How to Build a Protective Shed for Cherry Cultivation? Key Technical Points Explained

1. Selecting suitable varieties

Suitable excellent early-maturing or mid-early-maturing cherry varieties for greenhouse cultivation include: “Zhifu Red”, “Red Lantern”, “Red Cherry”, “Rainier”, “Sato Nishiki”, etc. Spur-type varieties and varieties with strong self-fruitfulness include: “Spur Pioneer”, “Spur Stella”, etc. The plant and row spacing can be 2.0-2.5 m × 3.0-3.5 m.

2. Timing of covering the shed

The timing of covering the shed should be determined according to the greenhouse facility conditions and the time the fresh fruit is to be marketed. Generally, in the third year after planting, when the plants have formed a certain amount of flower buds, the shed can be covered. An arched round plastic greenhouse is chosen, oriented north-south, with good light and uniform light inside the shed; a single shed area of about 667 sq m is appropriate. The timing of covering the shed must be accurate, and the shed should be covered after the cherry trees have gone through natural dormancy (roughly from late January to early February).

3. Temperature and humidity requirements inside the shed

Before bud break, 18℃-20℃ during the day, 2℃-5℃ at night, relative air humidity 80%; during the flowering period, 20℃-22℃ during the day, 5℃-7℃ at night, relative air humidity 50%-60%; from after flowering to the fruit enlargement stage, 22℃-25℃ during the day, 10℃-12℃ at night, relative air humidity 60%; from fruit coloring to the harvest period, 22℃-25℃ during the day, 12℃-15℃ at night, relative air humidity 50%.

4. Flowering period management

In protected cultivation, due to the limited environmental conditions inside the greenhouse, leaf quality before the fruit harvest period is relatively poor, leaf photosynthetic capacity is relatively low, and coupled with the relatively high fruit yield, it is very easy to cause depletion of plant nutrients and death of the plants. Therefore, flowering period management must be strengthened, the load must be reasonable, and the level of stored nutrients in the tree must be raised.

① Increasing the fruit-setting rate The main technical measures for increasing the fruit-setting rate are: starting 10 days before flowering, ventilate every day at noon on sunny days so that the floral organs undergo hardening as early as possible and receive a certain amount of direct sunlight. Improve the quality of flower bud development; artificial pollination can be carried out from flowering to the 3rd day after flowering, but pollination on the same day is best; bee pollination, spraying 50×10 to the negative 6th power GA3 or rare earth micro-fertilizer 300 times solution at full bloom can effectively increase the fruit-setting rate; about 10 days after flowering, promptly pinch the new shoots to prevent the new shoots from competing with young fruit for nutrients, which has a significant effect on increasing the fruit-setting rate.

② Thinning flower buds When thinning flower buds, the principles should be to thin late flowers and weak flowers, and to thin flowers on vegetative branches.

③ Thinning fruit Fruit thinning should be carried out after the physiological fruit drop, and the degree of thinning depends on the fruit-setting situation of the whole plant. Generally, a flower-bud-shaped short fruit spur retains 3-4 fruits, with a maximum of 4-5 fruits. When thinning fruit, attention should be paid to thinning small fruit and weak fruit, and keeping fruit that is horizontal or facing upward.

④ Promoting fruit enlargement and coloring Before calyx drop after flowering, foliar spraying of amino acid compound micro-fertilizer, such as Hongguo 88, Fengshou Wang multi-element compound micro-fertilizer, etc., can significantly improve leaf quality and chlorophyll content, increase leaf thickness, improve photosynthetic efficiency, and promote fruit enlargement and coloring; during the fruit coloring period, remove leaves that block sunlight from the fruit, with special attention to removing leaves on fruit-bearing shoots that block light, but note that the photosynthetic products of leaves on fruit-bearing shoots affect flower bud formation in the 2nd year, so too many leaves should not be removed; in order to improve fruit coloring, 10-15 days before fruit harvest, reflective film can be laid under the canopy to increase light reflection under the canopy and promote fruit coloring.

5. Training and pruning

In protected cultivation, light conditions are relatively poor, so a delayed open-center shape or spindle shape with better light should be adopted; complete the whole year's pruning tasks in summer; before covering the shed, bend and tie branches to adjust branch angles; continuously pinch new shoots during their continuous growth period to control excessive vigor.

6. Pest and disease control

In protected cultivation, because the plants grow under specific environmental conditions, pests and diseases are generally relatively mild. The main targets for control include blossom blight, brown rot, etc., and there are generally fewer pests inside the shed. In pest and disease control, orchard management in summer and autumn should be done well to eliminate all kinds of overwintering pests.