Features of care and cultivation of cherries Raditsa
Variety of cherries Raditsa will surely appeal to gardeners who prefer early varieties of fruit crops. With high palatability of the fruit, the plant has other positive characteristics, which can be found in this article.
Variety selection history
A new variety called Raditsa was obtained thanks to the work of breeders of the All-Russian Research Institute of Lupine, in particular Kanyshina M.V. Parent forms during the experiments were Kommunarka and Leningradskaya black, from which the new sweet cherry received a lot of positive characteristics. Raditsa entered the State Register of the Russian Federation in 2001 and since then, experts have recommended her for cultivation in the central regions of the country.
Did you know? The first cherry orchards in Russia appeared only in the XII century, mainly in the south of the country. In private gardens of the Moscow region and neighboring regions, culture began to grow much later - from about the second half of the last century.
Description and characteristics of the variety
Externally, the Raditsa cherry trees resemble many other plants of this culture, but some characteristic features can be highlighted. In addition, the fruits of culture also have their individual characteristics, which is also worth knowing before planting a seedling on your site.
Description of the tree and fruits
Cherry trees of this variety grow very quickly and are characterized by dense leafy shoots . In height, the plants do not exceed 4 m, and their wide and rounded crown can grow up to 2 meters wide. Bright green leaf plates are obovate in shape, elongated, with a slight sharpening at the end and a rounded base. Petiole is pigmented, medium in size, with 2-3 pieces of iron. Emerging buds are large, vegetative, cone-shaped and strongly deviated from the shoot. Cherry inflorescences consist of 3 medium-sized flowers, the petals of which slightly overlap. They are all bright white in color, with a goblet cup, elongated pestles and stamens. kah (approximately 60% of the total crop). The size of the ripened oval cherry berry of a saturated burgundy color (almost black) is 4.6–5.7 g, which is considered the average norm. She has a voluminous funnel and a rounded apex. The covering peel is of medium thickness and hides a dark red pulp of moderate density underneath. The beige stone inside it is very easy to separate and occupies approximately 5.2% of the mass of the whole berry. On the palate, ripe fruits are always very sweet, which is not surprising when you consider the content of 11.2% of sugars in them . With timely harvesting and proper storage, the fruits will not crack, and their tasting score will remain at the level of well-earned 4.5 points.
Productivity
The first crop of the described sweet cherry can be harvested already in the fourth year of growing the tree, which makes plants of this variety a representative of early fruit crops. At the same time, it will not be possible to achieve high yields without pollinators planted nearby, therefore, in order to collect from 1 ha of plantations, 60 cherries claimed by breeders will have to plant representatives of the varieties Revna, Iput, Tyutchevka or trees of other pollinator varieties in the garden. Flowering plants can be observed already in early May, and usually they do not begin harvesting fruit until the second half of July.
- Benefits
- Among the advantages of Raditsa is the ripening of berries in a friendly manner, which means that you can take all the fruits at a time, which in some cases is very convenient.
Frost and drought resistance
For all its positive qualities, Raditsa cherry does not differ in high drought tolerance, although it also does not tolerate stagnation of water near the root system. Watering is especially important for young plants, which is why seedlings planted this year are watered at least 1 time in 1–1.5 weeks (in the fall 1 time in 7 days).
Frost resistance of Raditsa cherry is at an average level, therefore, in the presence of a thick snow cover in the middle zone of the Russian Federation, the cold is not afraid of adult trees. They are protected from frost only in light snowy winters with steady temperature drops to -30 ° C.
How to choose the best seedlings for planting when buying?
Choosing a quality seedling is the first step on the way to obtaining a plentiful harvest from the fruit tree being grown. The ideal place to purchase a young plant will be specialized nurseries and private estates, the owners of which can provide all the quality certificates for a particular plant. However, even in this case, it is important to know about the main criteria for choosing a suitable Raditz cherry seedling.
- the presence of a vaccination site, which indicates the varietal origin of the tree;
- smooth barrel surface, the diameter of which can reach 17 cm;
- the presence of at least 3-4 branches, each 40 cm long (if there are only 2 trunks, the tree can break under the weight of the branches and quickly die even at the initial stages of cultivation);
- sufficient moisture and flexibility of the root system as a whole and each root individually;
- the absence of any signs of disease or the presence of pests.
Before directly planting a plant in the soil, on the seedling, you need to remove all the leaves, which will ensure the correct distribution of nutrients throughout the plant.
