Can large cherries be grown in the south? Sapling prices, years to fruit, and pruning and training

Large cherry, also known as Yingqing fruit, cherry pearl, and cherimoya, is the earliest fruit tree species to ripen after the Chinese cherry among deciduous fruit trees in northern China.So can large cherries be grown in the south? How much does a sapling cost? How many years until it fruits? What are the pruning and training techniques?According to a nursery base in Shandong, 1-5 cm large cherry saplings are priced at 2-8 yuan each.

Can large cherries be grown in the south?

Cherries generally require 900~1400 hours of low temperatures below 7.2°C to complete winter dormancy, which limits large-scale cultivation in southern China. Therefore, in the southern provinces and regions of China, Chinese cherries are still the main variety grown. At the same time, there are very few excellent varieties of Chinese cherry, and the cultivated varieties generally show many shortcomings such as small fruit, sour taste, pre-harvest fruit cracking, and fruit drop.

So cherries can indeed be grown in the south, but Chinese cherries are the main type cultivated there.

How many years does it take for large cherries to fruit after planting?

1. Large cherries generally take three years from planting to first fruiting. If grafting is used, this cycle is greatly shortened, depending specifically on the choice of rootstock.

2. A large cherry tree can produce two to three hundred kilograms of fruit, and the tree can live for more than two hundred years... If the weather turns warm, with a few spring rains and a few days of spring sunshine, the fruit turns red in the blink of an eye.

What are the pruning and training techniques for large cherries?

I. Young tree stage of large cherries

1. The main goal is to establish a strong tree framework. On the basis of training, the pruning of all types of branches should be light. Apart from properly thinning out some overly dense and crossing tangled branches, retain as many medium and small branches as possible, and lightly heading back 1-year-old branches to promote more branching, which favors the growth of scaffold branches.

2. When young trees are 3~4 years old, the degree of heading back of the extension shoots of the main branches should be determined according to the growth vigor and position of the branches. Extension shoots should generally be cut back to leave ~40~50 cm; extension shoots generally should retain an outer bud. For varieties with strongly upright branches, an inner bud may also be retained, and during winter pruning the following year the inner bud is removed, using the outer bud as the extension shoot. This can open the crotch angle and suppress excessively vigorous growth.

3. Small branches on branches of all levels within the canopy are basically left untouched. Let them form fruit branches as early as possible, so as to favor early fruiting and early high yield.

II. Tree shape development

Large cherry cultivation uses a spindle-shaped tree form, which favors early high and stable yields.

1. This tree form requires planting strong large saplings over 1.5 m tall, with the trunk heading height at 80~90 cm. No main branches are trained in the current year. During winter pruning, the shoots sprouting from the trunk are severely heading back. Main branch training begins in the second year. This can increase the grade difference between the central leader and the main branches, which favors the development of subordinate relationships.

2. This tree form generally requires a trunk height of 60~70 cm and a tree height of 3.5~4.0 m. On the central leader, 12~15 main branches are trained at intervals of 20~25 cm in a well-distributed arrangement, with main branch angles between 70~80 degrees. No lateral branches are trained; large, medium, and small branch groups are trained on the main branches.

III. Summer pruning

During the training process, summer pruning should be combined with it. Main branches should be opened to an angle of about 70 degrees. When extension shoots reach about 50 cm, pinch them, removing about 10 cm of the tip. In winter, when heading back the extension shoots, cut back to leave about 40~50 cm, so as to keep the branch axis compact. Prevent the occurrence of bare areas at the rear.

1. Summer pruning mainly aims to moderate tree vigor and promote flower bud formation. The main measures include:

① Branch bending: Before the summer solstice or in August~September, bend and open the angle of main branches to avoid canopy closure and death of lower branches. Branch bending can increase the sprouting rate, increase the number of short branches, promote flower formation and early fruiting, and also improve ventilation and light conditions within the canopy, improve branch quality, prevent internal bareness, moderate the outward shift of fruiting positions, increase the effective fruiting volume, and improve yield and quality. Bending vigorous branches can moderate branch growth and balance tree vigor. The opening angle of auxiliary branches should be about 80~90 degrees.

② Notching: Before sprouting, make a horizontal cut above the bud or leaf cluster shoot down to the xylem to promote new shoot growth. Notching can improve the sprouting quality of lateral buds or leaf cluster shoots, increase the proportion of medium and long branches and the total branch count, and is beneficial for training and filling gaps in the canopy.

③ Pinching: For vigorous branches in the tree, continuous pinching can be carried out. For long and medium shoots sprouted from notching, when they grow to 15~20 cm, pinch them to train small and medium branch groups, so as to increase effective fruiting positions and promote early fruiting and increased yield. Pinching vigorous branches can promote branching, increase the number of short branches, moderate the vigor of the whole tree, and achieve the goal of earlier fruiting. For vigorously growing branches, pinching can be done 2~3 times within a year. If the aim is to increase the fruit-setting rate, the pinching time must be limited to within 10~15 days after flowering. This significantly reduces nutrient consumption, reduces physiological fruit drop, and results in larger fruit that matures earlier. The secondary shoots sprouted after pinching have a high flower formation rate.

