Content
The beauty of a blooming cherry orchard is unlikely to leave anyone indifferent. And if this beauty turns into delicious berries over time, that’s doubly good. Just such a tree, capable of decorating any garden, and at the same time delighting with a bountiful harvest, is the Ashinskaya cherry, a young promising variety of Russian selection.
History of selection
Ashinskaya is a spontaneous hybrid of garden cherry and steppe cherry (bush). Named in honor of the regional center of Asha, Chelyabinsk region, where the material for selection was taken from. The authors of the variety are Russian scientists from the South Ural Research Institute of Horticulture and Potato Growing (YUNIIPOK) in Chelyabinsk. Since 2002, the variety has been included in the State Register for the Ural region.
Description of culture
The table below shows the main characteristics of the Ashinskaya cherry variety.
Parameter | Meaning |
Barrel type | Stamb |
Mature tree height | Up to 3 meters |
Thickness at base | Up to 40 cm |
Crown | Elongated-conical, moderately compressed, prone to thickening |
foliage | High |
Leaves | Oval in shape, up to 8 cm long, up to 4 cm wide, pointed at both ends. The plate is shiny, smooth, without pubescence, dark green in color |
Escapes | Ash-brown, round, up to 40 cm long, hairless |
Bud | Bent outwards, elongated, medium size |
Flowers | Small, collected in inflorescences of 5 flowers, white, fragrant |
Flowering type | Mixed |
Now it is grown in the Ural region, in the North Caucasus and in Central Russia from the Upper Volga to the Kuban.
Characteristics of the variety
Ashinskaya cherry is considered a productive winter-hardy variety of late ripening. The average lifespan of a tree is 35–40 years. Fruiting begins at the age of four. The hybrid is suitable for both industrial cultivation and individual gardening.
Drought resistance and winter hardiness
From its ancestor - the steppe cherry - Ashinskaya inherited good resistance to drought and frost. The winter hardiness of the variety is average - up to -42 degrees. Frost resistance of generative buds is average; frost resistance of flowers is above average. After damage by severe frosts, Ashinskaya cherries are able to quickly recover with almost no loss of yield.
Pollination, flowering period and ripening time
The cherry of this variety is partially self-fertile; in the absence of pollinators, 20–50% of the flower ovaries are fertilized. To increase productivity, it is recommended to plant any stone fruit crops with similar flowering periods next to Ashinskaya. It blooms in the last ten days of May, the flowering period is extended.Photo of Ashinskaya cherry during the flowering period below.
Productivity, fruiting
Fruiting of the Ashinskaya cherry variety begins in the fourth year and continues annually for up to 30 years or more. Fruit ripening is consistent. The yield from one mature tree is 8–10 kilograms. The table shows the main characteristics of Ashinskaya cherry fruits:
Parameter | Meaning |
Fruit shape | Oval-rounded, with a narrow funnel and weakly defined ventral suture |
Skin color | Dark burgundy, shiny |
Pulp color, consistency | Dark red, medium density, red juice |
Taste | Pleasant, sweet and sour |
Bone | One, weighing 0.17–0.2 g, easily detachable |
Fruit size | Average |
Fruit weight, gr. | 4,5 |
Tasting score: appearance taste |
4,7 4,4 |
Content in fruits,%: ascorbic acid dry matter free acids sugars |
10,3 16,3 1,8 11,7 |
Purpose of the variety | Dessert |
Area of application of berries
Despite the fact that the Ashinskaya cherry variety is a dessert variety, the berries are also well suited for processing. Used for making juices, preserves, compotes, jams.
Resistance to diseases and pests
The variety has high resistance to coccomycosis. No damage to other diseases or insect pests was noted.
Advantages and disadvantages
For all its advantages, Ashinskaya cherry has a number of disadvantages. The table shows its positive and negative qualities:
Positive | Negative |
High yield | Late ripening and low resistance to transportation reduce the liquidity of production in commercial volumes |
Good taste and fruit size | Average frost resistance |
Annual fruiting up to 30 years | The high stem creates inconvenience when picking berries |
Resistance to drought, diseases and pests | Part of the harvest may simply not have time to be processed due to the simultaneous ripening of fruits |
Can be propagated in any way |
Landing Features
Mature Ashinskaya cherry variety is a beautiful tall tree that can decorate any garden both during the flowering period and during the ripening period. When planting it, you should take into account some features of the variety.
