When the cherry blossoms. Why doesn’t the abundantly blooming cherry tree bear fruit? Corrective Actions
Garden cherries have become widespread in our area. In the spring, after awakening, the tree gives people its beauty - its color was praised by writers and poets of different eras. Every self-respecting gardener must have this tree in his garden. But it happens that some owners of these plants have problems - the cherries stop producing crops. In our article we will look at all aspects of why cherries do not bear fruit.
Features of cherry
Most often, common cherries grow in our gardens. A wide variety of varieties allows the gardener to choose the tree that suits him best. However, when choosing, you must take into account one very characteristic feature of this tree.
A large number are self-sterile. If there are only one variety in the garden, you won’t get a harvest from them. Such trees must be planted in a group of different varieties. In this case, the trees should be in close proximity to each other.
Such as “Molodezhnaya”, “Bulatnikovskaya”, “Rusinka”, it is also recommended to plant in groups. It is considered optimal to purchase several zoned seedlings with to varying degrees maturation. There are early, middle and late cherries. The acquisition of unregistered varieties jeopardizes the full existence of the tree in unsuitable climatic conditions, that's why the cherry blossoms, but does not bear fruit. We will talk about this in more detail below.
Poor pollination
Insufficient pollination is a significant reason why cherries do not bear fruit. The absence of a tree of another variety next to a non-self-fertile cherry leads to the fact that no more than 5-7% of potential fruits are set on the cherry.
But even self-fertile cherries without a pollinator are capable of forming only 40% of the berries. Many gardeners, confident that they have planted correct tree, they don’t even realize that this is the main reason why cherries don’t bear fruit well. If it is not possible to plant an additional pollinating variety in the garden, you can go another way: to do this, its shoots must be grafted into the crown of the tree. But while this happens, you can quickly solve the problem in the following way - flowering branches cut from a tree of a different variety are placed in close proximity to the problem tree. At least this season we can already count on a harvest.
Fungus
A fungal tree disease such as coccomycosis may be the reason why cherries do not bear fruit or there are very few fruits. The peculiarity of the fungus is that it damages the foliage of the tree.
Immediately after the color has flown around, the foliage is covered with a pink-red coating. Some leaves become covered with brown spots. As a result, the leaves wither and fall off, and the tree becomes noticeably depleted. Frosts that earlier variety tolerated steadfastly, this disease can become destructive for the tree.
Already next spring the tree will bloom sparsely, and there is no need to talk about setting fruit.
Molinal blight is also a very common disease of cherries. During spring flowering, the pathogen penetrates the peduncle into the buds and fruit shoots, which leads to their premature wilting. Characteristic feature The disease is that the affected leaves and flowers do not fall from the tree even in the winter cold, remaining on the branches of the tree until next spring. The fruits of the affected tree rot long before ripening.
In this case, the tree will be saved only by complete and timely removal of the affected areas.
Climatic conditions
Many gardeners in the capital's suburbs recent years are preoccupied with finding the reason why the cherry tree does not bear fruit. In the Moscow region, which is located in the middle zone of the country, the last years of winter are rich in their unexpected surprises. This once again confirms that when purchasing seedlings, it is necessary to take into account the winter hardiness of varieties.
The varieties of steppe cherries and their breeding hybrids with common cherries are the most adapted to winter stress. In addition to high resistance to low temperatures, these varieties are famous for their productivity. However, all these varieties are slightly inferior in taste to common cherry fruits.
When hardened (a gradual decrease in temperature), varieties of this variety can withstand 35-degree cold. Daily temperature fluctuations pose a great danger to tree health. Large differences carry the risk of damage to flower buds, as well as a high probability of sunburn of the trunk and skeletal branches. It is necessary to radically combat the problem of why cherries do not bear fruit. What should a gardener do? All that remains is to update the trees in your garden with more winter-hardy varieties.
Lack of nutrients in the soil
With increased count on big harvest no need to. Close to the surface (1.7 - 2 meters) location groundwater This may also be one of the reasons why cherries do not bear fruit well. In such a situation, there is only one way to solve the problem - creating an embankment with a diameter of at least three meters. This will allow you to plant a tree seedling on optimal distance from groundwater.
