Each gardener dreams of having as many good varieties of trees on his plot as possible and getting a stable crop while consuming the least amount of land. For this purpose, spring grafting of cherries is carried out on existing or newly planted young plants.
Grafting cherry
The principle of grafting other varieties or adjacent stone plants, such as cherries or plums, on cherries is to plant varieties that are susceptible to frost and poorly oriented to the climatic conditions of the area on a winter-hardy tree. Thus, the grafting assumes the properties of the main tree, due to which the frost resistance of the variety is increased, as well as resistance to local growing conditions. The most popular vaccination of cherries on cherries in the spring, as it alone does not tolerate frosty winters.
For vaccination, you can use both young and adult plants in order to update them. Stone fruit cherry is used as a scion and is suitable for other stone fruit species, for example, cherries, plums or more cultivated cherries. For this, the following methods are used:
- A peep over the bark, in a pinch to the trunk.
- In a side cut.
- Into the cleavage.
- Improved copulation.
Rootstock preparation
The stocks that will be used in the future should be no more than 1 cm thick. Shoots for this purpose are harvested immediately before the vaccination process. Healthy trees that have already begun to bear fruit are suitable for this. A branch cut is taken with formed buds, about 40 centimeters in length.
If the leaves have already blossomed on the rootstock, which is planned to be used as a vaccine, then they are removed along with the petioles, and they also get rid of the grassy top.
Vaccination of cherries in spring with the help of the cuttings is carried out in April, when sap flow begins in the trees. At this time, the bark from the tree is easily disconnected, and therefore all methods are used that involve the removal of the bark from the main trunk and the grafting under it. These processes must be completed before the buds open, otherwise the stocks do not take root well.
The shoots intended for vaccination are harvested even after the end of leaf fall and stored until cool in dark cool rooms, having dug most of them in coarse sand, sawdust or peat, which is regularly moistened. In this case, the temperature of the content should not exceed three degrees of heat.
Also, shoots can be harvested in the spring, for this, in the second half of March, before the buds begin to swell, the necessary stocks are stored in the refrigerator, at a level where the temperature is from 1 to 3 degrees. To do this, place them in a layer of cellophane, previously wrapped with a damp cloth or newspaper. Periodically moisten the matter in which they are wrapped, and do not allow drying.
The subtleties of the process
Vaccination of cherries in spring is carried out using a sharp knife, which is able to make a cut without damaging and not fluffing the trunk tissue. It is important to remember that open sections oxidize fairly quickly, so you need to quickly carry out the entire operation, which ensures better engraftment of the stock on the main trunk.
The place of scion must be wrapped with plastic wrap, and also for this purpose you can use electrical tape. Open ends of the ends must be covered with a layer of garden var, which will protect them from drying out, and hence from dying. The best option is to cover this entire structure with an additional layer of film or paper from airing.
Spring vaccination
One of the types of popular vaccinations is spring, made with the help of a shank. Rootstocks for this method are harvested in the fall or in the first month of winter. Take cuttings with a length of at least 50 centimeters. For this purpose, branches over one year old are used. In addition to the methods described above, they can also be stored by snowing. This method consists in the fact that the cuttings are bonded in dense bundles, wrapped in plastic bags, and when snow falls, they are covered with a layer of at least half a meter. Such a snowdrift is covered with sawdust or peat. These storages are placed on the north side of the house so that the snow does not melt for a sufficiently long time. The optimal air temperature is at least 2, but not more than 10 degrees of frost.
Vaccination of cherries on a cherry in the spring
The most suitable for grafting are trees grown from seed, called "wilds". They are most adapted to local climatic conditions and frost-resistant enough to convey these qualities to the varieties to be grafted.
Among stone fruits, most cultures take root well with each other, but it is customary to divide them into two groups:
- Plum. These include: thorns, plums, apricots, peaches, almonds, felt cherries.
- Cherry. This group includes cherries, cherries and their hybrids.
Inside these groups, you can safely get vaccinated from one variety to another. It can be a graft of cherries on a cherry in the spring, a photo of such an example can be seen below.
The most popular among the cross-groups is plum grafting on cherries in the spring.
The timing
It is very important to follow certain deadlines for such work as grafting fruit trees. The success of the whole event depends on this. The time of onset of sap flow usually falls at the beginning – mid-April, depending on how early the spring is and when the buds begin to form and swell. Moreover, the average daily temperature is still low. However, depending on the weather, the vaccination period can be extended until May or June. The most important criterion in this case is how much the buds on the scion have bloomed, since they should only be in a sleeping state. At the same time, the tree on which it is planned to be vaccinated can be both in a sleeping state and in a blossomed form. Thus, we determine the timing of grafting cherries from early April to late May.
Several different varieties can be grafted onto one main plant. For these purposes, methods of grafting pollinators are also used, which increase the yield of the main variety.
How to get a cherry vaccination in spring
Vaccination is performed at a distance of 20–25 cm from the main trunk. This distance is optimal, because if you vaccinate directly on the main trunk, the branching will interfere, you will have to remove most of the shoots. And if you vaccinate higher, then when pruning trees, you can accidentally remove it.
The most profitable is the grafting of cherries in spring on young seedlings older than two years that are not suitable for their varietal indicators. To perform such manipulations, the best option is to choose a branch that is wider or equal in diameter to the handle.
In the event that the diameters of the cuttings and the main branch coincide, the vaccination is carried out using improved copulation. To do this, make the same oblique cuts on the main trunk and scion, which should ideally coincide with each other, and it is also necessary to provide for the presence of a tongue. After they are fitted to fit as tightly as possible to each other, they are connected and tightly tied.
If the width of the main trunk is greater than the diameter of the handle, then the same actions are performed, but in the main trunk, the slices are usually made along the side line. After fitting cuttings of cuttings with recesses on the main trunk, they are tightly connected to each other and strapping is performed.
The harness should be as tight as possible. The better the stalk is fixed, the greater the chance of its survival. All parts of the cuts that are open are coated with garden var. For the first time, they are tied with paper or cellophane, so that the slices are not airy and well healed.
Further care
After the vaccine has taken root well on the main plant, it is freed from the cellophane cap and allowed to grow freely in the air, however, some time it is necessary to ensure good fixation to the trunk, as it is not strong enough and can be damaged by strong winds or with awkward movement. To do this, it is necessary to impose a similarity of the tire to the place of growth and to wind it well with the main trunk and with the vaccine.
It is also necessary to take care of the elimination of young shoots departing from the mother tree, which will take vitality and nutrition of the vaccine.
Additional top dressing
When a cherry is grafted in the spring, the timing and methods of its execution directly depend on the established weather and the stage of the blossoming of the trees. However, this is not all that determines the success of the final result. For better engraftment and development of young vaccinations, trees need to be fed with nitrogen fertilizers. They will significantly increase growth. In autumn, it is necessary to feed them with potash or phosphorus fertilizers. They will provide better frost resistance and protect vaccines from death.
With the right manipulations, already in the second or third year, young scions will begin to produce crops, which will significantly reduce the waiting time. From plants planted in the soil, crops are not expected earlier than after 5 years. It will also save a lot of space on the land plot, since up to five to six varieties can be obtained from one tree without taking up large areas for planting them.