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You have spent a lot of energy caring for the cherry orchard – fighting pests, fertilizing, watering, grafting. And all this with one goal – to get a good harvest of fruits. And now this moment has come – the collection of cherries (and not only cherries). It, probably, can rightly be considered the most pleasant and long-awaited procedure, a gardener’s reward for all his work. The article will tell you how to determine the optimal time for harvesting and do it with the least loss.
When to pick fruit
Depending on the variety, the growing region, the cherry begins to ripen from the end of June and the process can last until the beginning of August (if the summer is cool). Early varieties ripen first, such as Vavilov’s Memory, Early English, Podbelskaya, Miracle Cherry, Early 2, Vladimirskaya. Late varieties close the harvest season – Lyubskaya, Lotovaya, Nefris, Fertile Michurina, Meteor.
Note that if you have several cherry trees in your garden, then the first to be harvested are those that receive more sunlight during the day. At the same time, you should not wait until the berries ripen on other trees. It is better to start harvesting as soon as ripe fruits appear and gradually move between trees as they ripen, otherwise overripe berries will become prey for birds and you will lose part of the harvest.
If you plan to transport the harvested crop, then harvesting should be done 2-3 days before ripening, otherwise you can start harvesting on the first day. Please note that cherries, unlike most fruit ones, do not ripen after being removed from the tree, so it is not recommended to pick them earlier with the expectation that they will ripen in boxes (such as pears or apples). It will be unripe and sour in taste.
It is advisable to start cleaning in dry weather, in the morning, after the morning dew has evaporated, or in the afternoon, when the effect of the sun’s rays weakens. If the harvest falls during the rainy season, this significantly reduces the quality of the crop: the taste of the berries may deteriorate, and they themselves will quickly deteriorate due to the high moisture content, as a result of which most of them will quickly rot if measures are not taken for processing or canning.
Also note that 2-3 weeks before harvesting, watering the trees should be stopped, as the berries, as in the case of rains, will be saturated with moisture, their skin will begin to crack, and the flesh will deteriorate.
Harvest methods
Depending on the type of farm, there are two technologies for harvesting cherries: manual and mechanical. Of course, mechanical is used in large horticultural enterprises to speed up the process due to the huge number of trees and the short time allotted for the process of collecting ripe fruits.
Manual cleaning
This method is used by most gardeners due to the fact that there are not so many trees in the garden and you can cut them off in a calm atmosphere, without rushing anywhere. Depending on what fate awaits the berries after being removed from the tree, there are several methods of manual harvesting:
- cutting a berry with a part of the cutting with garden shears;
- collection of fruits with whole cuttings;
- the “milking” method, in which the berries are cut off without cuttings.
The first two are used when fruits are being prepared for transport. A whole stalk contributes to a longer shelf life of cherries. The third method is used if the berry is being processed (at home – these are compotes, seaming). Such cherries are stored for no more than a day, after which they begin to rot.
When cutting cuttings with scissors, it is advisable to cut the cut at a distance of 1/3 from the fruit. It is noticed that this way the cherry is stored a little longer.
Harvesting usually starts from the lower branches and gradually moves up the green cone using ladders. It is not recommended to climb the tree itself, since in this case the trunk shakes and part of the crop falls to the ground (if you climbed, then you need to lay polyethylene or cloth around the trunk to collect fallen fruits). Those fruits that cannot be reached by hand are removed using special devices – fruit picking.
When manually harvesting, you must follow simple rules that will help preserve the crop:
- fruits are not recommended to be crushed or crushed with fingers;
- do not damage the skin of the fruit with nails;
- when assembling, do not throw berries into baskets, but carefully fold them.
It is advisable to store the harvested crop at a temperature of 6-7 degrees. In such conditions, the berries begin to deteriorate only after 2-3 weeks. Many people prefer to freeze cherries to preserve freshness – in this form they can be stored for a long time.
mechanical assembly
This type is used by large horticultural farms that need to harvest a large number of trees in a short time. Various technologies are used: shearing, in which the tree is passed between rotating drums with a soft plastic mustache that knocks down berries, or mechanical shaking is used. Varieties with an easy separation of the berry from the stalk are suitable for automated assembly, such as Vladimirskaya, Zhukovskaya, Lyubskaya, Melitopol dessert, Podbelskaya.
Timely and correct harvesting is a necessary measure, since harvest losses are an unacceptable generosity for gardeners who have spent so much effort to grow a tree. Therefore, it is so important to know how to pick cherries while preserving the maximum fruit.
Video “Mechanized cherry harvesting”
This video will show how cherries are harvested using machines.