Contents
Felt cherry came to us from Southeast Asia. Through breeding, varieties of this crop were created that can exist and produce crops where ordinary cherries simply cannot grow. Among them is the variety Fairy Tale.
History of breeding
The Far Eastern Experimental Station of VNIIR is famous for its varieties of felt cherries. About 20 of them were bred thanks to the efforts of breeders Vera Petrovna Tsarenko and Natalya Albertovna Tsarenko. One of them is felt cherry Tale. During selection, the Leto variety was used, the flowers of which were pollinated with a mixture of pollen from the seedlings Rosovaya and the Red variety.
The variety Skazka entered the State Register at the same time that many other varieties of the Tsarenko selection – in 1999. The authors believe that it is able to grow throughout Our Country, especially since reviews of the felt cherry Skazka are positive in different regions.
Description of the culture
Felt cherry Fairy tale grows in the form of a low bush – no more than 1,3 m. The shape of the crown is oval, it is not very thickened. Young cherry shoots of this variety are brown and pubescent, older ones are gray with flaky bark. On them, light lentils are noticeable in many. In each axil of the cherry leaf, three small pointed buds are formed, and the vegetative one is only the middle one, the rest will work for the harvest.
Sheet
The leaves of this variety of cherry have the shape of an elongated oval, they are corrugated, dark green in color, the tip and base are pointed. The edge of the sheet is double-sided. If its underside is covered with a small amount of hairs, then on the front side the pubescence looks like felt. It is this feature that gave the name to this type of cherry. The petiole of the cherry of this variety has 2 linear stipules, it is very short.
Flower
The flower of the Fairy Tale is medium in size and saucer-shaped. The corolla is made up of five petals, they are in contact. Their color is pink. In each flower, except for the pistil, there are 25 stamens, which are shorter than it. The calyx of this cylindrical cherry variety has a strong anthocyanin coloration and pubescence.
Fetus
The berries of the felt cherry Fairy Tale are rather large in size, they can reach a mass of 3,5 g. The berries are elongated-oval, have a rounded base and the same tip. The stalk has a deep funnel. The color of the cherry berries of this variety is rich burgundy, and the cartilaginous pulp, saturated with juice, is red. The stone is very small and is not able to separate from the pulp.
Cherry berries are sweet with a pleasant sourness, contain less than 1% acids, and a little more than 7% sugars, for which they received a tasting score of 3,8 points. They have a high content of ascorbic acid for cherries – 24 mg for every 100 g of pulp.
Features
Each gardener, when planning to plant a tree, first of all pays attention to the characteristics of the variety. Based on it, he determines whether it can exist in his garden. In accordance with it, the optimal conditions for growing are selected. Characteristics of felt cherries of the Skazka variety will help answer all the questions that arise.
Drought resistance, winter resistance
Both of these qualities are at the height of the fairy tale cherry. It exists well in conditions of lack of water and is perfectly adapted not only to winter frosts, but also to desiccation by the wind and to sudden thaws.
Pollination, flowering period and ripening period
This variety is unable to self-pollinate. It is not pollinated by sweet cherries and common cherries. Felt cherry pollinators Fairy tale – Alice, Eastern, Jubilee. They bloom at the same time – in the third decade of May. The berries of the fairy tale cherry ripen at the same time, starting from mid-July. The originator of the variety does not recommend overexposing them on the tree so that they remain cartilaginous.
yield, fruiting
Although the bush of this cherry variety is small, it gives a generous harvest. 10 kg from one plant for such a baby is very good. Like all trees of this species, the Skazka variety is very fast-growing. Grafted on a rootstock, it gives berries in the second year, own-rooted plants – in the fourth.
Scope of berries
Delicious and beautiful dark berries are good not only as a dessert, but also in any preparation. The wine is excellent too.
Disease and pest resistance
Hard pubescent cherry leaves of this variety are too tough for most pests. Only rodents annoy her. But it’s easy to defend against them. It is more difficult with diseases: Skazka does not suffer from coccomycosis, is quite resistant to clasterosporiasis, but can suffer from moniliosis.
Advantages and disadvantages
The main advantage of any garden culture is its fruits. They are very tasty with cherries of the Skazka variety. Berries are able to hang on a bush for a long time and not crumble. Her productivity is also beyond praise. Excellent winter hardiness, the ability to endure dry periods without problems makes this variety very popular.
There are few shortcomings of the Tale cherry:
- when overloaded with a crop, the fruits may shrink;
- it is necessary to carry out preventive treatments for moniliosis.
Features of landing
Proper planting and caring for felt cherries The fairy tale determines the entire future life of the plant, so this event should be thoughtfully considered.
