Cherry plum Mara is a medium or late-ripening variety, the fruits of which have a wide range of applications in everyday life. The culture was bred artificially, and it was added to the register in the late 90s of the last century. Mara has a wide range of applications in everyday life. Therefore, today this variety of plum is very popular among gardeners.
Description
Variety Cherry plum Mara is a fast-growing strong tree with a rounded crown. The stems of the plant are slightly curved, brown in color. The leaves of the culture resemble an ellipse in shape, their edges are jagged.
Mary’s fruits are round, on average, their weight reaches 23 grams. The pulp of plums is juicy, sweet and sour in taste, its color is bright yellow. At the same time, the outer skin is whitish. The stone is difficult to separate from the pulp.
Cherry plum fruits are harvested in September and consumed fresh during this period. Trees give rich harvests after a couple of years after planting them in the garden. About 35 tons of fruits can be harvested from one hectare. The plant needs a pollinator as it is self-fertile. The best pollinators are the wild-growing cherry plum and plums of the Vitba variety. The variety is resistant to low temperatures and frost.
Video “Description”
From the video you will learn the description of this variety.
Site Selection
When choosing a territory for growing plums, it is worth considering that this plant loves light very much. With a lack of lighting, the fruits lose their sweetness, and crop volumes are sharply reduced.
Cherry plum is resistant to frost, however, it is still afraid of severe frosts. Therefore, the ideal place for the growth of culture will be a gap, for example, between a house and a bathhouse, a house and a barn. It is good if the brick building is located on the north side, because the brick, when heated, will not only protect from the winds, but also heat the plant.
Stagnation of moisture has an extremely negative effect on the fruit tree. Therefore, in areas where there is such a risk, it is worthwhile to provide the culture with water “leaving”.
You can use drainage for this. It will be effective to plant the plant on a hill. With stagnant water, the individual will develop poorly, and may even die.
Loams or sandstones are best suited for growing plums. However, the fruit is not as picky about the soil as the apple tree or cherry. On heavy land, culture develops even worse. In this case, the plant simply needs a deep pit for planting. The acidity of the soil should be neutral.
Planting and care
It is recommended to plant seedlings in spring (if the root system is bare) or in the spring-October period (for plants that have grown in special containers before).
Excessively deepen the seedling into the ground is not worth it. The “neck” of the root should rise 5-7 centimeters above ground level.
Almost all plum varieties are self-fertile, meaning they will only bear fruit if potential pollinators grow nearby. Therefore, it is worth either planting cherry plums near other plums, or planting them in parallel.
When planting a seedling, organic fertilizer is placed in the pit. You can also add potassium and superphosphate. Nitrogen feeding is not necessary at this stage.
The next time the plant is fed before flowering. During this period, urea and potassium sulfate are introduced. When the berries begin to pour, the culture will need to be fertilized with urea and nitrophoska. After the first crop is harvested, you need to feed with potassium sulfate and superphosphate. In late autumn and early spring, organic matter is introduced.
Autumn top dressing is carried out without nitrogen. Fertile, mineral-rich soils often do not need to be fertilized. But poor sandy soils need annual replenishment.
In the first year of life of an individual in a permanent place, it is worth removing almost all the flowers. This procedure contributes to a better survival of the culture. Subsequently, it is necessary to ration the crop: remove half of the ovaries, only a few centimeters in diameter. Thanks to such an operation, the remaining fruits will increase in size and become sweeter. In addition, the removal of the ovaries contributes to the regulation of the frequency – fruiting in a year.
Cherry loves water. Moisturizing the Mara variety costs about 5 times a month (morning and evening) in the amount of a bucket of water per adult. Moisture is especially important in June-July. After all, it is during this period that the fruits ripen and flower buds are laid.
Cherry plum forms root shoots, which should be cut near the soil, since the plant organism spends almost all nutrients on the shoots. As a result, the crop is not formed.
In order to protect the tree from frost, it is worth mulching the culture with horse humus in the trunk circle and wrapping the bole with special material.
Trimming
Proper pruning of fruit trees will help not only control their yields and fruit size, but also get rid of various diseases.
When planting, the branches of the seedling are cut by a third, which will help speed up the process of crown formation.
If the annual growth decreases, then the branch should be cut to the older wood.
You need to cut the culture every year in the spring (before the buds begin to bloom). At the end of autumn, pruning a fruit tree is not recommended.
If full pruning is carried out, the cut is carried out at the base of the branch, while it is better not to leave “stumps”.
Branches with fruits that descend to the ground should be completely removed.
It is worth thinning the crown of the tree every year, which helps to increase the volume of the crop and prevents the appearance of diseases and the attack of pests.
Leave only straight and powerful young stems. Curves and thin need to be eliminated.
You can not remove many shoots at one time. For a tree, such a procedure will be a very big shock. Circumcision at the same time costs no more than a quarter of the total number of organs.
When the tree reaches a height of 2 – 2,5 meters, it is worth starting to limit the growth of the individual upwards. It is necessary to form a spreading crown, which will be well lit by the sun. To do this, you need to get rid of the branches that grow up at right angles. In such conditions, the side branches will begin to actively develop.
So, the Mara variety is a plum that gives rich harvests and is absolutely not whimsical in care.
Video “Trimming”
From the video you will learn how to properly prune this fruit tree.
