Felt cherry - features and differences from ordinary

Felt cherry is a fruit and berry crop, the birthplace of which is China. Now it is popular in Russia, Europe, Mongolia, and Asian countries. The plant is grown not only for the sake of the harvest. It is used in landscape design due to its abundant and beautiful flowering.

Felt cherry fruits are similar in taste and appearance to common cherries, but they belong to a completely different genus - Plum. The plant is capable of interbreeding with peach, cherry plum, plum and apricot.

The article will tell you what are the features of small cherries, what else is it called and what methods of its propagation exist.

General Description of Felt Cherry

Felt cherry is a hardy and unpretentious plant. In its shape, it is more a shrub than a tree. Differs in unpretentiousness and endurance. It is actively grown as a cultivated plant and is often found wild.

Belongs to the genus Plum, while outwardly resembles a small cherry. It got its name because its leaves, young shoots and even fruits have a light pubescence that resembles felt.

Felt cherry is not the only culture name.

There are also other names:

• felt;
• far eastern;
• bush;
• fluffy;
• Ando;
• tomentosis;
• Chinese cherry;
• Ussuriyskaya cherry (or plum).

Felt cherries are grown not only to harvest delicious sweet and sour berries. It is used in landscape design due to its decorative appearance during flowering and fruiting. The shrub tolerates pruning, it is used to create hedges and just as a garden decoration.

note! In Asian countries, people referring to cherries usually mean the felt variety.

Main characteristics

Felt cherry, despite its name, has many differences from common cherry. Descriptions of the main characteristics of the plant are presented in the list:

1. Bush. The plant is a shrub, the height of which varies within 2-3 m. It is quite spreading, but with the help of formation it is given any shape. The branches are straight, directed upwards. They are thin, not very strong. Young shoots are pubescent and green (sometimes with an anthocyanin tint) color. Older branches have a dense gray-green bark.
2. Leaves. Small, oval, with jagged edges. Light green shade with dense tomentose pubescence.
3. Bloom. Abundant. Flowers of pink or white color densely cover the branches of the plant. The shrub begins to bloom in the second decade of May (earlier than ordinary cherry) and lasts more than 2 weeks. The plant is self-fertile, in order to set fruits, it is necessary to plant several pollinators with which the culture is crossed.
4. Fruit. Small, from 1.5 to 5 g. Usually red, but depending on the variety, their color varies from pink to almost black. They are located on short petioles. Densely cover the shoots of the plant. The taste is sweet, with a slight sourness. The skin is thin, covered with light pubescence. Ripening lasts about 10 days, after which the fruits do not fall off the bush for a long time. The amicable ripening of berries occurs 2 weeks earlier than that of ordinary cherries. The yield is from 7 to 20 kg of fruit per season.
5. Frost resistance. High. Withstands frosts up to 40 ° C in winter.
6. Immunity. The culture is resistant to most cherry diseases.

The plant easily tolerates cold snaps.Even during flowering, it is not afraid of frosts down to -3 ° C.

It is interesting! The berries of cherry bushes propagated by the vegetative method are larger than those obtained by the generative method.

Advantages and disadvantages over regular cherries

Chinese cherry has a number of advantages, because of which it is gaining more and more popularity among gardeners.

Main advantages:

• early fruiting (from the second half of June);
• amicable ripening of fruits and their ability to stay on the plant for a long time without dropping;
• attractive appearance during fruiting and flowering;
• resistance to drought and frost;
• high immunity to coccomycosis;
• the ability to bear fruit as early as 2 years after planting;
• lack of root growth;
• high productivity.

Culture also has disadvantages. These include:

• self-infertility;
• small fruit;
• low transportability of fruits;
• the tendency of the bush to thicken;
• susceptibility to moniliosis;
• short plant life (about 10 years).

With the help of anti-aging pruning, the lifespan of the felt cherry is extended to 20 years.

