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Fruit & Orchards

Will Bing cherry tree do well in Abiquiu, NM?

14 years ago

YEARS ago, I had a bing cherry tree in Albuquerque that was amazing. I have since moved to Abiquiu, NM, elevation 6K (as opposed to ABQ, 5K)and about 100 miles north. I would love to have another one, but wondering if it will work here. Also, what is the best pollinator for it? Thanks, Susie

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Comments (2)

fruitnut Z7 4500ft SW TX
14 years ago
Susie: If you can believe the climatic data on weather.com, your primary problem in your new location compared to Albuquerque will be much later spring frost. Probably about a month later. If you can get by the frosts, you should be able to grow good cherries. Albuquerque is a pretty good place to grow fruit compared to much of the country.

Rainier is a good pollinator for Bing and can be a very good cherry. I'd also be inclined to plant a self fertile variety to improve pollination and lengthen the harvest season. Lapins or Sweetheart are late and self fertile. They are also good pollinators for Bing or Rainier.

For a rootstock you might consider Giesla 5 or 6 or Krymsk 5 if you can find them. These rootstocks will dwarf the trees and bloom about 2 yrs before Mazzard. Van Well nursery in WA can supply most of these next spring.

The Fruitnut
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Embothrium
14 years ago
New Mexico Extension says

"Both sweet and sour cherry trees are short-lived
and perform poorly in hot southern areas. They are
recommended only for cooler areas or high altitude
areas in the South. However, sweet cherries flower
early and may be injured by frosts. Ã¢ÂÂBingÃ¢ÂÂ, Ã¢ÂÂBlack
TartarianÃ¢ÂÂ and Ã¢ÂÂLambertÃ¢ÂÂ are suggested for trial.
Ã¢ÂÂBingÃ¢ÂÂ and Ã¢ÂÂLambertÃ¢ÂÂ require cross pollination"

Sunset WESTERN GARDEN BOOK has Albuquerque in Sunset 10. 100 miles north of there would either be in Sunset 1A or 2A, depending on the exact direction (have a look at their zone map to see where you fall). Under CHERRY the book says sweet cherries are "best in deep, well-drained soil in Zones 2, 6-9, 14, 15". So, by their reckoning (if you have moved into Zone 2A, as is more likely than the town being in the coldest of the cold, mountainous 1A) you have actually moved into a much better area for sweet cherries.

Their discussion also talks about varieties needed for cross-pollination.

Here is a link that might be useful: h-310.pdf
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Jessaka, cherry trees can get brown rot, but since they fruit early in the year they are not as prone to it as are peaches and plums. You do need two varieties for pollination. 50' or less apart. The big problems on cherries are fruit cracking, bird stealing, leaf diseases and pests, and bacterial canker. Cherry fruit fly can also be a problem. For your Bing the main problem is cracking, it is highly prone. Very few people grow Bing in the east and that is probably the main reason. Adams County Nursery, the main commercial nursery on the east coast, doesn't even sell Bing for example. So I would consider removing the Bing and getting two other varieties instead. I made the same mistake as you did, starting off with a Bing. I know how to graft so I topworked it. The real deal-breaker problem on cherries is bacterial canker. It will kill the tree. I have so far been lucky, my trees have gotten cankers several times but I have cut out the cankered limbs and saved the tree every time. For the leaf diseases cherries are not used to heat so the leaves get unhappy. I have my cherries planted in part shade to decrease their heat intake. Overall sweet cherries are somewhat hard to justify growing, they don't taste any better than a good grocery store cherry either (very much unlike peaches and plums which are a million times better tree-ripened in the backyard). Scott
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Hoosier, my point is I found conflicting information. The problem is that pollination data is not very accurate as it is hard to test. Also many people don't understand that for cherries it is more than bloom timing that matters for pollination. At some point I found this guide that listed the different groups that cherries fall under but I can't seem to find it now. Well, here is one without a lot of data, see below. Oh, here is a link that says Stella may not work for Bing in some areas: link. Pollination compatibility for most fruits is fairly simple, but not for sweet cherries. For the original poster, I would say there is a good chance the Stella will work, or there is a wild or flowering cherry in the area that will do the job. But, it is not certain. Scott Here is a link that might be useful: cherry groups
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Commercial concerns aren't always the same as that of a backyard grower. This opens up a lot more choices to home growers. Raintree has a cherry from this area described here: Almaden Duke Cherry The delicious combination of sweet and tart flavors makes this new cherry unique. Thought to be a seedling of a Mazzard cherry, it is easy to grow and very productive. It was provided to Raintree by Andy Mariani and discovered in the Almaden Valley near San Jose CA. Self fertile. The tree can be maintained at 10' tall on Gisela 5 rootstock. Here is a link that might be useful: Almaden Duke Cherry
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The sweet cherry cultivars (P. avium) generally only attract the small and indescript moth species (Geometrids, Noctuids, Tortricids, etc) and a couple of the peach borers (Sesiidae), so it really is not a good choice for a lepidopteran host plant unless you want to do those families of moths. That said I know P. avium has been used to foster the larva of a couple of the silkmoth species, but I believe it is hard to get them to switch to it. A much better choice would be one of the sour cherry cultivars (P. cerasus) which is readily accepted by quite a few species of NA butterflies as well as many of our showy moth species. The old "cherry" standby Prunus serotina is always a great choice too. HTH, Larry
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