A lushly blooming cherry orchard is the dream of any gardener. To fully enjoy this spectacle and feed your family with tasty and healthy berries, you should carefully choose a variety and follow all the rules of agricultural technology recommended by breeders. Only then will the dream become a reality. The Leningradskaya Chernaya cherry variety is especially popular among gardeners. In the changeable climate of the Leningrad region, it demonstrates excellent productivity and immunity to diseases.
History of origin
Breeders from the Pavlovsk experimental station, which is located near St. Petersburg, managed to develop a variety that takes root well in a climate with cold and wet winters. Gardeners of the Leningrad region appreciated its frost resistance and the ability to obtain harvests of tasty berries even in these latitudes.
Description of the variety
The description of the variety should begin with the characteristics of the tree. Its growth is medium, which greatly simplifies the collection of ripe berries. The Leningradskaya Black cherry variety begins to bear fruit in mid-July. The fruiting process lasts up to 2 months, which allows you to enjoy fragrant cherries almost all summer. The crop demonstrates high yields: with proper agricultural technology, summer residents harvest up to 40 kg of fruit from one tree. The use of berries is universal: they are eaten fresh, prepared in the form of jam and compotes, made into wine and frozen for the winter.
The berry is almost black in color, the drupe is not completely separated from the pulp, the structure is dense, the taste is sweet with a slight sourness.
The berries of this variety contain many useful substances and vitamins, which are retained throughout the entire fruiting period. Farmers who grow cherries for subsequent sale on the market note the good transportability of the berries.
Landing Features
Compliance with all planting rules will allow you to obtain the harvest declared by the breeders and prevent diseases of the drupe crop.
Landing dates
If the seedlings are planted in the northern regions, then the best decision would be mid-to-late April. Over the summer, the seedling adapts to a new place, and winter frosts will not be scary for it. In more southern latitudes with warm winters, planting can be postponed to autumn. The main thing is that it is more than 1.5 months before sub-zero temperatures.
Choosing a location and seedlings
For planting cherry seedlings of the Leningradskaya Chernaya variety, an area with deep groundwater is suitable. If it is not possible to plant cherries in such a place, then a mound is poured so that water cannot damage the root system.
The planting site should be illuminated from all sides by the sun, this will increase the yield and speed up fruiting. In shady places, cherries do not develop well, they may get sick, and the yield will decrease.
It is better to purchase seedlings from nurseries, where they are responsible for the quality of planting material. First of all, you should inspect the roots; there should be no growths or damage on them.
Planting process
To plant a seedling, choose a warm, windless day without precipitation:
- First, dig up the planting site and make a hole. Its depth must be at least 70 cm.
- The selected soil is mixed with compost and rotted manure, and 20 grams of potassium salt are added.
- First, the root system of the cherry is dipped into a growth stimulator for an hour. "Kornevin" will do.
- Place half of the prepared soil at the bottom of the hole and install the seedling.
- Straighten the root system and fill it with remaining soil.
- You can mulch with sawdust to maintain moisture.
Experienced gardeners recommend installing a support for the young seedling when planting. This will allow you not to worry about its safety on a windy day.
Care
With proper and timely care, within a couple of years the gardener will be able to enjoy the first berries. Necessary agrotechnical measures include watering, fertilizing, pruning, mulching and prevention of diseases and pests.
Watering and mulching
In the first year, the seedling is watered often, but not flooded, so as not to damage the root system.A day after moistening the soil, be sure to loosen the soil and remove weeds. To retain moisture in the ground longer, the soil is mulched with sawdust and leaves.
An adult cherry tree is watered as the soil dries out, but this must be done during the flowering period, the formation of ovaries and in preparation for winter. 3-4 buckets of cold water are poured onto one tree. For the winter, it is recommended to mulch the tree trunk with peat, humus and dry leaves. This will allow the tree to survive the cold period without loss.
Trimming
In the first year, all damaged branches are cut off, and the formation of the crown begins in the 2nd year of the tree’s life.
Feeding
In the first 2 years, the cherry seedling is sufficiently supplied with the fertilizers that were placed in the hole during planting. Subsequently, they are fed 2 times per season with organic and mineral compounds. In spring, nitrogen compounds are preferable, and in autumn, phosphorus and potassium mixtures are preferable.
Diseases and pests: prevention and treatment
Leningradskaya Chernaya is immune to fungal diseases, but this does not mean that prevention is not needed. Trees are treated with Bordeaux mixture and fungicidal preparations. The tree is rarely affected by pests, but if this does happen, folk and chemical remedies are used, for example, onion and garlic infusions, wood ash, and the preparations Fufanon and Karbofos.
