Contents
Cherry Tale, which belongs to the large-fruited varieties of this fruit crop, is popular with gardeners. Subject to agricultural technology, it takes root well and allows you to get a stable crop.
History of breeding
The variety Skazka was obtained as a result of the selection activities of scientists from the Melitopol Institute. For crossing, two varieties of cherries were used – Drogana Zheltaya and Valery Chkalov.
The new variety allowed to improve many characteristics of its predecessors, the main of which are large fruit sizes.
Description of the culture
Due to its good cold resistance, the early sweet cherry Skazka is recommended for cultivation both in the southern territories and in the conditions of the central zone.
Glossy fruits of a rounded, slightly elongated shape are painted in a rich garnet-red color, sometimes very dark, almost black. Homogeneous pulp with a dense juicy texture has a pleasant sweet taste with a hint of honey. The special value of the Skazka variety is their rather large size and weight up to 12 grams. The bone is small.
The average height of a fairy tale cherry tree is 3,5 – 4 meters. As it grows, it forms a dense crown with a characteristic pyramidal shape.
Oval leaf plates with sharp tops and serrated edges are distinguished by a slightly wrinkled surface. Their various shades provide the tree with a high degree of decorativeness throughout the growing season.
Features
The large-fruited sweet cherry Skazka, being a successful result of purposeful breeding, has received improved characteristics of its predecessors.
Drought resistance, winter resistance
The tree easily tolerates temperatures as low as -25˚С, which makes the Fairy tale cherry popular in areas with unstable climatic conditions in the center of Our Country.
For cherry blossoms, severe night frosts can be dangerous, negatively affecting the buds.
With good indicators of drought resistance, the culture requires timely watering, which has a beneficial effect on the activation of fruiting.
Pollination, flowering period and ripening period
Since the Fairy tale sweet cherry is a representative of self-fertile varieties, it is necessary, when breeding it, to provide for the placement in the neighborhood of varieties that can provide the pollination necessary for the formation of large berries.
Pollinators suitable for the growing season for cherries Skazka are Tyutchevka, Ovstuzhenka, Iput.
Flowering trees in a warm climate decorate the garden in mid-April. Gardeners are attracted by such a characteristic of the Tale sweet cherry variety as early fruiting. Fragrant ripe berries begin to be removed from the branches in May.
yield, fruiting
Planted seedlings of the Tale variety begin to bear fruit at the age of five. From young trees, you can take 5 kg of fruit.
As the fruit crop develops, the yield increases. From an adult cherry plant Fairy Tale, an average of 30 kg of excellent large berries is obtained.
Scope of berries
The collection of fully ripe cherries Skazka is carried out with care to avoid deformation of the juicy drupes.
They are consumed fresh, appreciating the piquant honey sweetness. Harvested most often in the form of compotes, jams, jelly, marmalade.
Disease and pest resistance
Sweet cherries Skazka, even under adverse conditions with high atmospheric humidity, demonstrates good resistance to infections characteristic of this fruit crop.
This variety is quite rarely affected by pests, which allows you to get a stable annual crop.
Advantages and disadvantages
Gardeners with experience in growing early sweet cherries Skazka appreciate its many advantages:
- winter hardiness;
- great taste of dense honey berries, characterized by large dimensions and spectacular dark skin with a pomegranate tint;
- quite abundant and stable yield;
- good transportability;
- resistance of berries to cracking;
- rare damage by harmful insects and diseases.
A minor disadvantage of this fruit crop is the need to plant a number of varieties – pollinators.
Features of landing
Although the fairy tale cherry is considered an unpretentious crop, when planting it, it is necessary to take into account the features characteristic of this variety.
Recommended dates
Saplings of early-ripening sweet cherries Skazka are planted in prepared places after winter before sap flow. It is important to choose periods when the night temperature does not drop to minus, and the soil is warm enough. The advantage is the possibility of preparing a young tree for the winter season, so the spring planting season is recommended for the middle strip.
Strong, with well-developed rhizomes, fairy tale cherry seedlings successfully take root during autumn planting in warm southern territories. They have time to adapt to new conditions before the winter cold and get stronger enough.
Choosing the right place
For growing cherries, Fairy Tale, an elevated area is selected that is not subject to flooding. The place should be sunny and have protection from the north direction.