④ Girdling: Girdling is an effective measure to control vegetative growth and promote early fruiting. The timing of girdling for large cherries is very specific, generally from the flowering period to 10 days after late flowers, and it is done on the trunk or large branches. The width of the girdling cut can be slightly larger than the standard for apples, because the bark regrown from the parenchyma cells of its xylem heals faster than that of apples.

⑤ Summer branch thinning: Removing overly dense, overly vigorous, bare, or canopy-disrupting perennial large branches is extremely beneficial for adjusting tree structure, improving light, balancing tree vigor, and promoting flower bud differentiation. When branches are thinned in early June, wounds heal easily. Vigorous large branches that seriously affect ventilation and light within the canopy and have no retention value can be removed from the base.

IV. Winter pruning

Winter pruning refers to pruning carried out after the tree enters winter dormancy. The vessels in large cherry branches are relatively thick and the tissue is soft, so cut wounds easily lose water and form dry stubs, endangering the bud at the cut, or shrink downward for a segment and affect branch vigor; sometimes gummosis appears at the cut. Therefore, winter pruning of large cherries is generally carried out after sap flow begins the following spring and before bud break.

The main methods of winter pruning include: heading back, leaving unpruned, renewal pruning, and branch thinning.

1. Heading back: Cutting off part of a 1-year-old branch is called heading back. Heading back can increase branching, enhance local growth vigor, and promote vegetative growth. According to the degree of cutting, it can be divided into light heading, medium heading, heavy heading, and very heavy heading.

① Light heading: Cutting off 1/4~1/3 of a 1-year-old branch. For 1-year-old branches with a wide branching angle, light heading can reduce branching ability, increase the number of short branches, and the sprouted branches easily transform into fruit branches.

② Medium heading: Heading back at a plump bud in the middle of a 1-year-old branch, cutting off about 1/2~1/3 of the original branch length. Because the bud at the cut is of good quality, 3~5 medium and long branches can sprout after heading. For the central leader and the extension shoots of main and lateral branches, medium heading is often used in the young tree stage to expand the canopy. For varieties with weak branching ability, medium heading can be used more to increase the amount of branching. For weakened trees, medium heading can also be used for renewal and rejuvenation to restore tree vigor.

③ Heavy heading: Heading back at a sub-plump bud in the middle or lower part of a 1-year-old branch.

④ Very heavy heading: Heading back at a weak bud at the base of the branch. When intending to use back branches to train small fruiting branch groups, first carry out very heavy heading in the current year, then thin out strong upright branches, and leave medium and short moderate branches unpruned to form small fruiting branch groups.

2. Leaving unpruned: Not pruning a 1-year-old branch or only tipping it, letting it grow naturally, is called leaving unpruned. Leaving unpruned helps moderate tree vigor and branch vigor; it reduces the number of long branches and favors the formation of bouquet-like short fruit branches. It is a pruning method commonly used for young trees and trees in the early fruiting stage.

① When leaving branches unpruned, the principle for young trees is “leave horizontal branches unpruned, not vertical ones; leave weak ones unpruned, not vigorous ones”, and for trees in full fruiting stage, “leave strong ones unpruned, not weak ones; leave outer ones unpruned, not inner ones”.

② When an unpruned branch has 3~5 whorled plump large leaf buds at the tip, the terminal bud should be removed.

③ Unpruned branches should be treated according to the branch. For trees in the young stage, most moderate branches and branches with relatively wide angles have better results when left unpruned. Upright vigorous branches and competitive branches must be bent to horizontal or drooping before being left unpruned. If they are left unpruned directly without treatment, such branches thicken very quickly and easily form “tyrant branches” or “back trees”, disrupting the tree shape and the subordinate relationships of various branches, causing short branches in the lower part of the tree to decline and die, and shifting the fruiting position outward.

④ The extension shoots of each main branch should not be left unpruned during the canopy expansion period; otherwise, ideal scaffold branches cannot sprout at the positions where branches should grow.

3. Renewal pruning: Cutting or sawing off part of a perennial branch is called renewal pruning. Through renewal pruning, the remaining branches are rejuvenated, and the growth vigor of the branches below the renewal cut is promoted.

① Renewal pruning of fruit-bearing branch groups that have fruited for many consecutive years can enhance the growth vigor of the fruit-bearing branch group and improve the fruit-setting rate and fruit quality.

② To prevent the canopy from expanding further, renewal pruning is performed on extension shoots, replacing strong ones with weak ones.

③ The heavier the renewal pruning, the better the quality of retained branches, the stronger the original branch vigor, and the more obvious the rejuvenation effect. For a specific perennial branch, the promoting effect after renewal pruning is often limited to near the cut; the farther from the cut, the less obvious the promoting effect.

4. Winter branch thinning: Removing a 1-year-old or perennial branch from the base is called branch thinning. Branch thinning can improve wind and light conditions within the canopy, reduce ineffective consumption of nutrients, and promote flower bud formation.

① Branch thinning mainly removes competitive branches of each main branch, excessive 1-year-old branches on the outer canopy, overly vigorous branches, whorled branches, overly dense auxiliary branches, useless water sprouts, back branches, slender weak branches, and diseased and insect-damaged branches.

② Large cherry trees should not have too many large branches thinned, so as to avoid too many or too large wounds that cause gummosis or wound cracking, or even death of large branches or main branches.