The tree will produce the maximum possible yield only on sandy loam soil with neutral acidity. But if acidity is increased, then what to do? If cherries do not bear fruit for this reason, then the situation can be corrected by liming the soil. The main thing here is not to overdo it - the lack of boron that accompanies calcareous soils can cause a decrease in the formation of ovaries.
In any case, when digging the tree trunk area, it is necessary to regularly and timely add mineral fertilizers.
Complex state of the tree
One of the cherries is a thickening or bush. Regular removal of dead wood and thinning will save the tree from weakening and possible diseases, will have a beneficial effect on the growth of new shoots.
Optimal light and shadow conditions, ensured by timely correction of the inner part of the crown, will allow the tree to reward the gardener as much as possible with a bountiful harvest.
Why does the felt cherry not bear fruit?
This variety has high tolerance to low temperatures and phenomenal resistance to coccomycosis. This bushy tree came with Far East. The dense covering of foliage and shoots with villi, reminiscent of felt, gave this cherry its name.
The varieties of this tree give bountiful harvest delicious berries. The type of this tree is self-sterile. Therefore, you cannot do without one more tree in the garden if you want to count on a rich harvest.
Proper fertilization can help with this problem. When digging in spring, it is recommended to add up to 80 grams of potassium and 220 grams phosphate fertilizers. During the growing season, it is necessary to carry out several additional feedings of the tree.
The first must be done after flowering. They do it this way: dissolve up to 16 grams of urea, potassium chloride and up to 28 grams of superphosphate in 10 liters of water. It is recommended to repeat the procedure after two weeks.
Every two to three years, but by no means more often, add ash infusion and rotted manure to the soil around the tree. The procedure is carried out in autumn period and will significantly affect the well-being of the plant and the abundance of the harvest.
Preventive measures
Regular cleaning of last year's leaves will eliminate one of the factors why cherries do not bear fruit. Old foliage contains primary foci of fungal diseases. Thin out the crown in a timely manner.
Wood processing carried out chemicals will help prevent various diseases. The first spraying is carried out at the end of flowering; in no case is it recommended to do this earlier. Two weeks after harvesting, the procedure must be repeated. If you have missed the time, then the tree can be processed no later than 20 - 25 days before harvesting the fruits.
If the gardener follows all these recommendations, he will surround his tree timely care and care, the result will not take long to arrive. Already on next year questions about why cherries don’t bear fruit will disappear by themselves. And a bountiful harvest will be a good reward for your efforts.
While admiring the abundant cherry blossoms, we invariably begin to picture in our imagination huge buckets of bright, juicy berries. However, reality is sometimes far from reality - despite the abundant and pleasing flowering, cherries do not always produce fruits or produce them at different times. minimum quantity. Why does this happen, and where should we look for the root of evil? This question worries many summer residents, which means it’s time to look for answers. It turns out that it's not just about pests or diseases that can affect cherries!
Absence of a pollinator variety on the site
This is one of the most common reasons for the lack of full fruiting of cherry trees. The fact is that the vast majority of varieties of this crop are self-sterile, in other words, these varieties are simply not capable of being pollinated with pollen from flowers of a similar variety. That is why, in the absence of a pollinating variety, cherry trees do not form juicy fruits, even if the trees bloom very profusely. In order for cherries to bear fruit well, it makes sense to plant several in the garden at once. different varieties, and pollinating varieties must be present among them. Thus, the pollinators for cherry trees of the Early Sweet variety are varieties such as Griot Pobeda, Nezyabkaya or Mayak, the Griot Pobeda variety will be happy to be next to the Early Sweet variety, as well as Zakharovskaya or Polevka, next to the Polzhir variety you can safely plant the Early Sweet variety, the popular the Vladimirskaya variety or the Mayak variety, the Zakharovskaya variety gets along well with the pollinators of the Rannyaya Sladkaya, Nizhnekamskaya or Mayak varieties, and it wouldn’t hurt to add the Rannyaya Sladkaya, Vladimirskaya or Mayak varieties to the Nezyabkaya variety. But for summer residents who do not know what kind of cherry tree is growing on their site, of course, it will be much more difficult to decide which varieties should be planted next to existing trees. In this case, you will have to rely on trial and error. Ideally, next to each cherry variety there should certainly be at least one representative of the pollinating variety!