It is interesting:

The best cherry varieties for central Russia

The most productive and delicious varieties of cherries

High-yielding unpretentious cherry variety "Mayak"

Varieties and varieties of felt cherries

Even pitted Chinese cherry it is distinguished by abundant flowering and fruiting. However, if the gardener's task is to get a rich harvest of large and sweet fruits or a shrub with flowers and berries of an unusual color, then varietal specimens should be preferred.

There are a huge number of varieties of felt cherry on the market. When choosing a suitable option, it is worth considering the timing of ripening and flowering, taste, color and size of fruits, immunity, as well as resistance to frost and other negative environmental factors.

It is equally important to pay attention to whether the variety you like is suitable for the climatic conditions of the region in which it will grow. So, Far Eastern varieties do not take root well in the Leningrad Region and the Moscow Region, as they die from the root collar podoprevanie. For Siberia, varieties with increased frost resistance are chosen.

Note! Self-fertile varieties include Belaya, Tsarevna, Delight, Ogonyok and Leto.

Early

Early varieties allow harvesting as early as mid-July. These include:

1. Natalie. Vigorous, spreading bush. The flowers are pink. The dark red berries have a sweet and sour taste. The average yield is 9 kg per season.
2. Amurskaya. Tall bush, medium spreading. Shoots, leaves and berries with strong pubescence. Fruits are bright red in color, weighing up to 3 g, sweet taste, with slightly sourness. High frost resistance. The average yield is 13 kg per season.
3. Pink fruitful. Differs in pink fruits. The weight of each berry reaches 3 g. The frost resistance is not high, therefore the variety is suitable only for regions with a southern climate.
4. Story. Medium bush. Produces large (up to 4 g) fruits of bright red color with a sweet and sour taste. It has a long life span (up to 17 years).
5. Children's. Medium spreading oval-shaped variety. Large-fruited. Red berries reach a mass of 4 g. The taste is sweet with sourness. The yield is 15 kg per bush per season.
6. Delight. Medium-sized, spreading bush. The fruits are red, oval, juicy and sweet. The variety is large-fruited. The mass of each berry reaches 3.5 g. Up to 10 kg are harvested from the bush during the season.

Mid-season

Mid-season varieties ripen by the end of June. The list contains several of the most popular crops:

1. Anniversary. Burgundy fruits reach 3.5 g. The variety is resistant to drought, but does not tolerate high humidity. During the season, up to 10 kg of fruits are harvested from the bush.
2. Dark-haired oriental. Low-growing variety. Differs in resistance to pests and negative environmental factors. Burgundy fruits reach a mass of 2.5 g. The yield reaches 7 kg per bush.
3. White. Spreading medium-sized bush.The main feature is considered to be white matte berries weighing up to 2 g. Sweet taste. Up to 10 kg are harvested from a bush per season.
4. Summer. The bush is compact, medium-sized. The berries are pale red in color, with an uneven color. Large, weight varies between 3.5-5 g. The taste is sweet, not very intense.
5. Light. A tall bush with a dense crown, reaches a height of 2.5 m. The berries are red, dull, very large (3.5-5 g). The taste is sweet and sour.
6. Princess. Cherry Princess felt has a low-growing bush with a medium spreading crown. The berries are bright pink, large, their weight reaches 4 g. The taste is sweet and sour.
7. Salute. Medium-sized variety with a spreading dense crown. The berries are large, about 3.5 g each. The color is bright pink, the taste is sour. More than 10 kg of fruits are obtained from a bush per season.
8. Burgundy. Medium-sized compact bushes with a dense crown. The color of the berries is maroon. The taste is sweet. Medium size (up to 3.5 g). The yield is more than 10 kg per bush.

Late

Late varieties of Chinese cherry:

1. Damanka. Large sweet fruits weigh up to 4 g. Skin color is burgundy. On average, 10 kg of fruits are harvested from a bush per season.
2. Okeanskaya Virovskaya... Compact, medium-sized. Berries are dark-burgundy, large about 4 g. Taste sweet and sour. Productivity up to 4 kg per bush.
3. Autumn Virovskaya. A tall shrub with a wide-oval compact crown. The fruits are large, their weight reaches 3-3.6 g. The skin is maroon, and the flesh is red. The taste is sweet, with a slight sourness.

