Secrets of successful cherry vaccination: instructions for carrying out in different ways and on different rootstocks

Many people know that grafting a fruit tree is the easiest way to propagate varieties, increase yields and improve the quality characteristics of fruits. In addition, this procedure allows you to solve the common problem of lack of space on the site. Indeed, on one trunk you can place several different varieties or even types of trees. Beginners often ask themselves: are there any contraindications for vaccinating cherries. In fact, cherry grafts are very easy. Everyone can perform this operation after reading this article.

Why plant a cherry

Vaccination is an agrotechnical method of vegetative propagation of fruit trees. It consists in transferring part of one plant to another plant, with the aim of their growth and the formation of a single organism with new characteristics. The first is called the scion - it includes the part of the tree that is above the ground and will bear fruit in the future. Its properties determine the quality of the fruit and yield. The underground part, i.e., the root system and the base of the stump, is called a stock. The further functioning of the plant depends on its resistance.

The practical value of vaccination is that it makes it possible to solve a number of problems:

1. Preservation of varietal qualities. Seed propagation of most varieties of cherries does not allow a young plant to inherit all the characteristics of the mother.
2. Acceleration of the period of formation of the first crop. The grafted trees begin to bear fruit already 2-3 years after grafting. Whereas plants grown from stone need 5-8 years.
3. Garden rejuvenation. Old trees that have lost their former productivity are pruned and planted with fresh cuttings.
4. Increased resistance to diseases and adverse environmental factors. Vaccination allows you to combine garden varieties whimsical to weather conditions with their wild unpretentious relatives, thereby increasing plant endurance.
5. The combination of properties of various varieties in a single sample.
6. Save space in the garden. On one stem, shoots of various sorts of cherries can grow.

Vaccination can save a broken tree if its roots are alive.

Video: why do you need to plant fruit trees

When to plant cherries: timing of vaccination

There are two time points for a successful vaccination:

• in spring - early March - the first decade of April;
• in summer - the second half of July - mid-August.

The exact time depends on the climate of the region and the chosen method of operation.

However, the experience of gardeners shows that the best period is still early spring - at the very beginning of active sap flow. At this time, the probability of successful intergrowth is very high.

In summer, vaccination is carried out when the active growth of branches stops. They do this with green cuttings, but the effectiveness is significantly reduced, since the fiberiness of the wood is increased and the contact of the cambial layers of the plant ceases.

Vaccination is sometimes carried out in late autumn. Under the condition of prolonged thaws, a partial merging of stock and scion occurs, but it finally ends in early spring.

In winter, the tree is at rest and slows down metabolic processes, so it is not recommended to plant it.

How to plant cherries: basic recommendations and methods of vaccination

In order for the surgical intervention to be effective, you need to take into account the main vaccination rules:

1. The operation is carried out with a special tool - a vaccination knife. It is important that it be sharpened to a razor condition. Otherwise, irregularities may remain on the sections, affecting the density of contact of the scion and stock.
   

   Vaccination knives are of two types: copulation (a) and budding (b)

2. To prevent the introduction of fungus, all devices must be disinfected.
3. All actions must be performed as expeditiously as possible. Juice appears on the sections, which rapidly oxidizes in air, which negatively affects the coalescence.
4. If the stock is located in the open sun, after the procedure, the vaccination site must be shaded. This will reduce the risk of burnout of the surviving scion.

There are many ways to vaccinate fruit trees, but cherries take root better if you tint it with one of the following three methods: vaccination with a kidney, a graft by the bark, and grafting in a split.

Vaccination with a shank for cherry bark

Vaccination for the bark is carried out at the initial stages of sap flow, when the bark easily lags behind the wood. Often used when the diameters of the stock and scion are significantly different. Vaccination in this way is carried out as follows:

1. 2 to 4 cuttings are prepared depending on the thickness of the stock. A cross section is made on the basis of the workpiece.
2. The stock is cut with a hacksaw and is trimmed with a knife.
3. On the cortex, longitudinal sections of no more than 5 cm are made.
   

