Franz Josef Cherry: variety description and characteristics, cultivation

Cherry is one of the favorite fruit crops grown in Russia. Many old varieties have not lost their relevance, and they are still planted. Consider the description of Franz Joseph cherries, the pros and cons, the subtleties of planting and growing. How to care for a tree, feed and water, prune, protect against diseases and pests, collect and store fruits.

History of selection

The variety was bred at the end of the 19th century, presumably in the Czech Republic. The author is considered to be the pomologist Joseph-Eduard Prohe, who gave the cherry the name after the Austrian emperor Franz Joseph.In the USSR, the variety was included in the Register in 1947 and began to be grown on an industrial scale. Basically, sweet cherries are grown in the southern regions, in Ukraine and Belarus.

Description and characteristics of the tree

The tree grows medium tall, with a wide oval crown. The berries are also broadly oval or round, the color is yellow with a red blush almost over the entire surface. Fruit weight - 5-6.5 g. The pulp is pink-yellow, dense, "crispy", sweet, with an unexpressed sourness, the juice is transparent.

Franz Josef cherries ripen at the end of June. It keeps well, is an excellent raw material for blanks. Due to the density and strength, the fruits tolerate transportation without problems, do not crumple and do not flow. The fruiting of sweet cherries of this variety begins at the age of 6 years. 35 kg of berries can be harvested from a 10-year-old tree, 40 kg from a 15-year-old tree.

Pros and cons of the variety

The virtues of Franz Josef cherries:

• disease resistance;
• taste, juiciness and density of berries;
• beautiful fruit color;
• transportability and keeping quality;
• stability of fruiting;
• yield.

Disadvantages of the variety: average winter hardiness, needs pollinators.

The nuances of growing Franz Josef cherries

The technology of growing sweet cherries of this variety is simple. Agrotechnics begins with planting a seedling and caring for it. You need to take care of a tree throughout its life, while it bears fruit. Without care, there will be no good harvest, in any case, the tree will not show its full potential.

Selection of quality seedlings for planting

For planting, you need to choose a 1- or 2-year-old seedling. At this age, cherries take root quickly and do not get sick after transplantation. A 2-year-old seedling should have 2-3 branches, strong roots, with fresh tips. The bark of the tree should not show signs of disease or damage done by pests, it should be smooth and shiny.

Preparatory work and selection of a suitable location

It is better to plant Franz Josef cherries in a garden area open to sunlight. Can be planted near fences or buildings, but at a distance of at least 2 m from them.

The soil is preferably loamy or sandy, fertile and light, areas where water accumulates are excluded.

Preparatory work consists in digging a planting hole and preparing a seedling. The depth of the pit is up to 0.7 m, the width is not less than 0.5 m. It is recommended to soak the roots of a sweet cherry seedling for a day in a solution of any root formation stimulator.

Step by step planting chart

How to properly plant a seedling:

1. Lay a drainage layer on the bottom, pour 1 bucket of humus on top, 1 kg of ash, and mix with the same amount of earth.
2. In the center of the pit, lower the roots of the seedling, straighten it.
3. Fill voids with earth and compact it.
4. Pour water; when it goes into the ground, sprinkle the soil with straw or hay mulch, you can use agrofibre.
5. Place a peg next to the seedling and tie the trunk to it.

Boarding process completed.

How to care for a plant

Franz Josef cherry care is watering and fertilizing, pruning and preparing for winter. Let's take a closer look at these steps.

Watering, loosening

The first 2 months the plant is watered every week, when it takes root - 1-2 times a month. At least 1 bucket of water is poured under each tree. Adult cherries should be watered before flowering, after fruit set and before they begin to pour. After each watering, the soil must be loosened to a depth of 5 cm.

Feeding

Watering can be combined with top dressing. Mineral fertilizers are applied under the cherry, in the fall you can add organic matter, which will rot over the winter and become a source of nutrition for the plant.

Cutting

Pruning is carried out in spring and autumn, old branches are cut out of the crown, broken, dry and frostbitten, diseased or damaged by pests. Branches and leaves harvested in autumn are burned to prevent diseases from spreading through the garden.

Wintering

Before the onset of cold weather, in October or November, the surface of the soil near the trunk of the sweet cherry is covered with straw, hay, leaves with a thick layer. In regions with frosty winters, the trunk and lower parts of the skeletal branches should be covered with agrofiber.

Diseases and pests

Variety Franz Josef can be affected by gray rot during the fruiting period if the weather is wet. The disease can significantly reduce the yield. Sweet cherries can get clasterosporiosis, coccomycosis and moniliosis, but also under adverse conditions.

In wet and cool summers, you need to spray the tree with fungicidal preparations before signs of disease appear. The variety is resistant to pests.

Harvest and storage of crops

Slightly unripe fruits are harvested for transportation and storage. Collection time - dry sunny weather, after rain it is impossible to collect.

Fruits are plucked with petioles, this can extend the shelf life. Fold the berries in flat baskets or boxes. You need to store Franz Joseph cherries in the cold: a cellar or a refrigerator. In a cold room, it does not deteriorate for 2 weeks.

Franz Josef cherries can be planted in the southern regions, for the northern ones it does not have the required level of cold resistance. The variety has become popular among the people because of the fruits of beautiful shape and color, excellent taste, “crispy” pulp, and especially because of the good preservation of berries during transportation and storage. The latter characteristic is a kind of standard against which the transportability and keeping quality of fruits of other crop varieties are compared.

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