The Drogana Yellow variety is popular with gardeners due to its juicy fruits and its unpretentiousness to climatic conditions. In the article you will learn about the description and characteristics of this variety, the features of caring for it, as well as how to deal with diseases and pests of cherries.

Selection history

The variety was selected in Saxony (Germany) and named after the scientist Drogan. The name of the parental varieties of this cherry is not saved. Drogana Yellow is one of the oldest widespread varieties. It is successfully grown in the middle zone of Russia, Ukraine and the Baltic countries.

Description and characteristics of the variety

We will tell in more detail what this cherry looks like, what are its pollinators, productivity and frost resistance, and also describe the main advantages and disadvantages of the variety.

Appearance of cherries

A tree of this variety reaches a height of 5-6 m, has a dense foliage. In the early years, it has a pyramidal crown, and subsequently acquires a rounded shape. The sheets are large, have pointed ends and a smooth structure.

Inflorescences are small, in each there are 2-3 flowers. Fruits have medium or large size, a flat-round shape and a light yellow skin. The pulp is juicy, sweet, has a light color and a dense consistency. The weight of the fruit ranges from 4.5 to 8 g.

Did you know? Calorie sweet cherry is 47.8 kcal per 100 g of product.

Pollinators and productivity

Drogana Yellow is self-infertile, therefore, it requires pollinators to bear fruit. For pollination, the site must have at least one variety of red, black or yellow sweet cherry, which coincides with the flowering period with Drogana Yellow.

Recommended pollinators of this cherry are:

• Jealous . It has a good yield. The fruits of this variety have a burgundy color and dense texture, weigh an average of 4.7 g;
• Bagration . Fruits are light yellow with a pink blush, the pulp is sweet, juicy. The weight of sweet cherries is from 7.5 to 8 g;
• Bryanochka . Trees of medium height with a sparse crown. The fruits are sweet, dark red in color. The variety has high frost resistance and medium resistance to disease;
• Franz Joseph . Brings a good harvest. The fruits are painted yellow with a pink blush, the flesh is juicy and sweet. Fruits weigh on average 6-7 g.

Did you know? Cherry fruits are used to make green dye.

Yellow Drogan bears fruit from 4-5 years after planting. The variety is characterized by good productivity, which is 50–70 kg per tree, under favorable conditions, this figure can grow up to 100 kg of sweet cherry.

Frost resistance

Drogana Yellow frost-resistant, can tolerate temperatures up to -35 ° C. Flowering is relatively late, so the flowers do not die from return frosts.

Advantages and disadvantages of the variety

• Among the positive qualities of Drogana Yellow can be noted:
• good taste of the fruit;
• adaptability to various climatic conditions;
• undemanding to the composition of the soil;
• good drought tolerance.

• Despite the large number of merits of the variety, it is necessary to note its disadvantages:
• poor fruit keeping and transportability;
• the need for pollinating trees.

Features of cultivation and care

In order to grow a tree that will bear fruit well, it is necessary to take into account the following details of caring for Drogana Yellow.

Video: Cherry planting instructions

Choosing a place and planting material

The place where it is planned to plant a cherry seedling should be sunny. Drogana Yellow prefers neutral or slightly acidic soil. The soil for planting should be light sandy or sandy loam.

Important! In order for Drogan Yellow cherry to develop normally, it needs periodic liming of the soil.

Since moisture congestion is undesirable for this variety, it should not be planted in lowland areas. The distance from groundwater should be at least 2 m.

When choosing planting material, you should pay attention to the following factors:

• seedling age . The seedling should be about 3 years old;
• the presence of documents or tags on the seedling . It is best to buy a plant in a special nursery;
• root It must have at least three branches;
• the presence of generative kidneys .

Video: How to choose cherry seedlings

Landing pattern

To plant trees of this variety you need in the spring (before the buds swell) or in the fall (a month before the expected cold weather).

Important! Before planting, it is necessary to remove leaves from the seedling so that they do not pick up moisture from the plant.

