What is the best time to plant cherry tree saplings?
When is the time to plant cherry trees? Cherries are bright and beautiful in appearance, red as agate, yellow as congealed fat, and the fruit is rich in sugar, protein, vitamins and calcium, iron, phosphorus, potassium and many other elements, and are thus generally loved by consumers. Below, the editor has compiled the best time to plant cherry saplings for everyone's reference.
The best time to plant cherry trees is autumn, because spring drought in northern regions makes the traditional spring planting more difficult in terms of water management. Moreover, if spring planting is too early, the temperature is unstable and the plants are prone to frost damage; if spring planting is too late, buds sprout quickly while roots grow slowly, which can cause seedling death. Autumn planting allows the plants to recover and sprout and grow in the same season, and to sprout early and send out branches in the following spring, making it easy to form strong saplings. After autumn planting, before the soil freezes, soil should be mounded up to protect against freezing.
Cherry planting should use the “small hole, deep planting, shallow burying method”. The traditional fruit tree cultivation method of digging a large hole is not suitable for cherries, because cherry roots are shallow and cannot tolerate waterlogging. If cultivated in a large hole, the soil in the hole is looser than the soil around the hole, which easily causes waterlogging in the rainy season, and in severe cases can lead to seedling death. The “small hole, deep planting, shallow burying method” means digging out three or four shovelfuls of soil, applying two shovelfuls of farmyard manure, turning over the soil at the edge of the hole and mixing it evenly with the farmyard manure in the hole, then placing the sapling (choose a thick, strong sapling with a well-developed root system), and covering it with a layer of shallow soil just enough to bury the original soil mark on the roots. Then press the soil down lightly so that the root crown is about 15 cm below the ground surface, forming a small tree hollow beneath the sapling. In this way, “deep planting” lowers the sapling's center of gravity and helps it resist lodging, while “shallow burying” helps root respiration so the sapling recovers quickly and grows well.
After cherry trees are planted in their final position, they should be watered frequently, but avoid heavy watering. Adjust to the weather: in drought, water often and lightly; in waterlogging, drain actively, keeping the soil surface around the roots alternating between dry and moist.