Basic work before landing
The main preparatory measures for the planting of Raditsa cherries on the site provide for the implementation of several basic actions, and first of all, this is the selection and appropriate tillage in a particular place, pre-planting seedling treatment. Learn how to distinguish cherries from cherries.
Preparation and site selection
For cherries of the Raditsa variety, a well-lit area with fertile and breathable soil (preferably loamy or sandy loam) is an excellent option for normal growth and development. If the substrate is too acidic, then before placing the seedling in it, it is worth embedding dolomite flour in the ground or digging the area together with lime. After another 2 weeks, the landing holes themselves are prepared, leaving at least 3 m of free space between adjacent pits. The width of such holes should be at least 80 cm, and in depth they can reach about 50 cm.
Do not plant sweet cherries in areas with a close occurrence of groundwater to the surface. Even a short-term stagnation of water at the root system threatens to rot the rhizome and further death of the whole plant. It is good if cherries grow in the garden, the ripening dates of which coincide with the flowering of Raditsa cherries. Important! If the land on the site has already been fertilized earlier, and you are sure of its high nutritional value, do not be zealous with organic fertilizers, because due to an excess of nitrogen in the soil, intensive sprouting of shoots can be observed. During the autumn landing, they will not have time to get stronger and will die during the first frosts.
Seedling preparation
Preplant treatment of a seedling increases the chances of its quick successful adaptation to a new place. For this purpose, the root system of the plant is placed for 6–10 hours in a solution of the Kornevin preparation, after which once again examine the rhizome and remove the damaged roots, slightly cutting all the others.
Direct cherry planting
Having completed all the preparatory measures in a timely manner, you can proceed to the direct process of planting a seedling. The sequence of actions in this case will be as follows:
- 10-15 cm from the center of the landing pit you need to drive in a wooden stake, approximately 1.5 m high.
- Then, on the south side of the stake, the seedling itself should be placed, carefully spreading its roots.
- After that, even and tangled roots are covered with soil, ramming it so that there is no free space between adjacent roots, and the root neck of the young plant is 3-4 cm above the soil surface.
At the end of planting measures, it remains only to tie the plant to a driven stake (the eight-shaped fastening with a soft twine is the best option) and pour the seedling with water.
Important! On the edge of the trunk circle, it is worth forming a 10-centimeter roller from the soil, which will further prevent the spreading of the irrigation fluid. For better preservation of moisture, it is useful to cover the soil surface with a layer of mulch.
Care Features
When planting cherries, Raditsa on its site should provide good care to the plant from the very first days by organizing systematic watering and fertilizing, as well as taking care of the soil condition in the near-stem circle.
Soil care
Young seedlings of the plant often suffer from weeds, which take away part of the nutrients and sunlight from fruit crops. Therefore, during the first years of growth of the tree, weed must be regularly removed, tearing it at a distance of 1 m from the stem. In the future, the treatment area is only increased, expanding the near-stem circle as the cherry grows (about 50 cm per year). Weed removal is often combined with loosening the soil after the next watering. Wet soil is always looser and easier to process, which means you can pull out unnecessary vegetation immediately with the root, preventing its re-germination.
In a dry period, mulching the soil with peat or humus is not out of place, because even a 5-centimeter coating will provide long-term moisture preservation and prevent the rapid germination of new weeds.
Fertilizers and watering
The first top dressing of fruit crops is carried out only in the second year after planting the seedlings of the plant. Until this time, they have enough nutrients embedded in the soil when planting a tree. In the spring, it is useful to fertilize the trees with nitrogen-containing compounds, and starting in September, you can add mineral mixtures to the trunk circle, calculated as 60 g of superphosphate per 1 m². To make fertilizing better distributed in the root zone, it is worthwhile to patch the fertilizer into the soil, mixing with the soil.
You can also improve the yield of Raditsa cherries with the help of green fertilizers in the form of lupine, sainfoin, mustard, phacelia and wiki, planted in the near-stem circle in the middle of June. With the advent of autumn, the vegetation is mowed and embedded in the ground, so that during winter decay a good nutritious compost is obtained.