Another option is to plant self-fertile cherry varieties that do not require pollinators at all. These include Orlitsa, Stoykaya, Shchedraya, Ural Ruby, Mtsenskaya, as well as Shokoladnitsa, Mayak and Obilnaya. Feeling great without pollinating neighbors, these varieties themselves can act as pollinators for other cherry varieties!
Spring frosts
This is another negative factor that can have a detrimental effect on cherry fruiting. It's no secret that with the onset of spring, cherries bloom quite early, and accordingly, their flowers can be damaged by sudden explosions. spring frosts, not sparing anyone or anything. To protect delicate flowers from them, some gardeners try to delay the awakening of buds and the subsequent flowering of trees. For this purpose, in the spring, before the snow has melted, the soil under the trees must be covered with a sufficiently thick layer of snow. And so that the snow does not melt longer, it is additionally covered with light mulch like sawdust or straw. With this approach, the ground under the fruit trees will remain frozen longer, as a result of which food will begin to reach the roots much later, and flowering will begin in about four to seven days, that is, after the end of the frost.Damage to flower buds
Unfortunately, vulnerable flower buds can be damaged not only by unexpected spring frosts, but also by fairly severe winter frosts. Sometimes summer residents in the spring note in surprise that the cherry trees began to bloom only at the bottom, while at the top there is not a single flower. This is direct evidence that only the flowers of the cherry tree remained intact, located below the snow cover and reliably protected from frost by a luxurious snow coat. As for the flowers above, they simply froze under the influence of the merciless winter cold. To avoid such troubles in regions characterized by severe frosts, it is recommended to plant bush cherries whose height does not exceed two or two and a half meters. Such bushes can always be safely covered with snow even before frost sets in. Following these simple rules will definitely help protect your cherry trees from additional troubles and get juicy and tasty fruits at the height of the season!
It would seem lush flowering cherries guarantee a bountiful harvest of tasty and juicy berries. Unfortunately, the presence of flowers on a tree does not always promise a lot of ovary. Often by summer, gardeners find empty branches covered with leaves.
Where do the ovaries go, and why do the cherries bloom, but there are still no berries? There may be several reasons for this phenomenon, and the solution to the problem depends on what exactly triggered the loss of the crop.
Most often, the lack of fruiting in the presence of flowering is caused by:
- lack of flower pollination;
- freezing;
- lack of moisture;
- poor soil.
Pollination problems
If there is only one cherry growing in the garden, and what’s more, it is not self-pollinating, you can wait a long time for berries from it, and where will they come from without pollinating the inflorescences? Therefore, you always need to plant at least two different ones so that one of them pollinates itself. Then the second tree will also have fruit.
When planting trees on large plot the distance between them must be taken into account.
Sometimes pollination does not occur due to the absence of pollen-carrying insects, such as bees. This is facilitated by cold spring and intensive use. various drugs when processing trees. You can cope with attracting bees to the garden by spraying the crowns of cherries with sweet syrup (1 tablespoon of sugar or honey per 1 liter of water).
Exposure to low temperatures
Return frosts cause great damage to the future harvest. As a result of spring frosts, the fruit buds freeze and can no longer produce berries. And when the air temperature drops to 1 degree below zero, the ovary simply dies and crumbles. To protect the tree, it is recommended to delay the flowering time, without removing snow from under it for as long as possible. When the cherry tree has bloomed and frost is predicted, the crown of a small tree can be covered with a cloth. In the old garden with big trees burning fires with smoke.
So that it doesn’t freeze in the fall root system, watering should also be excluded at this time.
Insufficient fertilizing and watering
During the season, cherries must be watered at least three times so that they have enough moisture for development and fruiting. In addition, the disadvantage nutrients also affects the harvest. The tree has enough strength to flower, but not to form fruits, so it is important to periodically replenish the reserves of microelements in the soil by feeding the tree with organic matter and complex mineral preparations. It is also necessary to maintain normal soil acidity by adding wood ash.
In the Urals, steppe cherry has become widespread as the most winter-hardy species. It is a multi-stemmed bush with a height of 1 to 3 m.
Cherries prefer light loamy and sandy loam soils with pH no less 5.5. It grows poorly on soils with close groundwater and in low places where moisture and cold air stagnate.