   Cuts on the bark are made with a very sharp knife, without damaging the wood

4. The bark flaps open, the scion is inserted so that its slice fits snugly against the stock wood.
   

   If the diameter of the stock allows, up to 4 cuttings can be planted behind the bark

5. The vaccine is wrapped and covered with var.

How to plant a cherry with a kidney

This method is called by professionals. It is carried out on a young branch of any size by transferring the axillary bud of cherry to the stock. Vaccination is carried out as follows:

1. The kidneys are harvested immediately before transplantation: the eyes are cut from the stalk along with a piece of bark (scab) 1.5-2 cm long
   

   The kidney is cut with a sharp knife

2. On the rootstock bark, a T-shaped incision is made.
3. The incision neatly extends, a kidney is inserted into it and pressed by a pocket of the cortex so that only the peephole remains from the outside.
   

   Placement of the kidney over the cortex

4. The transplant site is wrapped with electrical tape so that the kidney is in the air.

This method of vaccination is considered the safest for the tree. Even if the kidney does not take root, the incision of the cortex will be delayed quite quickly.

Split vaccine

Many people call the splint vaccination anti-aging - a young stalk is attached to the end of a completely eliminated branch or trunk. Apply this method when the thickness of the stock is several times the thickness of the handle.

Vaccination in the cleft gives the best survival rate: out of ten operations, nine are successful.

It is advisable to carry out the procedure before the start of the plant's vegetation, i.e., in early spring. To instill cherries in this way it is necessary:

1. Harvest a stalk having 3-4 kidneys. Cut its base with a knife into a double wedge.
2. Rootstock to the required height and clean.
3. With a sharp knife or hatchet, split the rootstock in the center by no more than 10 cm.
   

   To prevent the cut from closing, you can insert a small spacer

4. Insert the scion in the place of the split so that its bark coincides with the bark of the stock. If the thickness of the latter allows, then 2 cuttings can be brought into the split immediately.
   

   The shank is deepened so that its cambial layers coincide with the stock

5. Wrap the place of vaccination tightly with a rope or ribbon and process it with var.

How long does the vaccination take root

Whether the vaccine was successful can be seen in one and a half to two weeks. A sign of survival will be the growth of kidneys on the scion. By the end of summer, shoots from 20 cm to 1 m long will grow from them.

It is not recommended to remove the electrical tape during the year, because at this time a callus influx will form at the vaccination site - a seal that resembles corn.

The effectiveness of the performed surgical operation can be judged by the first crop, which will appear in 2-3 years.

Root stock for cherries: main types

The first step in the process of tinting cherries is the selection and cultivation of stock. They can serve as a wild bird or a cultivated tree, the variety of which the gardener did not arrange, or even basal shoots. The main thing is that the stock should be:

• compatible with scion;
• adapted to the climatic conditions of the region;
• have a developed root system.

It is important to remember the seasonal characteristics of the stock and scion. It is not recommended to combine cuttings of late varieties with stocks of early and vice versa.

And a few more nuances to consider:

1. Cherries take root poorly on old wood. Transplantation into young trees or branches will be more effective.
2. The closer the relationship between cultures, the better the survival rate.

Dwarf Cherry

The grafting of cherries on a dwarf or dwarf rootstock is becoming increasingly popular. However, such a foundation has both advantages and a number of negative aspects.

Table: advantages and disadvantages of dwarf rootstocks

The height of cherries grown on a dwarf stock makes it easy to harvest

Popular types of weak clonal stocks:

• VSL-1 - bred by hybridization of steppe cherries with Lannesian cherries. Compatible with all varieties of cherries. Fruiting begins 2-3 years after planting. The productive period is 15-18 years. It tolerates dense, waterlogged soils and drought, resistant to root rot and bacterial cancer. Leaf diseases are not affected. Does not form root shoots. Frost resistance of the roots is average.
• VSL-2 - obtained as a result of crossing shrub cherries and serrated cherries. Suitable for almost all varieties of cherries. Winter and drought tolerant. Does not form root shoots. Resistant to root rot, coccomycosis and bacterial cancer. It has a well-developed root system.
• Colt - obtained from pollinating cherries unrealistically with cherries. Compatible with all varieties of cherries. Cherry trees grafted on Colt have 20-45% smaller crowns than silvery rootstocks. Trees early bear fruit and produce abundant, regular crops. Helps increase fruit size. Uterine bushes are pyramidal, medium in size. There are an average number of shoots in the bush; they usually do not have lateral branches. Easily propagated by lignified cuttings. Colt did not spread because of the very low frost resistance of the roots even in the southern zone and the strong susceptibility to root cancer.

