Sweet cherries are loved by many. Trees of early varieties delight with their fruits in early summer, when many fruits have not yet ripened. One of these varieties is Bigarro Burlat.

Selection history

The Bigarro Burlat variety was obtained from a random seedling that was found in Lyon (France) in 1915, and its “parental” varieties have not been established. Cherry tree has become popular in the central part of Europe, and the variety was recently brought to Russia and has not yet passed state tests, but has already managed to arouse interest among gardeners.

Culture Description

Bigarro Burlat cherries have their own characteristics, which can be liked by domestic plant growers.

Did you know? Sweet cherry seeds contain a toxic substance - amygdalin. Therefore, they can not be swallowed, and preservation with fruits from which they did not remove the bone is stored for no more than a year.

Brief description of the variety

The described sweet cherry without stocks grows up to 3–3.5 m and forms a spherical dense crown. The tree is distinguished by a light brown bark and slightly curved shoots, oval leaves with serrated edges. In Bigarro Burlat, the fruits have a flat-round shape with a well-defined seam, which are firmly attached to the branches with stalks 3.5–4 cm long. Berries weighing about 5–7 g and dark red, almost black skin.

The berries are attractive in appearance, do not crack when ripe. The flesh is medium-dense, painted in a rich red color with a harmonious sweet and sour taste. It contains 14.7% solids, 11.2% sugar and 0.6% organic acids. 100 g of fruits contain 6 mg of vitamin C. The stone is large and easily detachable (6.3% of the total weight of drupes). Fruits are suitable for fresh consumption and as raw materials for harvesting.

Drought and winter hardiness

Cherry can withstand low temperatures to -20 ° C. With more severe frosts, the kidneys begin to freeze, which indicates average frost resistance. The variety tolerates spring frosts well.

Did you know? Blooming cherries are a valuable honey plant for early bee colonies for bee colonies. Bees collect about 35 kg of honey from 1 ha of a cherry orchard.

Pollination, flowering period and ripening period

Bigarro Burlat sweet cherry blossoms with white saucer-shaped flowers 3 cm in diameter, located on peduncles 2.8 cm long. The tree is partially self-fertile and needs cross-pollination. It is optimal to use pollinating varieties: Bigarro Starking, Vystavochnaya, Vega, Wanda, Godelfingen, Carolyn, Napoleon, Rainier, Stark Hardy Giant. Harvest ripens in early June.

Productivity and fruiting

The tree of the described variety begins to produce its first fruits for 4–5 years. A plant grafted on dwarf rootstocks first bears fruiting, and on tall plants it will yield a richer crop, but will take up more space in the garden. Productivity - about 80 kg of berries are harvested from an adult tree.

Disease and pest resistance

Variety - medium resistant to fungal diseases. In prolonged rainy periods, fruit cracking is observed.

Advantages and disadvantages of the variety

• This variety is interesting in the following characteristics:
• early harvest;
• excellent taste parameters;
• good transportability;
• high stable productivity;
• frost resistance;
• the versatility of the use of berries.

• The disadvantages of the variety include the following:
• pollinators are required;
• the fruits are deformed (cracks appear) in the conditions of frequent rains; therefore, the variety is not recommended for cultivation in a humid climate.

Landing Features

When choosing a seedling of sweet cherry varieties Bigarro Burlat and its planting, certain rules must be observed.

Important! Sweet cherry grows poorly on peatlands, infertile sandy lands and “heavy” clay soils. Acidic soil will not work either - it will need to be liming. To improve the quality of the soil, clay is added to the sandy soil, and clay is made more permeable with sand mixtures.

Recommended Dates and Choosing the Right Place

In warm climates, cherry trees are planted in the autumn season, and in areas that differ with stable cold winter months, they are planted in spring. Nutritious loamy and loamy soils are well suited for breaking down the cherry orchard. The place of growth of cherry plantings should be lit up by the sun as long as possible during the day so that the berries “pick up sweetness” and have a southward bias (south, southeast, southwest).

The site should not be exposed to cold sharp gusts of wind from the north and east. Ground water should not lie closer than 2 m to the surface of the earth. At the chosen place, stagnation of water after precipitation should be excluded, that is, lowlands are completely unsuitable. To pollinate Bigarro Burlat cherry, it is necessary to plant 2–4 pieces of trees of another variety, or cherry, in which the flowering time coincides with Bigarro Burlat.

Selection and preparation of planting material

When buying a seedling of cherries of the Bigarro Burlat variety, you should examine the vaccination site - you need to look for it slightly above the root neck. The roots should be well developed and moist. Branches are flexible, "living."