According to the timing of flowering, cherry varieties are divided into: early flowering(May 20-25), middle (May 25-30) and late (June 1-5). To pollinate the flowers of most cherry varieties, pollen from other varieties that coincide in flowering time is needed. There are self-fertile varieties that do not require pollinating varieties.
According to the timing of fruit ripening, varieties are divided into early ripening (July 15-20), mid-season (July 20-30) and late-season (August 1-15).
It is recommended to have on site 4-6 cherry plants of different varieties, taking into account the timing of flowering and fruit ripening. Plants are planted with a distance of 2 meters in a row and 3 meters between rows. Best term spring planting. Autumn planting ends no later than October 10. Planting pits depending on the fertility of the soil, they dig 80x80x40 cm or 100x100x60 cm in size. Humus (15-20 kg), superphosphate (200 - 400 g), and potassium chloride (40-50 g) are added. On acidic soils add lime (200-400 g). Seedlings obtained from green cuttings are grafted and seedlings are planted at the level of the root collar. Copper seedlings are buried by 15-20 cm, and in early spring they are cut back by 1/3 of the crown. Cherries are formed by a shoot of 3 - 6 stems of different ages. Cherries begin to bear fruit in the fourth year. It bears fruit mainly on last year's growths. With normal growth (30-40 cm), flowering and growth buds are formed. With a decrease in growth, and also after 12 years of age, with attenuation of growth, the yield of cherries also decreases. To maintain the plant in condition active growth and fruiting, rejuvenating pruning is carried out. Old bare branches with weak annual growth are cut out, as well as branches that thicken the crown. Pruning is carried out in early spring before the buds open. It is advisable to combine pruning with fertilization.
Grafted plants begin to sprout - wild, it must be removed during the entire growing season.
Coccomycosis and moniliosis are considered dangerous diseases of cherries. Early spring (before buds break) spraying with a three percent solution is recommended. Bordeaux mixture, and also during the growing season they are treated 4 times with a one percent solution of Bordeaux mixture or a one percent solution of lime and colloidal sulfur. The first time is treated during budding, the second - after flowering, the third - three weeks later, the fourth - after harvesting. The destruction of fallen leaves and affected fruits is important in the fight against coccomycosis. For the winter, the cherries are covered with snow.
There may be several reasons for this phenomenon. Only a few fruit species or selected varieties of cherries They are usually called self-fertile (self-fertile). In most breeds and varieties fruit plants Fertilization and formation of ovaries takes place only if pollen from other varieties of the same breed is transferred to their flowers (stigmas). Such varieties are called self-sterile (self-sterile) or cross-pollinating.
Among the varieties cherries are self-fertile(Lyubskaya, Zhagarskaya or Latvian low, Apukhtinskaya, Molodezhnaya, Mayak, Finaevskaya, Shchedraya, Novoaltaiskaya), partially self-fertile (Turgenevka, Oblachinskaya, Bys-trinka, Subbotinskaya) and self-sterile (Vladimirskaya, Shubinka, Griot Moscow, Malinovka, Zhukovskaya, Pamyati Vavilov , Muse).
You should know that all varieties of cherries are practically self-sterile. Hybrids between cherries and sweet cherries (dyuki) are also self-sterile in most cases (Shirpotreb black and Komsomolskaya varieties).
Consistently self-fertile cherry varieties set from 20 to 40% of fruits when pollinated by their own pollen, partially self-fertile - from 5 to 20%, self-fertile - up to 5%.
Several should be planted in the garden cherry varieties. For good mutual pollination, especially when choosing self-sterile varieties, it is important that the pollinated varieties and pollinators are close in flowering time, time of fruiting, fruit ripening time and plant longevity.
Most optimal combinations main common varieties and pollinating varieties: Vladimirskaya (Molodezhnaya, Shubinka, Turgenevka); Griot Moscow (Orlovskaya rannyaya, Kistevaya, Oktava, Vladimirskaya); Malinovka (Vladimirskaya, Lyubskaya); Turgenevka (Vladimirskaya, Lyubskaya, Molodezhnaya); Zhukovskaya (Vladimirskaya, Lyubskaya).
Pollination cultivars cherries The presence of wild forms in the garden may also contribute.
