Harvesting cherries from a tree you grew yourself would make any gardener proud. If you face the challenge of growing a cherry tree yourself, you need patience until the first harvest.
Vegetative and generative propagation
It is possible to grow a cherry tree from a pit. However, the risk that with this type of propagation (generative or sexual) the cherry tree will not have the desired characteristics is too great. After all, each seed is the product of two parent cherry trees that have different genetic makeup. As with human children, it is not possible to predict which genes will prevail after chromosome division and rearrangement.
In order to avoid this uncertainty, the fruit trees are propagated vegetatively by grafting. To do this, what is known as scion (the scion equipped with the desired characteristics) is grafted onto a Wildling (the so-called rootstock). The rootstock determines whether the cherry tree grows fast or slow, upright or bushy. The scion is responsible for the fruit quality, fungus resistance, frost sensitivity and yield.
Cut and graft Edelreise
The Edelreise are cut from healthy, fruitful trees between December and January. Only one-year long shoots are suitable for finishing. These have a lighter bark than the older wood and no branches, but bear buds. Cut the scion at the base with a sharp knife. Ideally, these are pencil-thick and about 30-40 cm long.
Next, the base is prepared. To do this, the cherry tree to be grafted is cut back so far before it sprout that only one visitor remains standing next to the crown stump. The Edelreise are put behind the bark of the base and firmly connected to it. There is a difference
- bark plug (incision in the bark),
- Goat's foot plugs (indenting of the wood behind the bark).
The finishing point is connected with bast and spread with tree wax (€12.96). In the years that follow, the crown is built up through the appropriate pruning. The first harvest can be expected in 4-5 years.
tips and tricks
The noble rice obtained in winter is kept cool, moist and dark until spring, e.g. B. in a box filled with damp sand in the basement.