Most varieties of felt cherry have sufficient frost resistance for growing in the Leningrad and Moscow regions.

How to propagate Chinese cherries

Cherries are planted both generatively and vegetatively. Even if you propagate the plant with seeds, you get shrubs that annually bear a large number of tasty fruits. However, in this case, it will not be possible to preserve varietal characteristics and the first fruiting will occur 3-5 years after planting.

With the generative method, cuttings or layering are used as planting material. In this case, fruiting may begin as early as next year.

To obtain a hardy varietal shrub, the stem cut of the selected variety of felt cherry is grafted onto a wild cut. This method allows you to get the first harvest in the year of the procedure.

Growing from a bone

This is the longest and most laborious way to grow felt cherries. It is carried out in the fall, when the soil thaws.

The harvesting of seeds begins in the summer. They are collected from fully ripe fruits, washed, cleaned of pulp, buried in sand and stored in this form until October.

In autumn, they are sown in grooves to a depth of 3 cm at a distance of 5 cm from each other. The beds are watered and left until spring.

In the spring, the seeds germinate. All care consists in watering and fertilizing. In the fall, they are planted in a permanent place.

Advice! Some gardeners germinate seeds at home in a pot, and then the finished seedlings dive into the open ground immediately to a permanent place. To prepare them for planting, the plants are hardened by taking them outside and increasing the time they stay there.

Cuttings

To propagate varietal shrubs, green cuttings are usually used. To do this, cut off the current year's shoot 15 cm long along with a piece of old wood.

The planting material is treated with a root formation stimulant (for example, "Kornevin") and planted in the ground so that the lignified part and 1 cm of the green cuttings are underground. The bed is covered with foil.

Plants are sprayed with warm water and regularly ventilated, opening for 30 minutes. The soil is moistened as it dries. Organic and mineral fertilizers are applied once a month.

Cuttings begin to root in the spring. The next year, the seedlings are planted in a permanent place.

Layers

Another way to propagate felted cherries is to use layering. Harvesting of planting material begins in spring.

To get seedlings, a branch located close to the ground is bent to the ground. It is laid in a groove previously dug out near the plant, fixed with a bracket and covered with earth. During the season, the cuttings are watered and fed.

At the end of summer, new shoots will grow from the cuttings. After that, the branch is dug up and divided into parts according to the number of new shoots with roots. They are planted immediately to a permanent place.

Vaccination

Felt cherries are grafted onto wild birds of the same culture, plums, thorns or apricots. This is done to get stronger and more resilient plants. If you graft a cherry branch onto a plum tree, one plant will produce different fruits.

Different methods are used for vaccination. The simplest of these is split.

The stock is cut from a tree that is already bearing fruit. The cut is made at an angle. Then the place of the cut on the scion (at least 2-3 buds must be present on it) is sharpened with a thin wedge.

The branch that will be the scion is cut off by at least 2/3. A cut is made on it, equal in depth to the length of the wedge on the scion. The scion wedge is inserted into the rootstock split. The joints are tightly wrapped with garden tape and treated with garden varnish.

The procedure is carried out in the spring, when the threat of frost has passed and the kidneys wake up. The success of the procedure is evidenced by the emerging leaves on the rootstock.

It is interesting:

Cherry-cherry hybrid Miracle cherry

Fast-growing resistant cherry variety "Tamaris"

Conclusion

Felt cherry is an unpretentious shrub that conquered gardeners not only with delicious fruits, but also with decorativeness during flowering. The plant does not cross-pollinate with ordinary cherries, but it easily crosses with plums, cherry plums, apricots, peaches and thorns.

Growing a bush is easy. It reproduces equally well both generatively and vegetatively. At the same time, it is distinguished by unpretentiousness, it is not afraid of frost, frost and waterlogging.