Cherry Bull's Heart: description and characteristics of the variety, cultivation and care with a photo

The cherry variety, called the Bull's Heart, was bred by Soviet scientists for the Caucasian and southern regions of the USSR. Over time, fruit trees began to be cultivated in the regions of the Black Earth region and central Russia. The variety fell in love with domestic gardeners for its large size and pronounced taste of berries.

Description and characteristics of the variety

The height of an adult tree varies from three to five meters. Large, pointed at the end of the leaves, painted in dark green. The intensive growth of the seedling slows down by the fourth year. At this time, a pyramidal sparse crown with strong skeletal branches is fully formed, fruiting begins.

Gaps in the foliage are provided for ease of penetration of insects to the inflorescences, consisting of 2-4 saucer-shaped white flowers. The description of the variety includes a budding period, which in the Bull's heart begins closer to mid-May and ends in a week or a half.

The berries of a fruit tree are similar in color and shape to an ox's heart, so the second name of the culture is an ox's heart. The size of the fruit is 7-10 mm, the skin is dark wine-colored, the flesh is lighter. Taste - sweet, with spicy sourness, may vary depending on the number of sunny days per year, the correct care. Bone separation is difficult.

In harvest years, up to 50 kg of berries are harvested from one cherry tree of the Bull's Heart variety, used fresh and canned. Even after heat treatment, the fruits retain some of the vitamins C, PP, group B, macro and microelements.Berries ripen unfriendly, harvesting begins from the first days of summer and lasts until the end of June. If you are late with harvesting, they will not fall off immediately, but will gradually dry out on the stalk.

Pros and cons of cherries

The Bull's Heart cherry variety is recognized for its sweet and sour taste and outstanding size. The virtues of culture do not end there.

The following characteristics are attractive to gardeners:

• frost resistance during preparatory activities;
• short-term drought tolerance;
• yield;
• easy separability of berries from the stalk;
• high resistance to coccomycosis affecting other varieties of cherries and cherries.

The disadvantages include the short shelf life of fresh cherries, the impossibility of transportation over long distances. Cherry does not tolerate waterlogging of the soil and sudden changes in temperature, which is expressed in cracking of the peel.

To avoid crop losses, the berries are consumed fresh or cooked immediately after picking.

Features of growing a tree

For the formation of the ovary of fruits, pollinators are planted next to the sweet cherry - other varieties that bloom at the same time. For these purposes, the Tyutchevka, Ovstuzhenka, Iput cherries are suitable, located at a distance of no more than 4 m from the Bull's Heart variety trees.

For fruiting, the culture needs a sufficient amount of sunny color, a suitable place for planting is the south side of the local area or summer cottage. Exclude the neighborhood of tall trees that create a shadow.

Cherry does not like excess groundwater, heavy or sandy soils.

Date of planting

Grafted culture is best planted in the spring before sap flow. Favorable warm weather increases the chances of good survival and further growth of sweet cherries.If the deadlines are missed, prepare the ground for autumn planting. In order for the seedling to take root before the onset of frost, weather forecasts are monitored, an agrotechnical event is scheduled at least three weeks before a sharp cold snap.

Some growers prefer to plant in the fall as the trees are stronger and more resilient at this time of year. In any case, they loosen, fertilize the ground, prepare winter covering material.

Preparing the pit

In order for the soil to settle down, they dig a hole in the fall or three weeks before planting the Bull's Heart cherry. The diameter and depth are the same - 60 cm. If the seedling has a powerful root system, then the pit is increased in breadth. Usually 80 cm is enough. At the bottom, drainage is organized from improvised materials. Suitable stones, fragments of brick, slate. Next, a strong support for the seedling is driven into the ground. The excavated upper fertile layer of the earth is diluted with organic matter, mineral fertilizers, and poured back.If the soil is heavy, add sand. It is not necessary to compact the soil, it will settle on its own.

