The cherry tree growing in a summer cottage surprises not only with its luxurious spring blossoms, but also with the number of useful elements contained in it. The fruits, seeds and bark of cherries are used in folk medicine and cosmetology; varieties bred 20-30 years ago are especially often used. Amorel is a cherry variety that has been known to many gardeners for a long time, and some still prefer it because of its taste and early harvest.
History of origin of the variety
The variety was bred by Russian folk gardeners more than 60 years ago and received a registration number in 1947 in the State Register of Breeding Achievements of Fruit Crops. It has several consonant names: Amorel, early Amorel.
Features of the variety
Amorel is classified as an early self-sterile cherry variety. The tree grows from 2 m to 3.5 m in height. The crown is spreading, rounded, the branches are straight. The skeletal branches are straight, extending from the trunk at an angle, the bark is dark gray, rough, the trunk is brown-gray. The leaves are bright green above, the bottom plate is green-gray with pronounced veins. White flowers, collected in inflorescences of 2-4, bloom in the 1st-2nd decade of May.
The fruits are medium-sized, weighing from 3 to 3.5 g, rounded-flattened, with a wide rounded funnel on long petioles.
The fruits have a pale red tint with dense, thin skin, creamy-pink flesh, sweet and sour. The stone is small, round, creamy-yellow in color, and is slightly separated from the pulp.
A peculiarity of the described variety is that on Amoreli rosea the harvest is distributed evenly throughout the tree. Depending on the growing region, it begins to ripen at the end of June and until mid-July.
Characteristics:
- Frost resistance of the root system is down to -25 °C; the bark can be damaged after sudden changes of 2-3 degrees.
- The variety does not like dry weather and requires moderate watering.
- Productivity is average: from 4.5 kg to 15 kg per tree.
- Resistance to diseases and pests is average.
The disadvantage of cherries is that they have a short shelf life, are not transportable, and the juice from the fruit is pale red in color.
Features of cultivation
The tree begins to bear fruit in the 4-5th year after planting the seedling or grafting.
Choosing a landing site
The planting site should be sunny, without drafts; if planted near buildings, the distance should be at least 2 m. The side of the site is south, south-east. The soil needs to be neutral; it grows well in loam, chernozem, and sod-podzolic soil. Groundwater must lie deep; the variety does not like flooding. The variety grows well in the Volga region, where it became widespread.
Depending on the seedling of the parent variety or rootstock grown in the northern regions, it can be cultivated in the more severe climate of Southern Siberia.
Boarding time
The seedling is planted in the spring in April, a graft of the Amorel cherry variety is grafted when sap flow begins, in early April. The main condition for planting or grafting is considered to be stable warm weather, warmed soil to 10 °C. In the south of the country and in the center - starting from the beginning of April, in the North - from May.
Landing rules
The seedling must be of good quality, free from mechanical damage and diseases, pests, flexible branches and roots. The stem is from 50-60 cm in diameter, the trunk is at least 2.5 cm. A seedling must be selected with a closed root system and necessarily moist soil, otherwise the roots may be dry, which will affect the growth of the plant and its yield. The size of the hole should be 2-3 times larger than the roots; for a 2-3 year old seedling, the depth should be at least 60 cm, width 50-70 cm.
It is necessary to lay a large layer of drainage at the bottom so that the water does not linger for a long time, since the variety does not like flooded soil and acidic soil.
You need rich soil with plenty of nutrients, so if the soil is poor, you can put organic fertilizers in the hole.Before planting, the roots need to be treated with a disinfectant solution and then soaked for 2-3 hours in a growth stimulator. Damaged, dry branches and roots are cut with sharp pruning shears at an angle.
Care
Watering for the Amorel variety is very important, especially in hot, dry weather. For a 4-5 year old tree, 1-2 buckets of water are poured around the trunk every 10-15 days, from May to mid-June, after which watering is reduced so that the berries do not begin to disappear from excess moisture.
Fertilizers are applied during the beginning of sap flow with dolomite flour, urea, and rotted manure. The second time you can feed it during the flowering period with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers and saltpeter. In the fall, nitroammophoska and ammophoska are introduced. All fertilizers must be applied to the tree trunk.
Diseases and pests
Amorel is often attacked by birds during the ripening period, as well as by aphids and cherry flies, and the slimy sawfly. Scaring pinwheels are tied from birds to branches or a net is pulled over the crown. For other pests, use “Fitoverm”, tar soap.
Cherry rarely suffers from coccomycosis; it can often be affected by wilt, anthracnose, and cercospora. Therefore, in spring and autumn it is necessary to treat the plant with a fungicide, cut off diseased branches, and clear the garden area of weeds. The Amorel pink cherry variety is more common for growing by amateur gardeners; it has a beautiful habit of forming a tree crown.