You can buy dwarf rootstock seedlings in specialized stores or nurseries.

Felt cherry as a stock

Felt cherry is a quick-growing, drought-tolerant and high-yielding bush plant. For this reason, it is often used as a stock for cherry plum, peach, plum and apricot. The cultures grafted onto it reach small sizes and begin to bear fruit already for 3 years.

One of the advantages of felt cherry as a stock is the complete absence of basal shoots

Despite the close relationship, felt cherry is compatible only with some varieties of cultivated cherries.

It’s easy to grow stock from this tree. This is most often done with seeds, as follows:

1. Healthy looking fruits are selected. The bones are cleaned of pulp, washed well and dried in the shade. Stored in glass containers in a cool place.
2. In early autumn, the seeds are mixed with sand and stored in the refrigerator.
3. You can sow seeds in the ground before the onset of frost or in the spring. Seeds are buried in fertile soil to a depth of 2 cm and sprinkled with a mixture of peat, sawdust, humus.

Next summer, with due care, seedlings can reach a height of up to 1 m.

How to plant cherries on cherries

Inoculating cherries with cherries will not be difficult even for beginner gardeners. The intergrowth of individuals of one species is very high. If a cultural cherry is combined with a wild game as a stock, then the tree will receive endurance from it and will be adapted to the conditions of the local climate.

Combining several varieties on one stem is also an excellent option, however, it is important to choose varieties with the same flowering time.

Vaccination of cherries for bird cherry

The bird cherry common almost everywhere is often used as a stock for cherries, especially in the northern regions, because it gives the cherry frost resistance and resistance to many diseases. However, some varieties of cherries can be vaccinated only on a certain type of bird cherry - antipku.

Video: Antipka as a stock for cherry

Grafting Cherry on the Turn

Cherry is well compatible with prickly blackthorn (blackthorn). But such a tandem will give the gardener a lot of trouble in dealing with basal shoots.

Blackthorn or prickly plum adapts well to environmental conditions and transfers this quality to the graft

Is it possible to plant cherry on cherry plum

The combination of cherry with unpretentious cherry plum is possible. Such a stock gives frost resistance and endurance to cherry. However, the degree of survival between these cultures is much lower.

Video: turn cherry plum into cherry

Grafting cherry on plum

Plum is often used as a rootstock for cherries because these stone fruits are highly compatible. It is believed that semi-wild plum seedlings are best suited, because they have the ability to adapt to environmental conditions and resistance to many diseases.

Vaccination of cherries is also practiced on varietal trees.

The combination of felt cherry and plum as a stock allows you to get a tree up to 3 meters high and with attractive pink and white flowers, which looks very much like sakura.

Video: grafting cherry plums into a split

Is it possible to plant cherries on apples and pears

The many years of experience of experimental gardeners trying to combine cherries with an apple or a pear show that such a vaccination is doomed to failure. Transplantation of stone fruit into pome crops is not possible. The explanation lies in the "cousin" kinship of these fruit trees: apple and pear belong to the subfamily Yablonevye, and cherry to the subfamily Plum.

Do they plant cherries on mountain ash and sea buckthorn

The cherry scion does not take root on the mountain ash stock, even though these trees belong to the same botanical subfamily - Plum trees.

Sea buckthorn is not used as a scion for cherries.

So, grafting cherries is not a special magical rite. This is a fascinating creative process, which even a beginner is able to master. The main thing is not to despair if the vaccine has not taken root the first time. Persistence and patience will necessarily lead to a positive result.