Recommended timing
The optimal time of year for planting Ashinskaya cherries is spring, when the soil has already completely thawed, but the buds have not yet begun to bloom. In central Russia this period falls in April. Later dates are undesirable due to worse survival rate of seedlings.
Autumn planting is not carried out; in this case, it is more advisable not to plant the seedlings, but simply bury them until spring on the south side of the house or fence and protect them from frost.
Choosing a suitable location
When choosing a planting site, it is worth considering the size of the future tree and its longevity. It will most likely not be possible to transplant an adult cherry tree to another place, since this tree does not tolerate transplantation well and will most likely die. It is preferable to use the southern sides of buildings and fences, because cherries do not like cold winds. It is desirable that the soil at the planting site has an acidity close to neutral and is not too heavy.
What to plant next to cherries
Not all neighboring plants get along well with each other. The optimal neighborhood for Ashinskaya cherries will be the same stone fruit trees - cherries, sweet cherries, plums. They can be planted at a distance of at least 3 meters from each other so that their crowns do not intertwine with each other.Undesirable neighbors for cherries are oak, linden, and maple. And also you should not plant some shrubs next to Ashinskaya: gooseberries, sea buckthorn, raspberries, as well as light-loving varieties of currants.
Selection and preparation of planting material
Planting of Ashinskaya cherries is carried out mainly by seedlings. You can prepare them yourself or purchase them from a nursery. Preparation of cuttings for future seedlings is carried out at the beginning of summer, in cloudy weather, in the morning or evening. The length of the cuttings is 30–35 cm. The cherry shoot is soaked for a day in a growth stimulator, and the cut end is immersed in it only 1.25–2 cm. After this, the cuttings are planted in nutrient soil and covered with film. After two weeks, adventitious roots should appear; after a month, difficult-to-root roots should appear.
Landing algorithm
It is better to prepare a pit for planting Ashinskaya cherry seedlings in the fall. Its standard size is 60x60x60 centimeters. The turf soil is preserved to prepare nutritious soil. A peg is driven into the center of the hole to secure the future tree. A layer of earth in the form of a mound is poured onto the bottom so that the root collar of the seedling standing on it is 5 cm above the ground level.
The turf soil is mixed with humus in a 1:1 ratio, and the roots of the seedling are covered with it. The ground around it must be lightly compacted so that a ring-groove 8–10 cm deep is formed around the seedling. After this, the seedling is watered with three buckets of water, and the ground around it is mulched with sawdust or humus.
For a complete guide to planting cherries, see the video below:
Subsequent care of the crop
Ashinskaya cherry does not require constant care, but regular pruning, fertilizing and watering can significantly increase productivity.Pruning is a mandatory procedure, since the plant produces many shoots that greatly thicken the crown. They also cut out dry, broken branches, as well as branches growing inside the crown, since harvesting from them is very inconvenient. You also need to remove the numerous basal shoots of cherries, which the plant produces in excess.
Cherries only need watering during periods of drought. Trees need to be fed sporadically; it is best to use humus, peat and wood ash for this, adding them along with digging directly into the tree trunk circle. Fertilizing with mineral fertilizers is needed only on very poor sandy loam soils. To do this, you can use superphosphate and potassium sulfate, diluted in a proportion of 1 tbsp. spoon each into a bucket of water. This fertilizing is done in the fall, approximately once every three years.
Diseases and pests
Cases of defeat of this cherry varieties diseases are extremely rare and are found only on very neglected trees. The appearance of insect pests was also not observed. The harvest can be partially spoiled only by birds pecking at the berries, but such cases are not widespread.
Conclusion
Despite the fact that Ashinskaya is a fairly young variety, it has a good future. This is due to its unpretentiousness and low maintenance requirements. Frost resistance is also of great importance, as is the ability to quickly recover from severe frosts. Abundant annual fruiting and a long life span of the tree make it possible to definitely recommend this variety for cultivation in garden plots.