Self-fertile varieties, as a rule, are more productive than self-sterile ones, but it has been found that when growing a highly self-fertile variety like Lyubskaya, higher yields can be achieved if it is planted together with pollinating varieties such as Vladimirskaya and Zhukovskaya. It should be remembered that the self-fertility of varieties varies depending on the place of cultivation and weather conditions.
Cherries are pollinated by insects, pollination proceeds normally if the pollinated variety is located at a distance of no more than 50 m from the pollinating variety.
Cherry blossoms usually before the vegetative buds bloom or simultaneously with it. The onset and duration of flowering depend on the growing area and weather conditions. In central Russia, mass cherry blossoms begin in mid-May and last 7-10 days; in cool weather it lasts up to 12-15 days. The duration of mass flowering of one variety is 2-5 days. Pollen from one flower is capable of pollination for 1-5 days, and stigmas of pistils are susceptible to pollination for 6 days. For comparison: in pome-bearing breeds this period lasts 9-10 days.
For successful fertilization of cherries, optimal conditions are required, in particular the presence of light, moisture and heat.
Frosts can cause significant damage to cherries during the flowering period. Cherry buds die at a temperature of -4 °C, flowers - at -2 °C, ovaries - at -1 °C and below. The most common methods of frost protection are creating a smoke screen and sprinkling (i.e. spraying trees with water). Sprinkling is possible when the temperature drops to -1 “C, creating a smoke screen - at 1-2 “C.
Among existing cherry varieties There are varieties with increased winter hardiness of flower buds. These are the Ural Ruby, Shchedraya, Crimson, Raspletka, Orleya, Lyubskaya, Apukhtinskaya.
After abundant flowering, a high yield is also not always formed. Rainy, cold weather during the flowering period deteriorates the quality of pollen. In hot (30 °C and above), dry weather, the quality of nectar decreases, so bees visit flowers less often, which also results in a decrease in yield. The process of pollination and fertilization of cherries is negatively affected by fogs, strong wind, damage to pistils and stamens in flowers by pests and diseases. You should also know that some varieties of cherries, due to their biological features have low pollen viability.
During the flowering period and subsequently, flowers and ovaries fall off. This phenomenon can be considered natural if the plant had too many flowers and fruits set, or abnormal if a significant number of ovaries are lost. At maximum flowering and optimal conditions the number of flowers that set fruit is 3-7%.
Along with other reasons for the decline in cherry fruiting, despite abundant flowering, the most important are damage to parts of the flower during flowering by spring frosts and deterioration in the quality of pollen (partial loss of fertilization ability) under the influence of low positive temperatures (10-12 ° C). Therefore in colder areas middle zone In Russia or in zones with moderate temperatures, cherry varieties with a late flowering period should be selected for planting (Lyubskaya, Turgenevka, Shubinka, Fertile Michurina, Finaevskaya, Ural ruby).
The better the plant nutrition, the more The ovaries remain until final ripening. For cherries, foliar (spraying on the leaves) fertilizing with nitrogen is useful: 1st time 10 days after flowering, 2nd time 2 weeks after the first. The urea consumption in this case is 40-50 g (0.40-0.50% solution) per 10 liters of water.
When using ammonium nitrate take 15-20 g per 10 liters of water. On peaty and sandy soils, as well as with unbalanced fertilization of cherries with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, there may be a lack of microelements, which can be one of the reasons for severe ovary abscission.
If signs of such fasting are confirmed, foliar feeding carried out before flowering on the buds, immediately after flowering and during the formation of fruits a month before harvesting. Fertilizer consumption for ten 5-7 year old cherry plants: manganese - 30-40 g; copper - 15-30; cobalt - 15-20; boron - 8-10 and molybdenum - 2-3 g. The concentration of microelement solutions when spraying is 0.07-0.12%.
A close relationship has been established between the number of fruits and their weight with the presence of healthy leaves on the plant. Therefore, it is important to preserve them completely on the tree and carefully protect them from diseases and pests (coccomycosis, hole spot, aphids and sawflies).
To combat excessive abscission of ovaries and fruits, various synthetic growth regulators are also used, for example, spraying with haftylacetic acid at a dose of 10-20 mg/l 30-40 days after the end of flowering.
X good fruiting for cherries can be achieved primarily through the correct selection of varieties, taking into account local conditions, as well as their placement on garden plot, with normal pollination by bees and the necessary agricultural technology.