Recommended dates
They depend on which fairy tale cherry seedling is selected. If grown in a pot, felted cherries can be planted from spring to autumn. There are restrictions for planting cherry bushes with open roots. It is possible only before the start of the growing season – in the spring and after it ends – in the fall.
Choosing the right place
The originator of the variety, Professor Vera Petrovna Tsarenko, recommends choosing non-steep slopes oriented to the south or southwest for the Skazka cherry variety. The landing site must meet the following conditions:
- well lit and ventilated;
- from the north winds will need protection.
You can not plant felt cherry Tale in low places and where groundwater is high. It grows best on well-structured loams or sandy loams with a high humus content. This culture prefers a neutral soil reaction. Growing felt cherry Tale in acidic soil is possible only after its liming.
What crops can and cannot be planted next to cherries
In order for the tree to be well lit, and without this you cannot get a good harvest, the neighbors should not shade it.
But with mountain ash, grapes, hawthorn, she gets along well. Cherries or sweet cherries can become good neighbors, but one must always remember about the common diseases of these crops.
Selection and preparation of planting material
In order not to be mistaken and not to get a “pig in a poke”, it is better to buy planting material for cherries of the Skazka variety in a nursery with a good reputation, and it would be useful to require a quality certificate. Felt cherry seedling must meet the following conditions:
- in spring – not swollen buds, in autumn – already fallen leaves;
- tree age – from 1 to 2 years;
- the stem is without damage, the bark is alive and elastic;
- roots are well developed without signs of decay.
Landing algorithm
The procedure for planting felt cherries is not difficult. It begins with the preparation of the site, for each square meter of which they contribute:
- up to 3 buckets of any organic matter, except for fresh manure;
- about 800 g of lime, if the soil is acidic;
- phosphorus-containing fertilizers – up to 60 g;
- potassium sulfate – up to 30.
Landing order:
- dig a hole 50×60 cm;
- we prepare fertile soil by filling it in a hole in the form of a mound. When planting in spring, most of the nutrients should be at the bottom and in the middle of the pit, they will be needed by the cherry tree immediately after the start of the growing season. In the autumn – we focus them in the upper layer, the seedling can use them only in the spring, melt water will bring nutrition to the roots.
- we install a tree, spreading its roots well, and fill them with fertile soil, we do not deepen the root neck;
- lightly tamp the trunk circle;
- watering – one or two buckets of water will be required, the amount depends on soil moisture;
- to keep it from drying out longer, mulching with any organic material is necessary, but aged peat is preferable.
Culture aftercare
Cherry variety Fairy Tale is quite unpretentious. It needs regular watering only immediately after planting and during prolonged drought. You can feed the tree twice a season:
- after the end of flowering – a bucket of humus or compost, 70 g of superphosphate, 20 g of potassium sulfate, 30 g of nitrogen fertilizer are added to the trunk circle;
- to prepare for winter in September, potash and phosphorus fertilizers will be needed.
So that the soil does not turn sour, it is limed every five years.
For the Tale variety, timely pruning is very important. Like all felt cherries, she does not live longer than 17 years. Rejuvenating pruning will help prolong the life of the tree. It is done every 5 years, brightening the center of the crown and thinning out the skeletal branches located on the periphery.
Annual pruning is carried out before the buds swell, leaving no more than 12 strong shoots. If the summer growth is very large, the branches are shortened, leaving two-thirds of the length.
Diseases and pests, methods of control and prevention
There are few of them, but you still need to fight them. Most often, the causative agents of fungal diseases attack the Fairy Tale.
Disease | Evidence | How to treat | Preventive measures |
Moniliasis | Leaves and flowers begin to wither, branches dry up | Sick shoots are cut to healthy tissue, each time disinfecting the cutting tool, sprayed with a 1% solution of foundationol | Do not thicken the crown, ensure its ventilation |
pocket disease | Fruits do not have seeds, look like elongated sacs | Removal of affected parts of the tree, treatment with systemic fungicides | the right place to plant, timely pruning, spraying with copper-containing preparations |
So that rodents, and there are usually no other pests in the Skazka variety, do not damage the stem of the tree, its lower part is hidden for the winter under the net. Poison is laid out for mice.
The video will tell about the features of care and diseases of felt cherries:
Reproduction of felt cherries
When breeding with bones, the offspring will be worse than the parents. The vegetative method of propagation of felt cherries Fairy tale – grafting is the simplest and most reliable. Cuttings are cut from the top of the shoots when the first berries begin to color.
Conclusion
Felt cherry variety Skazka is an excellent choice for those who want to get not only tasty berries, but also a tree that does not require special care. Not only the fruits are valuable, the Fairy Tale can become an effective element of landscape design both at the time of flowering and when the berries ripen.