The cherry plum, which came to Europe from Asia, where it was hot and dry, quickly adapted to the new conditions. The varieties and hybrids created by breeders delight with high yields of aromatic fruits in climates with cool and rainy summers and frosty winters. When fruits appear when cherry plums are propagated from seeds is of interest to many summer residents. One mature tree will bear up to 15 buckets of fruits rich in organic acids, vitamins, and sugars.
Cherry plum propagation methods
To please a guest from Asia with high yields, at least 2 plants are planted on the site, but they should not be of the same variety, otherwise the trees will not be pollinated and fruits will not be set. For reproduction use:
- bones;
- cuttings;
- young shoots.
The crop is propagated by grafting onto another tree using the budding method. It happens that one plant blooms profusely and forms an ovary, but more often there are self-sterile varieties, for their pollination only cherry plum is needed; neither plum, nor peach, nor apricot are suitable at all.
Bones or seeds
Not every summer resident knows how to propagate trees using cuttings; experience and knowledge are needed to perform budding. In addition, when choosing a method for breeding cherry plum, you must consider:
- climate conditions;
- soil type;
- plot size;
- condition of the mother tree.
Growing a crop from a seed does not require the investment of additional funds or special efforts. You need to choose it from the largest ripened and even overripe fruits. The seed must be carefully removed from the pulp, washed and dried. The seeds can be planted in containers in the fall, but in the spring it is better to place them directly in the ground, and in order for sprouts to appear faster, cherry plum seeds need to be sprouted.
When planting in boxes, the interval between the seeds should not be less than 50 mm, 20 cm should be left between the rows. The seed must be watered and sprinkled with sawdust or peat on top with a layer of 20 mm.
If you grow a tree from cherry plum seeds right on the site, it is worth protecting the planting from pests, and insulating it with mulch and covering it with snow for the winter.
In the spring, when the seeds sprout, the soil must be carefully loosened.You can move the seedlings to another place next year, when they have time to take root, but the tree will not bear fruit any time soon.
Overgrowth
For growing cherry plums, there is a suitable method that does not raise questions even for novice gardeners. In the spring, when the buds have not yet opened, a shoot 15 cm long is cut off from an adult plant and placed in the ground in a permanent place. The wound on the tree is covered with garden varnish.
To grow cherry plum, you can cut off the root of the mother crop on one side by 15 or 20 cm in the fall and add soil. A year later, the resulting cuttings are planted in a new place and the root on the tree is again shortened, but the pruning is done on the other side, and after a while a shoot appears.
Cuttings
Cherry plum is planted when the plant is dormant. In northern latitudes, it takes root better in the spring; in the southern regions, the tree is placed in open ground in the fall along with leaves. To propagate cherry plum:
- Before sap flow begins, you need to select strong branches with a diameter of at least a centimeter.
- Prepare cuttings 15-20 cm long from them.
- Cut shoots should be placed in sand poured into a box.
- The container must be placed in the basement.
When the air temperature rises, the cuttings are planted in a greenhouse, greenhouse or open area and covered with polyethylene for a month or a month and a half. The shoot is watered every other day, and after 4 weeks it is fed with fertilizers. If the cherry plum grows indoors, the tree is hardened off before placing it in the garden.
When cutting a crop, unlike growing from seeds, the varietal properties are preserved. To accelerate the formation of roots, stimulants in the form of “Heteroauxin” or indolyl-butyric acid are used.
Vaccinations
To propagate fruit trees, experienced gardeners use the budding method. The reproduction process begins during sap flow. Plants are grafted by the bark, into a cut, into a split, into a butt. When using the simplest option:
- The strongest and healthiest branch is cut from a young tree. The remaining shoots that extend from the trunk are removed.
- The cuttings, prepared in the fall, are cut at an angle of 30°, shortened to 4 cm and a split is made on it.
- On a tree, the bark is removed in one place and connected to the shoot so that the layers of the rootstock and cuttings coincide.
The cuts are covered with garden varnish and wrapped with electrical tape or polyethylene. In order for the branches to take root with the cherry plum, they are attached to the plant with splits.
Which method to choose
When a tree is propagated by seeds, which a novice gardener can do, the crop loses its varietal characteristics. Any budding method requires skills and knowledge.
Almost all seedlings take root if cherry plums are propagated from cuttings that have already become lignified. The branches are cut off when the leaves begin to fall. The cut shoots are treated with a stimulant and planted in the ground. Annual growths up to 8 mm in diameter take root without problems. The side branches are divided into cuttings no more than 25 cm long. The upper part of the shoots, treated with a stimulating substance, is dipped in paraffin, having melted it in advance.
Most often, summer residents prefer propagating cherry plums using green cuttings. Which method of growing trees to choose depends on the climate, the condition of the plant, the experience of the gardener, and even the fertility of the soil on the site.
Rules for breeding cherry plum
When choosing a method of propagating an unpretentious tree, novice summer residents often look for the simplest and most affordable option, but forget about the characteristics of a particular cherry plum hybrid.Most varieties of fruit crops require at least 2 pollinators. One domestic tree will not be pleased with fruits if it is self-sterile.
Some varieties do not grow from the seed, others do not propagate by shoots, but there is also a cherry plum that is bred in any of the following ways, and it gives a higher yield. When choosing a hybrid for propagation, you need to inquire about the varietal characteristics, so as not to later ask questions about why the fruits on the mother tree are larger than the cherry plum grown from its seeds.