Important! There should be no leaves on the seedling - they deprive the young tree of most of the moisture, which worsens the survival rate of the plant.

The trunk of an annual tree is about 90 cm high, and two-year-olds are twice as large. On an annual tree, there are from 8 branches 10–20 cm long, and a two-year-old seedling already has 12 branches, approximately 25 cm in length. The plant should not have spots, damage, thickenings.

It is recommended to purchase young trees in plant nurseries or certified retail outlets.

Direct landing

A pit is prepared at least a couple of weeks before planting. It is made with a diameter of about 1 m and about the same depth. The top layer, when digging, is laid aside and mixed with fertilizers (peat, humus, well-rotted manure, ash).

Cherry planting itself is performed in the following order:

1. First, try on a seedling to the pit and add a mound of soil mixture so that after planting the root neck and the grafting site are above ground level.
2. A peg for support is inserted into the center of the pit.
3. Then a tree is placed on an elevation, spreading the roots.
4. Gently fill the pit with soil mixture, carefully tamping so that there are no voids.
5. Form a hole around the plant.
6. The tree is tied to a peg and well watered.

Video: instructions for planting cherry seedlings

Aftercare

To obtain a good harvest of sweet cherry trees need to provide proper care. Sweet cherry needs hydration in the following periods:

1. In May. This is a time of active development, when new shoots and foliage grow.
2. In May-June - the period of active fruit ripening.
3. Late autumn watering. This will protect the rhizome of the tree during the period of freezing of an earthen coma.

The soil around the trees is moistened once a week. Irrigation should be plentiful, as the root system is located deep enough (about 0.4 m). Do not water the cherries during the fruit filling period, since an excess of liquid causes them to crack. Reduce the frequency of watering in the second half of summer, so as not to provoke an active increase in shoots, as this, in turn, will reduce the resistance of the tree to frost.

Young trees are watered under the root, and for older specimens they dig a recess along the perimeter of the near-stem area, into which water is poured. Already in the second year of vegetation, the plants in the ground of the fixed area for feeding are fertilized with urea at the rate of 20 g per 10 liters of water. Such fertilizing is carried out for trees three times - from May to June. The next year, top dressing is repeated. In the 4th year of growth, in spring, around the trunk, cherries make a furrow 24–25 cm deep, into which 150 g of urea are added, and then pour water for abundant watering and dissolution of the fertilizer. In autumn, 300 g of superphosphate and 100 g of potassium sulfate are poured into the same depression.

Non-observance of the rules for feeding sweet cherry slows growth and fruiting, reduces winter hardiness. Once in 5 years it is necessary to liming the soil with lime, chalk, wood ash or dolomite flour. In the fifth year of tree growth, it is advisable to top-dress with ammophos, at the rate of 30 g per 10 liters of liquid. In autumn, it should be fertilized with humus, covering 20 kg under each tree. During the period of active fruiting, 0.2 kg of urea is introduced into the soil of the borehole in spring, and in September, about 40 kg of rotted organics. In the fall, you can add 400 g of superphosphate and 200 g of potassium salt to the soil.

Important! The introduction of lime into the soil should not coincide with the fertilizing process with nitrogen-containing and organic top dressing, as well as with ammophos, nitrate and phosphate.

Without pruning necessary in the spring, the tree stretches, and the number of fruits decreases. The process itself is carried out before the swelling of the kidneys, but with the establishment of cold weather. The seedling begins to form immediately after planting. The young tree is pruned at a level of 0.5-0.7 m, so that the area of ​​fruit formation is not too high from the ground. The main conductor should be higher than the tops of the branches forming the skeleton of the tree, more than 15 cm.

In the second year, pruning of skeletal branches is carried out, making them shorter by one third. Branches competing with the main conductor are cut into a ring. In the first tier, 3 branches are left, located at approximately the same distance from each other. In subsequent years, in the spring, only a shortening of 1/3 of the excessively long main branches and side shoots is carried out. To form the second tier, 2 branches are left, and the third should have 1 skeletal branch. Shoots that do not form a crown are cut to 30 cm.

Thin shoots are cut with a garden knife and secateurs, and thick and dry branches are best removed with a saw. The tool must be sharp and clean. Dull blades leave lacerations that heal for a long time. The places of cuts are covered with garden varieties, since after trimming there is a strong gumming. Fruit cherries are pruned only for sanitary purposes and thinning. Branches growing inward to the crown should be removed. Dry and diseased branches are cut so that there are no stumps left. If the tree is grafted, then the shoots from the roots should be removed.

Did you know? Cherry contains a large amount of antioxidants. If a person eats 3 kg of berries per year, then this is the prevention of cancer.

