To date, breeders have deduced many varieties of cherries, Besseya is one of the most unusual of them. This sprawling shrub can be an ornament to any garden, besides, it brings tasty, unusual fruits.
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Description of the Bessey cherry variety
Cherry Besseya is a subspecies of sand cherries that grows in southern and northern America. Initially, only the sand cherry was known to the world, which was distinguished by its decorative appearance, but its fruits were small and not tasty. But thanks to the selection work that Ch.E.Bessie, a variety of Bessey appeared, which retained the appearance of a sand cherry, but its fruits became much more pleasant.
This variety began to spread throughout Russia from the Far East. Currently Bessey is grown in all regions of the country. Thanks to good resistance to drought and frost, and unpretentiousness to climate, this cherry can grow in any territory.
Bessey is a short shrub that reaches a height of no more than 1.8 meters. Young branches are arranged horizontally in relation to the ground, painted in a red-brown shade. Upon reaching 7 years of age, their color begins to change to dark gray and they begin to creep along the ground.
The flowering of shrubs begins at the end of May and lasts for 3 weeks. During this period, the shrub is completely covered with white or pale pink flowers. Cherry forms both male and female flowers.
The leaves of Bessei are more like a willow than a cherry. The shape is elongated, oblong, silver green. In mid-September, leaves acquire a purple shade.
Fruiting cherry begins early, in the second year after planting, you can harvest the first crop. On average, from one shrub can collect from 10 to 13 buckets of berries. The fruits reach full maturity in mid-August, and the cherry of this sort does not fall off the branches, but begins to wilt directly on them. Fruits Bessey 13-15 years after planting.
Characteristics of the fruit
The berries, which are formed on the Besse cherry, are round, large, dark maroon. The flesh is greenish with dark red veins. Compared with its wild relative, such fruits are very juicy and sweet. According to their taste, they have similarity with the black chokeberry, they are distinguished by the presence of slight tartness.
The advantages and disadvantages of the variety
- Cherry Bessei will decorate any garden.In the spring, white or pink flowers appear on it, and in the fall, the leaves become burgundy.
- Good resistance to drought and frost allows you to grow this variety in all regions of Russia.
- The shrub is immune to many diseases.
- Berries for a long time not showered with branches, which allows you to delay harvest time.
- The taste of Bessei’s berries is quite specific; not everyone will like these fruits.
Features of planting and care
Cherry varieties Bessey best planted in the spring, so that the young shrub could get stronger before the onset of cold weather. Saplings with a closed root system are more resistant, so they can be moved to open ground in early autumn.
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Choosing a place for cherries, you should adhere to the following rules:
- In order for the berries to have time to mature well, they need a lot of sunlight.
- In order to avoid rotting of the root system and as a result of death, experienced gardeners recommend avoiding lowlands and areas with high groundwater levels.
- Cherry planted at a distance of 2 meters from other plantations. Bessea is very demanding on the composition of the soil, the best option would be sandy, not acidic earth.
- For heavy soil, it is necessary to make a drainage of pebbles, rubble or expanded clay.
- Sand is added to the clay soil.
- Sour soil needs to be preliminarily ground with dolomite flour.
Planting pits are better prepared in advance, about 1-2 weeks before planting a bush, so that the soil has time to settle. Immediately after digging in the pit, fertilizers are applied:
- 2 buckets of humus;
- 800 grams of superphosphate;
- 200 grams of ash.
Then they are mixed with the upper, fertile soil layer.
After the shrub is planted in open ground, it is poured over with plenty of warm water and mulched.
Growing conditions
Even a novice gardener can grow Besse, because she is not whimsical about care and does not require special attention.The shrub has good resistance to frost and drought, is not prone to the appearance of diseases. But there are several rules, the observance of which will ensure a regular and abundant harvest:
- On average, cherries are watered 3-5 times per season.
- Feeding.
- Healthy shrubs are fertilized with potash supplements.
- In the event that the cherry starts to slow down, then potash supplements are replaced by nitrogenous fertilizers. They are able to activate growth and increase the amount of greenery.
- Besseya also needs foliar dressing. Shrub is sprayed with complex fertilizers 3 times per season.
- TSuch a cherry does not form root shoots, so caring for it becomes much easier.
- The main procedure for this variety is pruning, the regular implementation of which can increase the amount of the crop and make it more qualitative.
- In early spring, it is necessary to remove the shoots that thicken the shrub.
- It is best to fruit shoots no older than 7 years, so the adult branches pruned.
- It is also necessary to carry out sanitary pruning, removing diseased and dried branches.
- Dried cherries can easily be restored by cutting the entire shrub to the state of hemp.After some time in place of the old branches, young and healthy shoots will appear.
