Harvesting cherries from a home-grown tree would make any gardener proud. If you take on the challenge of growing a cherry tree yourself, what you need above all is patience until the first harvest.
How do you grow a cherry tree yourself?
To grow a cherry tree yourself, you refine it by grafting a scion onto a rootstock. After preparing the base, the precious stones are placed there and firmly connected. The finishing point is connected with raffia (€4.00 on Amazon) and spread with tree wax.
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 kernel is the product of two parent cherry trees that have different genetic makeup. As with human children, it is impossible to predict which genes will prevail after chromosome division and rearrangement.
In order to avoid this uncertainty, the fruit trees are propagated vegetatively through grafting. To do this, the so-called scion (the scion with the desired characteristics) is grafted onto a wildling (the so-called rootstock). The rootstock determines whether the cherry tree grows quickly or slowly, upright or bushy. The scion is responsible for fruit quality, fungal resistance, frost sensitivity and yield.
Cutting and grafting scion
The noble bushes are cut from he althy, fruitful trees between December and January. Only annual long shoots are suitable for grafting. These have a lighter bark than the older wood and no branches, but have buds. You cut the noble rice at the base with a sharp knife. Ideally, these are pencil-thick and about 30-40 cm long.
The next step is to prepare the base. To do this, the cherry tree to be refined is cut back so far before budding that only a branch remains next to the crown stump. The noble rice is stuck behind the bark of the base and firmly connected to it. A distinction is made between
- Bark plug (incision in the bark),
- Goat's foot plugging (notching the wood behind the bark).
The finishing point is connected with raffia (€4.00 on Amazon) and spread with tree wax. In the following years, the crown is built up through appropriate pruning. The first harvest is expected in 4-5 years.
Tips & Tricks
The gems obtained in winter are kept cool, moist and dark until spring, e.g. B. in a box filled with damp sand in the basement.