Adult specimens normally tolerate the winter period. But young seedlings should be protected from colds and rodents by wrapping the trunk with burlap, non-woven materials, roofing material. For this purpose, spruce is also well suited.

The trunk section for the winter should be mulched to protect the root system from freezing. Compost, peat and humus are well suited as mulch. It is necessary to whiten the trunk and skeletal branches before the winter period. Whitewashing is carried out in the spring - to protect against insect pests.

Diseases and Pests

Consider the main diseases of cherries:

1. Bacteriosis Often appears in trees at the age of four. The disease can be detected by watery, dark colors, specks on leaves and berries. Dark-brown sores appear on the stalks. Formations of a dark color are observed on the cortex, from which gum stands out. At the moment, an effective technique for the complete elimination of the disease does not exist. Therefore, to prevent the appearance of bacteriosis, general preventive measures are taken - moderate hydration, the introduction of nitrogen fertilizers.
   

2. Coccomycosis. Signs of this fungal disease are the appearance of brownish-red spots on the leaves, which begin to fall by the middle of summer, which adversely affects the tree (due to a violation of the photosynthesis process). To eliminate the problem, chemical treatments are used: Zorus, Topaz (after the collection of cherries).
   

3. Moniliosis. When the disease appears, the leaf plates dry and curl, the fruits begin to rot and dry out. On the berries appear grayish growths. To combat this fungal disease, Bordeaux fluid, copper sulfate, Nitrafen and Oleuprit are used.
   

4. Kleasterosporiosis. The disease can be detected by brownish spots with a red border on the fruits. Then, in place of such spots, voids appear. To combat kleasterosporiosis use the drug "Chorus".
   

5. Rot. This is the most common fungal disease manifests itself in the form of brown spots, on which grayish mold occurs over time. To eliminate the putrefactive process, a Bordeaux mixture, copper oxychloride, is used.
   

6. Powdery Mildew Often affects young seedlings. In this case, a powdery coating is visible on the tree, the leaves gradually dry and curl. To eliminate the disease, use a solution of manganese, as well as chemical preparations "Topaz" and "Strobi".
   

The main insect pests for cherries are:

1. Cherry fly. The insect lays eggs in fruits that are not yet ripe. The appeared larvae begin to eat berry flesh, destroying most of the crop. Insecticides ("Karbofos") are used to combat.
   

2. Cherry Moth. This pest in the spring affects the buds, leaves and buds during flowering. For the fight, chemicals are used: "Chlorophos", "Karbofos".
   

3. Cherry sawfly. On the cherry, this pest weaves spider web nests. Insect larvae feed on the fruit juice, damaging them. To eliminate sawflies and its larvae, Chlorofos and Karbofos preparations are used.
   

4. Cherry Weevil. In the spring, bugs infect the buds, eat flowers and severely damage the resulting ovary. Against this pest, they are treated with the Chlorofos preparation.
   

5. Cherry aphid. When this insect appears, the leaves curl, the shoots are deformed and stop growing and developing. It is necessary to carry out processing in the spring with chemicals Nitrofen, Karbofos or DNOC.
   

6. Gall tick Due to the life processes of the pest, swellings (galls) form on the leaves. The tick feeds on the juice of the leaves, causing damage to the tree. To combat it, the drug "Karbofos" or "Nitrofen" is used.
   

Important points to prevent the appearance of insect pests and diseases is the adoption of the following preventive measures:

• carry out regular removal of branches affected by the disease;
• the places of cuts should be treated with garden varieties;
• collect fallen fruits and dispose of them;
• digging ground around a tree trunk;
• carry out preventive treatments with copper sulfate or Bordeaux mixture;
• regularly remove weed grass around trees;
• collect and dispose of fallen leaves in the fall;
• observe agricultural farming techniques - proper watering, fertilizing;
• remove the old exfoliating bark and whiten the trunk and skeletal branches in spring and autumn;
• conduct regular inspections to timely identify pests and take appropriate measures to control them.

Did you know? Sweet compote has an expectorant effect when coughing. Only for medicinal purposes it is drunk hot.

Bigarro Burlat sweet cherry can withstand temperatures down to -20 ° C, which makes it possible to grow it in Central Russia. The early harvests of sweet and tasty fruits are removed from the tree. When planting a Bigarro Burlat tree, you need to take care of the presence of closely-growing pollinating trees. When caring for cherries, special attention should be paid to the irrigation regime and the control of pests and diseases.

User reviews

A good tasty variety with a large berry. The first berries this year ripened on June 3. In a state of full maturity, they are dark cherry in color (almost black). Irina Kiseleva //forum.vinograd.info/showpost.php?p=1461802&postcount=3