Cherry Ashinskaya

Of all the significant variety of cherry varieties, it is Ashinskaya that is characterized by an unusual history and the presence of incredible indicators of endurance and vitality. And this is not surprising, since the hybrid culture is a relative of the steppe cherries. Cherry also amazes with the taste properties of its universal berries, and there is no need to talk about the level of its unpretentiousness - it is extremely high.

This universal culture was the result of the work of a team of scientists from the South Ural Research Institute consisting of V.I.Putyatin, K.K. Mullayagnov, A.E. Pankratova, I.G. its valuable varietal qualities, which is a clear merit of the employees. The culture is named after the city of Asha, located in the Chelyabinsk region. It has been listed in the State Register since 2002, and it is recommended for cultivation in the Ural region.

Since one of the "parents" of the culture is a wild (steppe) plant, the resulting hybrid inherited a high degree of endurance, rapid recovery and frost resistance, which allows it to be grown in different parts of Russia.

The trees are medium-sized (2.5-3 m), fast-growing, with medium-dense crowns and rich foliage. Shoots are upright, ash-brown, without pubescence, up to 45 cm long. Leaves are narrow oval, slightly elongated, dark green in color, glossy, with a sheen.

The flowers are medium-sized (appear at the end of May), with a typical aroma, sensitive (they die at a temperature of -2 ° C). Inflorescences with five flowers. Lentils are small in size. The buds are smooth, elongated, slightly curved. Pedicels 25 mm long.

The trees rather resemble a series of tree-like stems-shoots, which soon grow and intensively occupy free areas. In natural conditions, steppe cherries grow on forest edges, developing steadily and bearing fruit in the most incredible conditions. The hybrid, having inherited many of the qualities of a wild fellow, is characterized not only by a rare unpretentiousness in care, but also by the wonderful taste properties of berries. Culture trees are distinguished by their durability - they live up to 30 years. They are often used as decorative elements for hedges.

The pluses of culture include:

• synchronous ripening of berries;
• a high degree of resistance to disease and sabotage attacks;
• long-term fruiting;
• high yields;
• high level of survival and drought resistance;
• excellent taste;
• relative size of fruits;
• the ability to reproduce by any means.

Minuses:

• low level of transportability;
• late ripening;
• cracking of fruits with intense precipitation.

Fruits of medium size (weight - 4 g), rounded-oval configuration, with rounded tops, maroon shades. The abdominal suture is not very pronounced.The consistency is firm, dark red in color. The weight of the seeds is 0.17-0.20 g. They are small, double-edged. The degree of separation of the seeds from the consistency is good. The quality of the fruit tearing off when picked is dry. Assessment of the presentation of ripe berries in points - 4.7.

By chemical composition, berries include: dry matter - 16.3%, sugar - 11.7%, acids - 1.8%, ascorbic acid - 10.3 mg%. The level of resistance of berries to cracking is high.

The berries of the culture are positioned as dessert ones, with a sweet and sour taste. The tasting score in points is quite high - 4.4.

Young trees begin to bear fruit in the 4th year of growth after planting. Flowering time - May 23-30. In terms of ripening, the culture is late, with a fruiting period from July 20 to August 3. The aging process is synchronous.

The type of fruiting is mixed, mainly on a 1-year growth of 70% and up to 30% on bouquet branches of a 2-3-year-old tree.

The plant is high-yielding - an average of 8-10 kg per tree.

The culture is partly self-fertile; for greater fruiting productivity, other cherries are needed that bloom simultaneously with it. Harvests ripen extremely synchronously in early August. In the absence of pollinating plants, trees are fertilized at about 35% of the ovaries. To increase yields, we recommend planting stone fruit crops with similar flowering periods near trees.

Cuttings for seedlings begin to be harvested in the first summer weeks, in cloudy weather, in the morning or in the evening. Their length should be about 30–35 cm. In this case, the shoots of the culture are soaked for 24 hours in a growth-stimulating composition to a depth of the cut part of about 1.25–2 cm. Then the cuttings are placed in nutrient soil and covered with a film. After about 14 days, adventitious roots appear, and after 30 days, difficult to root.

The process of planting trees is extremely standard and does not differ much from planting other varieties of cherries.

The culture develops in the best way on sandy loam soils, for these reasons, areas with appropriate soils must be looked after or prepared in advance. It is desirable that the soils are neutral or slightly alkaline.

Previously, before planting, the cuttings are soaked in water to improve the degree of development of the roots, using special means to stimulate their growth for this purpose. The standard dimensions of the landing recesses are 60x60x60 cm.

An exclusive feature of so "semi-wild" crops is the intensive process of development of basal shoots. Moreover, if for garden plants this process is an unnecessary waste of energy, then for "semi-wild" hybrids it is a completely natural method of further effective development. For this reason, the trees are not subject to intensive pruning, since there is a need to leave such a number of plant shoots that will provide its usual way of vegetation.

Nevertheless, the process of planting thinning is still necessary, traditionally it is carried out for the convenience of picking fruits. The features of the molding and the desired degree of pruning of the branches are chosen independently. Pruning and thinning activities are usually carried out after picking the berries.

For productive fruiting, it is important to select topical pollinating plants. In accordance with practice, these are the Zagrebinskaya and Alatyrskaya cherries.

Systematic feeding is applied as needed, as well as in order to implement preventive measures. If there is an unsatisfactory development of trees, then organic matter and mines are used.

Cases of cultural diseases are extremely rare and only on unkempt trees. Malicious attacks also do not differ in intensity. In some way, the crops are spoiled by birds, but they also do not cause significant trouble to the culture.

The culture is distinguished by exceptional frost resistance (up to -48 ° C), but with significant temperature drops, it will soon recover - winter shelters are not relevant.

It can withstand dry periods, but irrigation is necessary. Under optimal irrigation conditions, the level of fruiting increases significantly.