Step-by-step instructions: how to grow felt cherries from seeds at home

Felt cherry belongs to the genus Plum. Outwardly, it is very similar to an ordinary cherry, but it belongs to a different species and is crossed with peaches, apricots, plums and cherry plums. The shrub got its name due to the fact that its branches, leaves, pedicels and even fruits are covered with pubescence, reminiscent of felt.

The plant is propagated vegetatively or generatively. The last option is the most popular, because it does not require special skills from the gardener and allows you to get an abundantly flowering and fruit-bearing shrub. Read the article on how to grow felt cherries from pits at home.

Is it possible to grow felt cherries from seeds?

The plant, obtained from seed planting material, looks decorative during flowering and produces a large number of fruits.

If the gardener's goal is to obtain a varietal seedling, a vegetative growing method is used (cuttings or propagation by layering). After all, the seed usually turns into wild meat. Such plants have smaller fruits that differ in taste from the harvest from the mother plant.

Despite this, the generative method of reproduction does not lose popularity, which is due to its advantages:

1. This is the easiest way. It does not require special buildings and devices to create the necessary conditions (unlike cuttings). Young plants are easy to care for.
2. Ease of obtaining planting material.It’s easy to get cherry pits even from a neighbor’s plot by picking a few ripe fruits from the tree.
3. High germination rate. Most of the felt cherry seeds can germinate even without preliminary preparation in open ground, but in this case it takes up to 3 years for the first shoots to appear. At home, seeds germinate much faster.
4. High-quality seedlings. Plants grown from seeds are hardy and have higher immunity than shrubs grown vegetatively.
5. Longer lifespan than with cuttings. The lifespan of felt cherry is believed to be 10 years. However, experienced gardeners say that this period for felt cherries grown from stone can be extended with the help of rejuvenating pruning.

This method of reproduction also has disadvantages. The most important of them is that cherries grown from stones rarely retain varietal characteristics. Usually it turns out wild. Another disadvantage of this method of breeding felt cherries is later fruiting.

Wild felt cherry will bloom and bear fruit. The main thing is that there are plants on the site with which it will pollinate (plum, apricot, peach, cherry plum). Other types of cherries are not suitable for this.

This is interesting! In China (the homeland of felt cherries), most gardeners prefer to grow the crop from seeds, since it is the easiest way to grow it this way.

The plant begins to bear fruit 3-5 years after landings. The timing of fruiting depends on the correct formation.

Seed selection

It is important to propagate felt cherries from high-quality planting material.To collect it, choose a healthy tree without dried branches, signs of disease or pest damage.

Preference is given to plants with the highest yield and large fruits. The best seedlings grow from their seeds.

To obtain planting material, fruits must be fully ripe, uniform in color, free from signs of pests and diseases, and of correct shape.

The seeds are cleared of pulp, washed under running water and inspected for damage and signs of infection. All specimens with spots, uneven color and irregular shape are discarded.

Advice! Harvest 2 times more seeds than the desired number of seedlings. After all, not all seeds germinate, and of the sprouts that hatch, only the strongest ones will have to be left.

Clean planting material is dried. Then they are placed in fabric and paper bags in which they are stored until planting.

Preparation of planting material

In order for the seeds to germinate quickly, it is important to properly prepare them for planting. For this:

1. Cherry pits are soaked in a light pink solution of potassium permanganate for 6 hours. Then the liquid is drained, and the planting material is filled with water at room temperature. Soaking lasts for 4 days. Every day the water is drained and replaced with clean water.
2. Place a damp cloth at the bottom of the container with a lid, and add a layer of sand or moss on top. The substrate is watered. Cherry pits are laid out on it and covered with a mixture of moss and sand.
3. Cover the container with a lid and put it in the refrigerator. In such conditions, planting material is kept until planting.

This preparation accelerates seed germination. Hardened seeds will produce plants with increased frost resistance.

Planting cherry pits at home

It is recommended to plant seeds in December or February. Then they will germinate in the spring. Before planting, planting material is kept in the refrigerator.

Note! Gardeners often plant prepared seeds directly into open ground in spring or autumn. In this case, a much smaller amount of planting material germinates than when grown at home. Some of them die during the growth process. But the grown seedlings are highly resistant to negative environmental factors.

Selection and preparation of containers and soil

In order for seedlings to grow in comfortable conditions and not get sick, it is important to properly prepare the soil and planting containers. This stage has some nuances.

It is recommended to plant the seeds in individual containers, since in a common box the distance between them should be at least 20 cm. These can be either flower pots or improvised materials (plastic cups, dishes from semi-finished products, etc.). Be sure to have drainage holes in the bottom of the pots.

The containers are disinfected: soaked in a dark pink solution of potassium permanganate or sterilized with boiling water.

Use universal soil or prepare your own soil mixture. To prepare the soil, mix:

• garden soil (in which an adult tree will grow) - 2 parts;
• mullein – 1 part;
• humus - 7 parts.

Take 10 g of potassium sulfate and ammonium nitrate, 12 g of superphosphate and 12 g of lime per bucket of soil mixture. All ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Drainage is used: shell rock, expanded clay, small crushed stone, etc.

