Chris:

Runting out is one issue but not what the commercial growers worry about. The bigger concern is setting too much fruit. This results in small low-brix fruit. The corrective measure is to prune more to reduce fruit set and increase vegetative growth. In your pot you will need to prune at some point to stimulate new wood.

It is also recommended not putting highly precocious cultivars like Sweetheart on very dwarfing roots like Giesla 5. As home growers we can thin the cherries if needed. I thinned some of mine this year.

So what do you think of Stella? I'll have a variety report soon on about a dozen varieties. Here's a sneek preview: think about getting a Van. It's the highest rated cherry in Dave Wilson Nursery, DWN, taste tests and now I know why. Also running about 30 brix. Van is also extremely precocious. Crops like yours in 3rd leaf.

Fruit-

Does Van need a pollinator? I have Stella growing in a container, but my fruit are still green.

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I have 3 cherry trees in the ground, but they may be getting ripped out.

Frank:

You're a better man than me hauling around that huge pot. Mine are in 15 gal pots and that works fine if watering every day fits ones schedule. All my cherries will be in pots within a year or two. My trees will be about 2/3 that size at maturity.

Yes Van does need a pollinator and Stella should work.

Fruitnut:
Thanks for sharing. I realize what the commercial concerns are (likely why labeled precocious anyway, advising commercial farmers about over-set and bland fruit). But back to my original question: Would you have considered that precocious and secondly would it have a tendency to reduce the vegetative growth next year in a container?

As far as flavor, so far ALL the cherry trees are too young to judge and I harvested them too early (except for the above Stella). Therefore, they all taste about the same: just like store bought cherries (juicy, some flavor, nothing great). The Stella above may be 3 years old but has only 1 real year of growth b/c it was severely root-bound when purchased @ clearance and b/c of my care that nearly killed it. Last year it set only 2 fruits and the birds got it before I could.

I don't have a Van yet, but will by next season. I've been evaluating the rootstocks and how they do (under my care) in containers before buying any more cherries. The only one that might go in-ground would be a Royal Raineer b/c I love it so much (even store bought ones) but I've yet to do that.

I'll remove several dozen container citrus over the next couple years to free up space. I've got 50 citrus so far as short-term trees to enjoy growing them and pick favorite fruits, then graft onto in-ground trees.

I REALLY need advice on pruning these cherries. Some of these 2yr container cherries are getting mighty long branches, yet little overall foliage. I would've tip-pruned them to stimulate sub-branching but it's only this season that I'm sure they are healthy and trust my experience caring for them. Too much re-potting, testing containers & mixes last year that I wanted to just leave them be for an entire season once healthy. I'll have to share some pics and ask for suggestions on another post. It's been fun reading your recent posts.

I'd say don't worry about the early crop reducing vegetative growth. As long as you've got a decent canopy and balance fruit load to leaf area you will be OK. If you want a thicker canopy, and I don't, then you have to repeatedly head back when the plant is small, the first two years.

I want an open canopy like on this Van.

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This canopy resulted in 130 cherries averaging 29 brix in 3rd leaf. And the tree was dug up outdoors and potted about 6 months ago. Plenty of growth this year.

Fruit-

I hear you on container size. Big heavy containers are a pain in the butt. I've got about a dozen 15 gallon (plastic) pots that I ordered in the garage awaiting new trees :)

I need to learn how to graft cherries, so I can have a few trees with several varieties on each.