To avoid errors during this process, you need to follow a simple instruction:

1. Dig a hole with dimensions of 80 × 80 × 70 cm. It should be located at a distance of 4-5 m from other plants.
2. Remove the upper fruiting layer and add compost or humus in a 1: 1 ratio.
3. For drainage, pour limestone gravel into the hole.
4. Pour a bag of dolomite flour onto gravel, which will reduce the acidity of the soil and increase its calcium content.
5. Place the seedling in the planting pit and dig a peg next to it, and then fill the soil.
6. Tamp the soil around the seedling so that an irrigation hole is formed. In this case, you need to pay attention to the root neck is above the ground.
7. Tie a seedling to a peg.
8. Spray abundantly until water is no longer absorbed into the soil.
9. Mulch the trunk circle using rotted sawdust or dry peat.

Watering and feeding

One of the conditions for competent plant care is its regular and proper watering. The young plant must be firmly rooted, therefore, for a month after planting 2 times a week, it is necessary to irrigate at the rate of 10 liters of water per tree.

Subsequently, for the season, cherries need to be watered 3-4 times a season, especially during the flowering and ripening periods of the crop. Under each adult tree, you need to pour 50–70 liters of water.

Watering is well combined with top dressing. In the spring, 10 g of urea, superphosphate and potassium salt should be added to 10 l of water. In summer, top dressing should be done without urea and nitrogen-containing substances. Once every 3 years it is necessary to dig the soil in the near-stem circle and add up to 10 kg of humus per 1 m² there.

Cropping and shaping the crown

For the full development of Drogana Yellow, circumcision of its crown should be done periodically. After planting, the sweet cherry should first be cut in 1-2 years at the beginning of summer. To do this, you must:

• if the seedling has 4–6 branches, the lower branches should be cut to 50 cm, and the upper ones should be cut in half;
• when the number of branches in a tree is up to 3 units, they should be cut by 25 cm.

Pruning should be done in spring or autumn while slowing down the sap flow in the cherry. Sick, broken, frozen branches should be cut off without fail.

In the first 5-6 years after planting, the formation of the crown should be done near the cherry. To do this, cut the center conductor and shoots to a third of the length. Every year it is necessary to form a new tier.

Upon reaching the tree for 6 years, the crown becomes formed, in the future should be pruned shoots that thicken it

Preparing trees for winter

To protect Drogana Yellow from frost, in the autumn you need to prepare it for wintering, for which you need:

1. Pour cherries abundantly. Moistened ground will slowly freeze, thereby protecting the tree from the cold.
2. Hole the trunk and mulch the soil with humus.
3. Close young plants with burlap or spruce branches. After the snow falls, a snowdrift is formed from it and is thrown on the cherry.
4. To protect the trunk of Drogana Yellow from rodents, it should be covered with a casing made of tin, a metal pipe or roofing material.

Protecting a tree from rodents

Pest and Disease Control

The most common diseases of Drogana Yellow are:

1. Tinder fungus . Fungal disease affecting a tree trunk. Cherry affected by the disease weakens and dies. To prevent the disease, you need to treat the trunk with a solution of lime.
   

2. Gray rot . Young shoots are especially susceptible to it. Due to the disease, the fruits rot, they must be destroyed immediately. To save the tree from this disease, you need to treat it with a solution of copper sulfate and nitrophene.
   

The main pests affecting Drogana Yellow:

1. Cherry fly . It lays eggs in unripened fruits, from which larvae hatch and destroy the flesh. It is necessary to deal with these pests in the spring, hanging yellow traps with sticky glue.
   

2. Piping tool . These insects feed on buds, buds, flowers, and fruits. To combat the pipelines, it is necessary to carry out the treatment after flowering with Actara, and after 2 weeks with one of the pyrethroid preparations. To reduce the population density of the pest, you need to periodically dig up the soil, shake off the trees and destroy the beetles.
   

3. Leafloader . Small nocturnal butterflies that damage the buds, buds, leaves, fruits, and bark of branches. The Dendrobacillin and Lipidocide preparations cope well with the leaflet, the treatment must be carried out in several stages with an interval of 7-10 days.
   

Harvesting and storage of crops

The fruits ripen at the same time, they should be picked in late June - early July. The berries have a thin skin, so they do not tolerate long-term storage and transportation. When frozen, cracking of the drupe occurs and they lose their shape. The fruits can be consumed fresh, dried, used to make compotes, juices, preserves and wine.

Important! To prevent the fruits from cracking, 3 weeks before harvesting, it is necessary to stop watering the cherries.

Drogana Yellow is characterized by unpretentiousness to the soil, frost resistance and high productivity. Using in practice all the recommendations for caring for it, you can easily grow cherries of this variety and enjoy the taste of its fruits.