasty.
  The most common varieties: Vladimirskaya, Griot Melitopolsky, Zhukovskaya, Komsomolskaya, Lebedyanskaya, Krasa Tataria, Malinovka, Memory of Vavilov, Memory of Sakharov, Polevka, Orlovskaya, Standard of the Urals, Student, Miracle cherry, Shubinka, Black large.

Experienced gardeners have noticed that even self-fertile varieties, in the presence of a pollinator, yield 2-3 times more harvest, and the berries are much larger and juicier. Therefore, it is very important to decide which pollinator is required for a tree of a particular variety and how to optimally plant a cherry orchard in order to exclude under-pollination and be with a tasty berry every year.

What are the requirements for the "correct" pollinator for cherries?

The first requirement: it must necessarily be a different variety. That is, even several trees of the same variety will not pollinate each other.

The second requirement: the flowering period of the pollinator must coincide with the flowering period of the pollinated tree. You need to be guided by such a parameter as the ripening period of berries: early, medium and late. This is the answer to the question: is there a universal pollinator for cherry - it cannot exist in principle, because the flowering time of different varieties stretches for more than a month.

As practice shows, the best pollinators in each category are the following cherry varieties:

• For early flowering varieties - English early, Podbelskaya.
• For mid-flowering - Anadolskaya, Shpanka large, Sprawling Lotovka.
• For the late ones - Lotovka late, Shpanka large.

The third point: the optimal distance between the pollinator and the cherry is 3-5 meters. Although, pollination can occur at distances of up to 30 meters, provided that there are no other crops flowering between these trees (plums, pears, apple trees), on which insects can leave captured pollen.

If you are just going to plant a cherry orchard, then optimal choice - take 3-4 self-fertile varieties and 1 pollinator - only one ripening period. It can do the same with partially self-fertile species. Example: plant the following main varieties: Kharitonoskaya, Lebedyanskaya, Turgenevka, Zhukovskaya, and take the Vladimirskaya variety as a pollinator (which will also give excellent yields). For dukes and self-infertile varieties, you must have 2 pollinator trees on the site.

Cherries and cherries - interaction

With the question of whether a pollinator is needed for cherries, we figured it out. And can cherries pollinate cherries - yes, and this is a very good option. For the very same dykes and the earliest varieties, cherries will become a better partner than even the cherry itself. This is due to the fact that both those and those bloom early, and when pollinated, contribute to the enlargement of berries.

Among the varieties of cherries, the Iput sweet cherry is recognized as the best for other sweet cherries (which, in most of them, also need an outside pollinator). Moreover, it must be planted with its own pollinator - the Revna variety. Then, according to the employees of the Research Institute of Horticulture, the maximum yield of all cherries, and sweet cherries, and dukes will be provided on the site.

For example, the hybrid variety Griot Ostheimsky, pollinated with cherries, yields up to 100 kg from an 8-year-old tree. And the same tree, pollinated by cherries - only 50 kg. Without a pollinator, with very abundant flowering, the yield was only 5 kg.

Cherry varieties such as Nord Star, Kistevaya, Kelleris, Biryulevskaya 4-10, Nefris are also well pollinated with cherries.

In order to have a good harvest of late cherries, cherry varieties such as Tyutchevka and Napoleon can be a pollinator for it. Even if cherries bloom before cherries, their pollen is very durable and keeps well on the pile of the shoulders and insects.

Which cherry can pollinate sweet cherries

Benefits can be mutual between these crops, but most cherries poorly pollinate cherries. Only by planting the variety Lyubskaya with cherries next to it, you can be sure that the trees will give a good harvest. And since Lyubskaya is a completely self-fertile variety, it will delight every year with juicy, sweet and sour fruits.

Unlike berry trees, which yield excellent yields even when only one tree is planted, most fruit crops are completely self-pollinated. In other words, trees simply will not bear fruit if their inflorescences are pollinated with their own pollen.

In these cases, you need to plant at least a few trees nearby to create cross-pollination. The most striking example of the absolute impossibility of self-pollination is sweet cherry. And almost all fruit crops have a much better yield if several types of trees are planted nearby. Naturally, on condition that these crops will bloom simultaneously, and the inflorescences have high-quality pollen.

Pollination of cherries: types and features

When choosing varieties for planting, find out in the relevant literature about pollinators. Pollination is the movement of pollen from the stamen to the pistil, which creates fertilization and the formation of the fetus. As a rule, pollination is carried out by bees and other insects, as well as with the help of the wind. Often there is a need for self-pollination of cherries. In many fruit crops, both male and female flowers have inflorescences. But a number of trees, for example, hazel, have only female or only male inflorescences.

Some fruit crops can self-pollinate, that is, fertilize with their own pollen. Others are not capable of self-pollination and must be grown at the same time as another species of the same crop to create pollination. Pollinators are different kinds apple, apricot, peach and pear trees, which can be divided into groups based on the time of the beginning of flowering. The first includes species that are capable of cross-pollination, since their inflorescences appear simultaneously. The second group includes the so-called varieties of mutual incompatibility. Because not all species of the same fruit tree variety can be cross-pollinated, even if they are in the same group. In these species, fertilization is impossible either by pollination with pollen of the same type of culture, or by pollination by other trees of the same variety.

These varieties are capable of pollination with crop species from other groups with the condition of simultaneous appearance of inflorescences. Many types of cherries are considered mutually compatible, but they are ineffective as a pollinator. The reasons are different. Many types of fruit trees are diploid, their pollen has a sufficient number of chromosomes. Triploid species have 2 times the required number of chromosomes. Triploid varieties are weak pollinators; they need to be planted around two diploid trees so they will pollinate the triploid as well as cross themselves.

Features of self-pollination of cherries

The best time to fertilize is in the middle of the day after a week of dry weather. Use a brush to gently transfer the pollen from the stamens to the base of the pistils. Cotton wool wrapped around a match is also suitable for this. If the inflorescences of the tree are dioecious, a different method is used. After determining the readiness of the pollen, tear off the petals from the male inflorescence and press it down in the middle to the middle of the female inflorescence. Manual pollination must be done daily until the end of flowering.