As for the irrigation regime, the age of the cherry affects the frequency of the liquid. Young trees are watered every 1-1.5 weeks, but adult plants can be moistened no more than 4-5 times during the growing season . During the ripening of berries, it is desirable to reduce the number of waterings (this will prevent cracking of the fruit), but in late autumn, about a month before the expected frosts, it is advisable to carry out water-charging irrigation, increasing the fluid flow rate per plant to 20-30 l. At other times, irrigation rate is considered to be up to 20 liters per 1 tree.
Cropping and shaping
Pruning cherries Raditsa can be performed in spring and autumn. In the first case, when forming the removal of branches, it is worth remembering that the trunk should rise about 20 cm above the skeletal shoots. The branches of two-year-old seedlings need to be shortened before the buds burst, and if this time was missed for any reason, worth the wait for the next season. Did you know? You can determine the quality and optimal maturity of the cherry berries when evaluating the color of its stalk. In ripe and juicy fruits, it is always green, but in overripe or spoiled fruits it turns brown, which indicates a low quality of the crop. When forming the crown pruning, only 3 skeletal branches are left at the beginning on its lower tier, 2 of which should be placed at the same height, and the 3rd should be 20 cm above them. The design of the second tier begins at a height of 70 cm from the previous: 2 branches again they are on the same level, and the 3rd rises above them by 30 cm. The normal angle between the stem and shoots should be at least 45-50 °.
Prior to reaching the age of five, annual growth is annually shortened by 1/5 of their length, and in older trees, only improperly growing, damaged and diseased branches that are cut during planned sanitary pruning in the fall should be removed.
In order to avoid gum formation, all places of cuts (especially large ones) must be treated with garden var, thereby limiting the penetration of pathogens into the deep layer of wood tissue.
Cold Protection
In the autumn period, as soon as the outdoor air temperature drops to 0 ° C or lower, it is better to cover young seedlings of Raditsa sweet cherry, especially if long-term frosts are expected in winter. You can install around the tree a wooden or metal frame, on top of which an agrospan or spanbond will be attached, additionally fixed with bricks in the lower part of the structure. In the upper part, ordinary ropes can be used to fasten the material, removed with the arrival of the first steady spring heat. If you do not remove the shelter in a timely manner, the plant will lock up and may freeze at night temperature drops (short-term spring frosts).
Adult plants usually do not need additional shelter, but to be safe you should warm up a layer of snow on the trunk or insulate it with lapnik. It is not worth using wood sawdust or one burlap to warm the cherries, as rodents like to settle in such a shelter, which means there is a high probability of damage to the tree bark.
Preventive treatment for diseases and pests
Disease prevention is one of the main tasks in growing fruit trees. The timeliness of all activities largely determines the abundance of a quality crop, and sometimes even the vitality of the cherry itself. First of all, it is worth paying attention to the regime of irrigation and top dressing of trees, clearly dosing the amount of introduced fluid and nutrient compositions. In addition, it is worth observing crop rotation requirements without planting young seedlings where previously infected cherries and other sweet cherries were grown.
As a special prevention of possible troubles, the treatment of plantings with special chemicals is:
- before the swelling of the kidneys and 14 days after the first treatment, the cherries are sprayed with Confidor or a solution of tobacco dust and laundry soap, which will be effective in combating aphids;
- before cherry blossoms, yellow sticky plastic traps can be placed on trees, effective against cherry flies;
- from moths, plants are sprayed with Nitrofen solution, but nets thrown on tree crowns will help to prevent an attack on the crop of birds.
The implementation of special preventive treatments is more appropriate when cases of damage to the vegetation by the described pests have already been recorded on the site, and in other situations standard prevention will be sufficient.
Harvesting, transportability and storage
The flowering and fruiting of Raditsa cherries is early, which means that one can break the harvest by the end of July. Thanks to the friendly ripening of berries, they can be removed from the trees at the same time, without returning to this process over the next few weeks after the first harvest. To extend the shelf life of the berries as long as possible, it is advisable to pick them from the tree only together with the stem, with further placement in boxes in several layers. Each layer is overlaid with paper, which should absorb excess moisture.
Of course, all plucked fruits should be sorted immediately, removing damaged and damaged specimens. Fresh cherries can be stored for no longer than two weeks, and only when placed in a cool place. For longer storage, it is worth processing the berries for conservation and preserving them already in this form. Variety Raditsa is a worthy representative of universal varieties. With the comparative ease of care, the trees give an abundant harvest of delicious fruits, which means that for this reason it is worth planting seedlings of this plant in their area. With a little effort to grow them soon, you will be rewarded for your labors.
