Content
- 1 Purposes of fertilizing cherries in spring
- 2 Timing of spring feeding of cherries
- 3 How to fertilize cherries in spring
- 4 Scheme for feeding cherries in spring for good fruiting
- 5 Features of fertilizing cherries in spring in the Moscow region and regions
- 6 Is it necessary to feed cherries in summer?
- 7 Rules for spring feeding of cherries in spring
- 8 Caring for cherries after feeding in spring and summer
- 9 Conclusion
Fertilizers containing nitrogen are of great importance for fruit trees and shrubs, including cherries. Thanks to this chemical element, the active growth of annual shoots occurs, on which the fruits mainly ripen. You can feed cherries in the spring so that they bear fruit and grow actively with various nitrogen mineral fertilizers, as well as other means.
Purposes of fertilizing cherries in spring
Cherry enters the growing season earlier than many other garden trees.Already in early spring, as soon as the ground thaws, buds begin to swell on it. At this time, it is very important that the trees receive adequate nutrition.
Spring feeding of cherries is an important stage in the care cycle
This will allow them to quickly recover after a long winter, strengthen their immunity, and also increase their resistance to return frosts, if they occur.
What you can and cannot fertilize cherries with
To feed cherries in the spring, you can use various complex mineral fertilizers produced industrially. You can buy them in specialized stores for gardeners. Here are some of the commercially produced fertilizers for feeding cherries in the spring.
- Urea.
- Potassium sulfate.
- Superphosphate (single, double).
- Nitroammofoska (azophoska).
- Ammonium nitrate.
Mineral fertilizers contain nutrients in concentrated form
In the absence of industrial mineral fertilizers, you can use various folk remedies that increase soil fertility. These include the following compositions.
- Wood ash.
- Mullein infusion.
- Eggshell.
- Manure.
- Compost.
- Sawdust.
- Shoddy.
- Yeast.
Organic fertilizers are effective and safe
Contraindicated for feeding cherries in early spring are undiluted chicken manure, as well as fresh manure and slurry. Nitrogen fertilizers should be used with caution when there is a high probability of return frosts, since shoots that have begun to grow are vulnerable and can be damaged by frost.
Timing of spring feeding of cherries
Feeding cherry trees in the spring has its own characteristics. As a rule, it is carried out in several stages.Calendar dates may differ by region due to climate conditions, so gardeners focus on certain stages of the growing season of trees. Here are the main stages of such feeding.
- Early spring, beginning of the growing season.
- Before flowering begins.
- During the flowering period.
- 12-14 days after the previous feeding.
How to fertilize cherries in spring
The amount and composition of fertilizers used during spring feeding depend on the age of the trees and the growing season, as well as the composition of the soil. It is important to pay attention to this point.
How to fertilize cherries in the spring when planting
When planting a seedling, quite a lot of different fertilizers are placed in the planting hole. This measure provides the young tree with a constant source of nutrition necessary for rapid growth and development. During planting, the following fertilizers are used (per 1 planting hole):
- Humus (15 kg).
- Superphosphate, simple or double (1.5 or 2 tablespoons, respectively).
- Potassium sulfate (1 tbsp).
If the soil on the site is acidic, then additionally add dolomite flour or lime. It is also advisable to add half a kilo of wood ash to the planting holes. This will not only reduce acidity, but also enrich the soil with potassium.
Urea is an effective nitrogen fertilizer
In most regions, cherries are planted in the spring, before the growing season begins. Therefore, it is advisable to additionally add a small amount of nitrogen fertilizer to the planting hole, for example, 1.5-2 tbsp. l. carbamide (urea). If planting is done in the fall (which can be done in the southern regions), then no nitrogen-containing fertilizers should be added to the planting hole.
How to feed young cherries in spring
Fertilizers should not be applied within 2 years after planting.The volume of fertilizers that were put into the soil during planting is quite enough for the young tree for this period. If fertilizing was not applied in full when planting seedlings, then you should start applying them from the 2nd year of life. Up to 4 years of age, the cherry tree is considered young; at this time it is growing rapidly and the tree frame is being laid. Feeding during this period is very important. In the spring, cherries of this age are fed in May, before flowering, in one of two ways:
- Root. Dry ammonium nitrate or ammonium nitrate dissolved in water is used, which is scattered in the root zone, using approximately 20 g per 1 square meter. m., or apply fertilizer in the form of a solution, irrigating the root zone.
- Foliar. Trees are sprayed with an aqueous solution of urea (20-30 g per 10 liters of water).
Foliar feeding is very effective
How to feed mature cherries in spring
An adult fruiting cherry absorbs nutrients from the soil more intensively, so it needs more fertilizer in the spring. Feeding trees older than 4 years is carried out in several stages. At this time, both complex mineral fertilizers (ammonium nitrate, urea, superphosphate, potassium salt) and other means (mullein infusion, wood ash) are used.
Feeding old cherries in spring
Old cherries do not require enhanced shoot formation and accelerated growth of green mass. Trees receive their main nutrients from organic matter, which is added to the tree trunk in the second half of the season.In the spring, it is enough to feed the cherries with urea once, before flowering, adding it in dry or dissolved form to the root zone. Each tree requires 0.25-0.3 kg of this fertilizer.