- Preparing for winter, "Besse" is bent down to the ground and covered. If heavy rain falls, the shrub can be slightly cleared, leaving a small layer of snow that will protect the cherry from frost.
Harvesting and Storage
The fruits of Bessei ripen in mid-August and do not crumble for a long time, which makes it possible to harvest for several approaches. But it is better not to delay with such a procedure, the birds can eat birds or they can spoil right on the branches.
Only fresh and healthy cherries should be stored. Damaged or rotted fruit will quickly deteriorate and will cause the unsuitability of all berries. There are several ways to store:
- Store in the refrigerator or in another cool place. Fresh berries can last up to 10-14 days, subject to the following conditions:
- Berries must be dry.
- The container in which the cherries are located must not be closed; good air circulation must be ensured.
- Humidity should not exceed 85%, and the temperature should be in the range of 0-10 degrees.
- Cherry can be frozen and stored in the freezer.
- Berries need to be washed and dried thoroughly.
- Then they are laid out on a flat plate so that they do not touch each other. In this form, the cherry does not stick together, and each berry will freeze separately.
- After freezing, the cherries are placed in a container or bag and put into the freezer.
- Also cherries can be stored in dried form, for this:
- Berries are carefully sorted and washed, then they need to be dried.
- Prepared cherries spread on a baking sheet in a single layer.
- The oven is adjusted to a temperature of 40-50 degrees and placed there a baking sheet, while the door is not closed.
- After drying, the berries are placed in a glass jar, and gradually shaken it, in order to maintain a balance between dry and wet fruits.
- Then the finished product is removed in linen bags or tightly closed glass jars, in this form the cherry can be stored for up to 2 years.
- Also cherries can be stored in the form of jam, compotes, jams, etc.
Features grade
- Besseya, unlike other varieties of cherries, is a spreading shrub, not a tree.
- Also this sort of cherry varies considerably in taste, more like black chokeberry.
- Another feature will be the lack of root shoots.
- Many gardeners use Bessey as a stock for plums. As a result of crossing a hybrid is obtained, the berries of which are similar in taste to the plum, but have a much smaller size. Such a tree grows up to 2 meters in height and begins to bear fruit from the second year of life, with the amount of the crop gradually increasing.
Diseases and pests
Cherry Besseya is not prone to the emergence of many diseases, but the likelihood of the following ailments still remains:
- Coccomycosis - expressed in the appearance of brown spots on the leaves, on the lower side begins to appear white or pinkish bloom.It is also possible damage to the fruit and stem. As a fight against the disease, the shrub is treated with Skor, Delan or Topsin - M.
- The first spraying is carried out immediately after flowering, then the procedure is repeated every 14 days.
- When a large amount of precipitation occurs, it is necessary to process cherries 1-2 times after harvesting.
- As a preventive measure, young (non-fruiting) plants are sprayed every two weeks.
- Monilial burn - A fungal disease that occurs during flowering. Wet weather is especially dangerous. The pathogen enters the fruit shoots through the stamen of the flower, causing them to shrink. As a fight against the disease, the affected areas are cut off and burned. Prevention can serve as spraying the tree with Horus, Azocene or Byeleton at the beginning of flowering.
- Anthracnose - the disease affects the fruit of the cherry, dull dark spots initially appear, on which a mucous plaque is subsequently formed. As a preventive measure during the bud break, the shrub is sprayed with 1% Brodsky liquid. During the period of bud formation, cherries are treated with fungicides.When such a disease occurs, it is necessary to immediately remove the diseased fruits and destroy them.
Gardeners reviews
Although they say that Bessey is not whimsical about care, you need to carefully monitor her, several times in a season to make various fertilizers and process with preventive means. But then, with a successful arrangement, an unusual shrub appears in the garden area, looking at which all the neighbors begin to envy. - Natalie
3 years ago I decided to try to plant Bessey, bought 3 saplings, as a result, one died after the winter, the second in the summer, only one bush remained. As a pollinator using ordinary plum. The growth of cherries is now about 80 centimeters, it has already given the first harvest, the taste is quite specific, but the jam is tasty. - Valoba
Friends said that Bessey berries are very tasty and sweet, I decided to try to grow. The shrub itself is very strong, it withstands almost all the attacks of our changing climate. In the second year of life, 10 tasteless berries appeared, but for 3 years the whole bush was covered with dark maroon cherries, it looks very nice, it tastes better than they used to be, but still quite unusual.Let's see what will happen next, but I plan to leave the plant not to get the harvest, but to decorate the garden. - Heaven
Cherry variety Besseya is distinguished by its unusual appearance and taste. In addition, it perfectly tolerates even the most severe weather conditions and is resistant to many diseases. Such a shrub will decorate any garden and will attract admiring glances to itself.