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Fruit & Orchards

Rainier Tree?

8 years ago

I moved into a house last year and the owners said they had a cherry tree in their back yard they recently planted (it's currently 8 feet tall), but did not mention the type. I believe it's rainier based on the fruit I see this year (see below).

The cherries are a little over half the size you would buy in stores, so they are still young. I bit into a cherry about the size and color below (on the left) expecting a sweet taste, but it was not pleasurable...

Since the flavor was no where near sweet (I later realized that the cherries are still growing and probably haven't stored up the sugars) is this a rainier tree? Are there "false" rainiers that produce similar cherries, but not as sweet? I looked at pictures of rainier cherries and they are in cascading bunches (click to see the picture I'm talking about). Is this only common in adult trees or if you're lucky to get one that produces well? What kind of netting do you recommend on getting to to save the tree from birds in later years? Thanks!

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Comments (3)

speedster1
8 years ago
That tree could be nearly any variety of cherry. They may not be ripe yet and may turn full red. However, if they stay blush there are plenty of varieties that it could be. Emperor Francis and White Gold come to mind.
James Watson thanked speedster1
spartanapples
8 years ago
Greetings:

I am no sweet cherry expert but I do have Black Gold sweet cherry

growing and several tart cherry varieties too. From your photos, I wonder if you have a tart cherry? My sweet cherry leaves are longer,wider and very heavily dentated on the leaf margin compared to tart cherry leaves. Above is one of my photos of a sweet cherry leaf.

Here is a shot showing North Star tart cherry leaf.
James Watson thanked spartanapples
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gardenmom
8 years ago
From the color and size, it looks almost like a Montmorency. You'll have to wait until they finish ripening. It's hard to tell from the picture, but pie cherries have a more translucent look than sweet cherries. Rainier cherries are yellow and red. You'll see lots of good pictures if you google and select images.
James Watson thanked gardenmom

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