How to feed cherries in spring to prevent them from falling off
The shedding of ovaries and fruits depends not only on fertilizing, but also on other factors, such as the characteristics of the variety, the ripening of the crop, timely and high-quality watering, the appearance of diseases or pests on the trees. Premature flight of fruit ovaries can be caused by a lack of nutrition if fertilizing was not applied in full or was absent altogether. If all recommendations are followed, then the reason for the falling of fruit ovaries or premature shedding of berries must be sought elsewhere.
How to fertilize cherries in spring for a better harvest
Flower buds, which in the future will become flowers and then fruits, are laid in cherries in the previous year. Therefore, to increase productivity, it is necessary for the plant to plant as many of them as possible in the fall. This process is stimulated by applying fertilizers, but this is done not in spring, but at the end of summer. Spring feeding is aimed rather at preserving the future harvest and preventing premature shedding of ovaries and fruits. It is for this purpose that cherries are fed with superphosphate and potassium fertilizers after flowering.
You can increase the number of fruits by attracting as many pollinating insects to the tree as possible. For this purpose, cherries during flowering are sprayed with honey water (1 tbsp.honey per 1 bucket of water), which is a kind of feeding for bees.
Honey will attract more pollinating insects to cherries
Scheme for feeding cherries in spring for good fruiting
To provide a fruit-bearing tree with the full range of nutrients and microelements, it is recommended to fertilize in several stages. The first of them is aimed at the rapid restoration of the tree after hibernation and the growth of green mass, the second stage is intended for the most effective fruit setting, and the third is for strengthening the tree and preserving the ripening crop.
How to feed cherries in the spring before flowering
At the very beginning of the season, even before the start of the growing season, trees are sprayed with a solution of Bordeaux mixture (copper sulfate + lime) to combat fungal diseases and pests, as well as as a foliar fertilizer containing such important trace elements as calcium and copper.
Spraying with Bordeaux mixture is a means of preventing fungal diseases and feeding with microelements
The second stage, before the beginning of the flowering period, is foliar treatment with an aqueous solution of urea (20-30 g of fertilizer per bucket of water) or application of ammonium nitrate to the root zone (2 tablespoons per 1 sq. m).
How to feed cherries during flowering
To feed cherries in the spring during flowering, it is recommended to prepare the following composition. Dilute 1 liter of mullein and half a kilo of ash in 10 liters of water. Moisten the root zone evenly with the solution. If the cherry is 7 years old or more, the amount of all ingredients used to feed the cherry in the spring during flowering must be doubled.
How to feed cherries after flowering
After 12-14 days, the cherries are fed again. 1 tbsp. l. potassium salt and 1.5 tbsp. l.superphosphate is diluted in 1 bucket of water and applied to the root zone.
Features of fertilizing cherries in spring in the Moscow region and regions
Spring feeding schemes, their composition and standards in the Moscow region and in other regions of Russia (in Siberia, the Urals, the Far East) will not have fundamental differences. The main difference will only be in the timing of the work. In any case, you need to navigate by the climate of your region and the stages of the plant’s growing season (swelling of buds, beginning and end of flowering, fruiting, etc.), and not by dates on the calendar.
A short video about feeding cherries can be viewed at the link:
Is it necessary to feed cherries in summer?
By the end of summer, even the latest varieties of cherries stop bearing fruit. Fruiting, especially abundant fruiting, greatly weakens the trees. It is very important at this time to help them recover faster, as well as stimulate the process of flower bud formation. The yield of the tree in the next calendar year depends on their quantity.
Wood ash deoxidizes the soil and enriches it with potassium
In summer, young trees (under 4 years old) are usually not fed. They do not yet produce abundant fruit, so it will be enough to feed them in the fall to strengthen them before wintering. Mature fruit-bearing trees are fed in 2 stages in the summer:
- Early summer. Azophoska or an analogue is used (25 g per 1 bucket of water), the solution of which is evenly applied to the tree trunk circle.
- End of summer, after fruiting. Superphosphate is used (25-30 g per 1 bucket of water), and you also need to add 0.5 liters of ash. All this is also evenly applied to the root zone, after which abundant watering is carried out.
Rules for spring feeding of cherries in spring
There is nothing complicated about feeding cherry trees, but there are some points that are worth paying attention to. Here are some tips to help you save time, increase efficiency, and avoid unnecessary problems:
- Do not get carried away with applying fertilizers and increasing the dose of one or another component. Too much is often much more harmful than too little.
- An increased concentration of fertilizers during foliar feeding can cause chemical burns to plant tissues.
- All root baits should be done on damp soil or after preliminary watering.
- Foliar feeding of cherries in spring and summer is best done in dry weather, in the evening, so that the sun does not have time to dry the solution and the microelements have time to be absorbed into the tree tissue as much as possible.
PPE - gardener's assistants
Caring for cherries after feeding in spring and summer
After spring and summer feeding, the plantings do not require any special measures. You just need to carefully observe what results are achieved when using certain fertilizers and take corrective actions in a timely manner. After root feeding done using the dry method, regular watering is necessary, otherwise the granules will remain in the soil in undissolved form. The tree trunk circle must be cleared of weeds and mulched with peat or humus.
A good cherry harvest directly depends on fertilizing
Conclusion
You can feed cherries in the spring so that they bear fruit and do not get sick in different ways and means. Not all gardeners consider it acceptable to use mineral fertilizers on their plots, but they can be replaced with organic matter and some other folk remedies. It is important that fertilizing is applied on time and regularly; this will not only ensure annual stable fruiting, but will also strengthen the plant’s immunity and increase its resistance to diseases and pests.