How to plant cherries Oxheart

Seedlings are purchased in large, trusted nurseries. Preliminarily inspect, discarding frail specimens with affected diseases or deformed branches.

If the root system of the sweet cherry has dried up during transportation, to revive it, the tree is placed in a basin of water for at least 8 hours. When planting, they maintain a distance between crops of 3.5-4 m. With a closer placement, the trees will begin to experience a lack of nutrients in a few years. The great remoteness of sweet cherry varieties from each other leads to insufficient pollination, lower yields.

The seedling is lowered into the prepared hole so that the root neck rises 5 cm above the ground. If this rule is neglected, then new shoots will come from the root, which is unacceptable when growing varietal cherries.

The root is covered with a mixture of earth, mineral fertilizers, sand and peat gradually, periodically compacting the soil so that voids do not form. After planting, the tree is tied up, a bucket of water is poured under it. To reduce evaporation, mulch with peat, grass. Better rooting, proper crown formation is facilitated by trimming lateral branches by ¼ length.

Subtleties of care

To obtain a consistently large harvest, the gardener must know the characteristics of the Bull's Heart cherry variety, the subtleties of agrotechnical work to care for the crop.

Irrigation

Young trees are watered more often - monthly in the amount of 20-30 liters, adults as needed, depending on the frequency of rains. On average - 3-5 times per season. The need for moisture increases in the summer in the heat. Excessive watering leads to cracking of the peel of the berries, rotting of the roots.

The day after the soil is moistened, loosening is carried out to a depth of 5-10 cm, opening up oxygen to the roots.

Young cherries of the Oxheart variety need three buckets of water, a tall culture needs up to 10 buckets depending on the size.

The most plentiful watering - in the fall before wintering. If the soil is moistened to a depth of up to a meter, the frost resistance of fruit trees will increase, the soil will freeze less.

Water preferably with warm settled water, and not cold from a hose.

Feeding

When top dressing, moderation is observed, since the bull's heart cherry variety is not picky about fertilizers, unlike moisture.

Organics are enough for the first 3 years after planting, if the pit was prepared according to the rules. Foliar mineral fertilizers are applied with a sprayer, starting from the second year, in the evening or in cloudy weather.

After making dry formulations or solutions in the basal way into the near-stem circle, water the cherries.

Time to use fertilizer - from spring to mid-summer.

Before bud break, Bordeaux liquid is used, before budding - urea (30 g per 10 l), ammonium nitrate (20 g per 1 sq. m.). Cherries older than four years require during flowering a bucket of infusion prepared from 1 kg of mullein, 1 tbsp. ash and 10 liters of water.

After harvesting, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are applied under the tree. Add 3 tbsp to a bucket of water. l. superphosphate or 2 tablespoons of potassium sulfate.

Crown formation

Pruning cherry branches Bull's heart for crown formation is recommended the first three years after planting. Later, pruning is needed twice a year in order to get rid of rotten, diseased shoots, the growth of new branches.

For stable fruiting, up to nine branches in the lower tier of the crown, three shoot-forming in the upper tier are enough.

The procedure for pruning skeletal branches is started in the spring after the end of frost, with the beginning of the movement of juices. During this period, the wounds heal faster, the crown is clearly visible. When the sweet cherry blossoms, remove the upper parts of the young shoots if their rapid growth interferes with the proper formation of the crown.

After picking the fruit, the second summer pruning is carried out. Get rid of extra branches, shorten regrown shoots by 10 cm.

Autumn sanitary pruning is carried out no later than September. Otherwise, before the onset of cold weather, the bull's heart will not have time to recover, and the wounds will heal.

In the first year, it is recommended to shorten the central trunk at a height of 50-70 cm, counting from the bottom of at least six buds. The stem is formed exclusively in the spring.

In the second year, branches of the lower tier of the crown are formed, the trunk is cut at the same time, leaving 3 buds for the growth of side branches.

In the third year, the upper tier is formed and the trunk is shortened. Excess growth is removed.