Both the soil and drainage are disinfected: calcined in the oven or watered with a dark pink solution of potassium permanganate.

Note! Instead of a nutritious soil mixture, a mixture of garden soil and perlite is often used to grow cherry seedlings. The ingredients are taken in equal proportions.

Landing instructions

Planting cherry pits in the ground is easy. The main thing is to follow the step-by-step instructions:

1. 5 cm of drainage is poured onto the bottom of the container. The rest of the volume is filled with soil mixture.
2. The seeds are planted in a container to a depth of 2-3 cm and covered with soil.
3. The soil is moistened.
4. The pot with the crops is covered with film and placed on the windowsill.

The pot with the crops is ventilated daily for 15 minutes. The soil is moistened as it dries. After the shoots appear, the ventilation time is increased, then the greenhouse is completely dismantled.

Note! The first shoots appear a month after planting the cherry pits.

Caring for a seedling at home

It is important to grow cherry seedlings, following the rules of care. They are presented in the list:

1. Watering. The soil is moistened as the top layer dries. Use water at room temperature.
2. Loosening. After each watering, the soil is loosened to destroy the earthen crust. This is convenient to do with a fork.
3. Feeding. When the first true leaf forms, the first fertilizing is applied. Use potassium-phosphorus fertilizer. The second time the cherries are fed a month later.
4. Spray once a week with water at room temperature.

Cherries do well at room temperature. It is advisable that the room be humid.

If the plant was not planted in open ground in the fall, use a humidifier in winter to create optimal conditions. It is advisable to move the tree to a cool room.

Two weeks before transplanting to a permanent location, it is recommended to take the tree outside, gradually increasing the time it stays there. This will help the plant quickly adapt to new conditions.

Transplanting a plant into the ground

The seedlings are transplanted into the ground when their height reaches 60 cm. With proper care, this happens by autumn. This is done in September so that the plant has time to take root.

Note! Some gardeners grow felt cherries at home in the form of bonsai. Even in this form it is capable of bearing fruit.

Soil preparation

Felt cherry loves fertile, loose soils with neutral acidity. For the plant, select well-lit, wind-protected areas of the garden.

Advice! Felt cherry is especially often planted near fences, as a hedge, near the facades of houses. This plant strengthens buildings.

3-4 weeks before planting the seedlings, prepare the area: dig it up, clear it of weeds, and water it with a hot solution of copper sulfate.

Prepare holes with a diameter and depth of 40 cm. When planting several seedlings, the holes are placed in a checkerboard pattern at a distance of 2-3 m from each other. It is not recommended to thicken plantings, as this increases the likelihood of felt cherry becoming infected with diseases and pests in the future.

The soil removed from the hole is mixed with 5 kg of rotted manure, 20 g of potassium sulfate, 35 g of superphosphate. All ingredients are thoroughly mixed.

A bucket of light pink solution of potassium permanganate is poured into the prepared hole.. When the liquid is absorbed, a layer of drainage at least 5 cm thick is poured onto the bottom of the hole. Crushed brick, expanded clay, and crushed stone are used as drainage.

The next step is to pour a 15 cm layer of earth into the hole. A seedling is placed in the recess along with a lump of earth taken out of the pot. The free space is filled with nutritious soil mixture, which is compacted.

The seedlings are watered with warm, settled water, using 1-2 buckets per plant. If the soil settles, add more soil.

The soil around the cherry is mulched with humus, peat, hay or straw.

There is no need to water the plant in autumn. If the autumn was rainless, the seedlings are watered before wintering.

It is better to prepare young seedlings for the winter. To do this, fallen leaves and other plant debris are removed around the tree. Lay the highest possible layer of mulch. In winter, it is recommended to cover the bush with snow.

Possible mistakes gardeners make

When growing felt cherries, gardeners often make mistakes. The most common of them are presented in the list:

1. Ignoring disinfection of planting material and soil when growing seedlings from seed. It is contaminated soil and seeds that often become the cause of plant infection with fungal diseases.
2. Excessive watering of seedlings. Liquid stagnation is the main cause of infection of young plants with blackleg.
3. Using crushed concrete as drainage. This material changes the composition of the soil, making it unsuitable for growing cherries.
4. Adding red peat to the soil mixture for sowing cherry pits. Brown high peat significantly increases the acidity of the soil, so preference is given to lowland black peat.

It is not necessary to transfer cherry seedlings to open ground in the fall of the same year in which they began to be grown. If the plants have not reached the desired size, transplantation to a permanent place is postponed until next spring or autumn.

This is interesting:

The best varieties of cherries for central Russia

The most productive and delicious varieties of cherries

Hybrid of cherries and sweet cherries Miracle Cherry

Conclusion

Growing cherry seedlings from stones is the most popular way to propagate this crop. The result will be no worse than with vegetative propagation. After all, even from a wild tree you can collect more than 10 kg of fruit per season. There is a chance that the plant will retain its varietal characteristics.

The growing process itself does not require any special skills from the gardener. All care for sprouts comes down to watering, loosening, spraying and fertilizing. The seedling is equally easy to grow both at home and in open ground. The main thing is to follow the step-by-step instructions, follow the basic rules for sowing seeds and transplanting a grown seedling to a permanent place.