This culture prefers fertile and loose soil. Cherry Tale does not develop well on clay soil and poor sandy loam.
What crops can and cannot be planted next to cherries
To ensure the predicted yield, one should carefully select the plants adjacent to the fairy tale sweet cherry.
Undoubted benefits are brought by cherries, which can participate in the pollination process. Do not interfere with the development of crops such as mountain ash, hawthorn.
It is not recommended to grow raspberries or sloes next to cherries. Create unfavorable conditions for apple, plum, pear. These fruit trees should be at least 6 meters away from the cherry tree.
Selection and preparation of planting material
Cherry seedlings Skazka are carefully examined at the acquisition stage. They should have no signs of disease, damage to shoots and bark, dry branches.
Trees with well-developed elastic roots take root well. The buds on the branches should be well-defined, dense. The place of vaccination is examined. On a viable seedling of the Tale sweet cherry, it is neat, without sagging and rough cracks.
On the eve of planting, if necessary, shorten the roots a little, cut out dry processes. The planting material is kept for two hours in a growth stimulant solution.
Landing algorithm
If it is planned to plant several seedlings of the Tale sweet cherry, mark the selected area so that there is a gap of at least 3 meters between the trees.
Landing algorithm:
- Before planting cherries, planting pits are prepared for 14 days with a diameter of about a meter and an average depth of 80 cm.
- The excavated soil is mixed with rotted compost in equal volumes. The same volume of sand is added to heavy loam. Sandy loam is enriched with organic matter and mineral complex.
- A wooden or metal support is strengthened at the bottom. Drainage is laid and a little soil substrate is poured, forming a mound.
- They put the cherry seedling vertically, straightening the roots, and fill the hole with the prepared soil mixture in layers, lightly tamping them. Control that the root neck is above the surface.
A young tree is tied with soft twine to a support and watered. Mulch with dry humus or leaves.
Culture aftercare
Timely watering is organized as part of the care of cherries Skazka at least four times during the entire growing season:
- before swelling of the kidneys;
- half a month after flowering;
- 14 days before the planned harvest;
- in early November.
Each tree needs about 10 liters of water.
Young plantings of the Skazka variety are fed with a mineral complex in April. In June, phosphorus-potassium types of fertilizers are applied. Loose compost is added under adult trees in autumn.
Pre-winter preparation of cherries includes whitewashing skeletal rods and trunks. Repeat it after the snow melts. To protect young cherries from freezing for the winter period, plantings are laid with spruce branches. Salvation from rodents is the compaction of the snow cover around the base of the trunk.
Formative pruning with shortening by about a third of the shoots is practiced annually until the buds wake up. Sanitary removal of dry, damaged branches is regularly required.
Diseases and pests, methods of control and prevention
If serious violations are allowed in the organization of care, the Tale sweet cherry may be affected by pests and diseases. In such a situation, effective measures should be taken quickly.
Characteristic diseases of sweet cherry Fairy tale
Type of disease | Evidence | Methods of struggle | Prevention |
Klyasterosporiosis | Brownish spots appear, turning into holes scattered over all parts of the tree. | Irrigation with a one percent solution of Bordeaux mixture. | In spring, the crown is sprayed with Nitrafen until the buds open. |
Moniliasis | Buds dry up, berries rot. | Treatment with a XNUMX% solution of copper oxychloride. | In April, after flowering and fruit picking, the crown is irrigated with Bordeaux mixture (0,5%). |
Kokkomikoz | Brownish-red spots fill the surface of the leaf plates. | Spraying trees during the period when the entire crop is harvested with a solution of Topaz. | Before the buds wake up, the trees are treated with Bordeaux mixture (0,5%). |
Pest control varieties Skazka
Name | Harm done | Pest Control |
black cherry aphid | The larvae suck out the juice. Leaf plates curl up and dry. | Processing with Confidor. |
cherry fly | The larvae destroy the buds and damage the berries. | Spraying with Aktellik. |
Screwdrivers | The caterpillars eat the leaves. | Chlorophos treatment. |
Conclusion
Cherry Skazka is popular due to the excellent honey taste of incredibly large dense berries. With proper care and provision of pollinators, each tree will please with a fairly high yield.
Reviews
Analyzing the reviews of summer residents about the fairy tale cherry, it is possible to more fully clarify the merits of this culture.