Preparing for wintering

Preparation for the cold weather cherries varieties Bull's heart start in the fall:

• feeding the tree with humus;
• to prevent freezing of the roots, water abundantly;
• the trunk circle is loosened to a depth of 10 cm;
• mulch the soil with peat, dry grass;
• white the stem.

In regions with a colder climate, young trees cover completely, and adult cherries partially.

The branches are compactly connected, a frame of a conical or cylindrical shape is constructed from the stakes in a circle. Covering material is pulled over the structure - burlap, agrofibre, plastic film. Ground is poured along the bottom of the frame. For undersized trees, ready-made decorative caps made of spunbond are suitable.

Diseases and their treatment

Diseases of sweet cherries varieties Bull's heart are divided into fungal, bacterial and non-infectious. Fungal include:

• clasterosporiosis, forming holes in leaves, buds, inflorescences;
• grey rot similar to leaf scorch;
• Verticillium, from which the bark of young trees bursts.

Measures against fungal infections on sweet cherries include digging the ground, removing diseased branches and bark sections, treating the tree with 1% copper sulphate until the buds swell. After the leaves appear, the trunk and crown are sprayed with Bordeaux mixture (100 g per 10 liters of water). The procedure is repeated after flowering and harvesting.

The bacterial disease of cherry cancer is characterized by the appearance of ulcers on the trunk, from which gum flows, drying of leaves, fruits.

Bacteriosis is not treated. Diseased trees are removed and burned.

Excess nitrogen in the soil, frost, improper use of growth stimulants are the causes of excess gum leakage. The bark in the areas of the trunk where a resin-like substance is observed is removed. A he althy layer of wood is treated with copper sulphate, garden pitch. Henceforth, the causes causing gommosis of cherries are excluded.

The proximity of groundwater, a large amount of limestone, manure and potash fertilizers in the ground cause chlorosis, which manifests itself in lightening the color of foliage. A solution of potassium permanganate helps (1 tablespoon per 10 liters of water), poured under the root.

Pest Protection

The bull's heart cherries are attacked by pests due to adverse weather conditions, non-compliance with the rules of care.

Main insect pests and how to deal with them:

• Hawthorn

The butterfly lays eggs, which after 2 weeks turn into caterpillars that feed on the leaves of the fruit tree. Spraying cherries with a solution of urea will help get rid of the pest.

• Maybeetle larvae

Beetles gnaw at the roots, causing growth inhibition and drying of the cherry. In Antikhrushch, it is recommended to soak seedlings before planting, and annually apply the solution to the near-stem circle.

• Cherry fly

Insect feeds on the pulp of berries, forming putrefactive processes. Get rid of insects by spraying insecticides - Karbofos, Holon.

• Bud weevil

All parts of the sweet cherry are used as food for the pest, starting from the roots, ending with the buds, flowers, bark of the trunk, branches. To combat the omnivorous insect, in early spring, a “trapping belt” is installed from paper with an adhesive layer fixed on the trunk.When the Oxheart cherries fade, the fixture is removed and disposed of.

To control insect pests, cherries are treated with fungicides from spring to autumn - Bordeaux mixture, iron sulfate.

The birds that live in the city and in holiday villages love to feast on juicy berries. The best way to save the crop is to use ultrasonic machines.

Gardeners protect themselves from rodents eating the bark of the Ox's Heart sweet cherry by spreading poison around the tree, tying the trunk with spruce branches.

Harvesting and storage of crops

Harvest as it ripens. Berries are harvested by hand with a stalk when harvesting for the winter and without it when consumed fresh. Another way to collect is to cut off a part of the stalk with a berry with garden shears, special devices on a telescopic handle.

The fruits of the Oxheart sweet cherry variety are not subject to long-term storage, they are easily damaged when pressed on the peel, so it is better to use scissors.

First of all, large juicy wine-colored berries are removed from the tree from the upper branches located on the south side.

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