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

Glad to hear you had good luck, Tony. Scott

Mrose: What you have described sounds a lot like bacterial disease, which is less common in CA than in most parts of the eastern and midwestern U.S., but is certainly not unknown there. Once underway, bacterial disease cannot be completely cured, but its development can be delayed by regular use of a dormant spray of copper. Progressive branch dieback and spotting of the fruit are classic symptoms of bacterial disease. Affected branches should be pruned from the tree and destroyed as soon as they are identified, and if the disease spreads to the main trunk the tree should be removed. This disease can spread to other nearby stone fruit trees, such as peaches and nectarines. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

There are a lot of points to make here - do a lot of research: 1. DO NOT get Bing or Rainer - they are not suited for our climate (they will split/crack and the fruit will be ruined). 2. Instead, the following are great self-fertile sweet cherries appropriate for NJ - Black Gold; White Gold (substitute for Rainer); and Benton (earlier ripening - in case you get the others). 3. Many online nurseries (mail-order) will ship them 4-6'. You want to look and see if you can still get them mailed - Schlabach, Adams County Nursery, etc. Raintree and One Green World. I recommend getting them on Gisella-6 rootstocks (dwarfing rootstocks); the issue of best rootstocks to get is highly controversial. Do a lot of keyword searching, etc. Good luck.