what kind of sweet cherry tree should I buy?

7 years ago

I am in zone 5 and considering a sweet cherry tree. Which kind is best? I would like a small tree that is easy to net, and have plenty of room to plant a couple, so no need for a self fertile. Unless those really do produce plenty of fruit by themselves, in which case I'm guessing we are in starkcrimson or Stella territory. But I sense there is a larger world of cherry varieties about which I know nothing.

Last year I bought a bareroot Stella and it was decimated by Japanese beetles. I sprayed them, but it didn't work and I wound up with nothing but a stump. This time I realize this is going to take a lot more work than just digging the hole and popping it into the ground. I am not an organic gardener so i would welcome advice about what to spray and when, and how to keep the beetles and birds away (what kind of net, and when to put it on). Any other tips greatly appreciated.

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Comments (4)

speedster1
7 years ago
Lots of great cherries out there. You might want to look at some of the newer cherries that are said to be more resistant to cracking and disease issues. Black Gold, White Gold, Pearl series, York series, etc are supposed to be great. Lapins is another cherry you might wan to look at. If you want small trees get your trees on dwarfing rootstock like Gisela 5 (G5) or Krymsk 5 (K5). Don't get them on Mazzard or Mahelib. Those are full size rootstock.
Leslie Tarly Z 5a thanked speedster1
spartanapples
7 years ago
I am in zone 5 (SE WI). I tried a blackgold on G5 rootstock. It bore one nice crop but the following winter we hit -18 for a week and the tree was killed (along with my peaches). I re-planted last year with another blackgold on G5.

I am truly amazed at how early they fruit on G5. I didn't want to let it overbear too early and runt out on me but then again I chose it on G5 in the hope that I can keep it around 8' tall to I can easily net it to keep the birds off the fruit.

I have learned to leave my young sweet cherries fenced in with chicken wire as the deer keep paying me visits in summer and seem especially fond of my young sweet cherry trees. Any branch under 4.5' trunk height was chewed back to the trunk last year.
Leslie Tarly Z 5a thanked spartanapples
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I suggest you read some info at the following site. It is PA info, but the Cornell, NY site was not as easy navigable. http://tfpg.cas.psu.edu/default.htm You have a wide range of choices, but generally you need two varieties to ensure pollination and a good fruit set: http://tfpg.cas.psu.edu/default.htm fwiw, bare root fruit trees are often priced in the ~$20 range plus shipping, but you wantto make sure you have both the correct variety and rootstock (you will seldom see rootstock info at local sources).
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cut all the dead wood out now to your lowest living bud. I put tangle foot on landscaping tape about two foot up on the trunk. That will keep the ants of the tree if there isn't any bridges like twine to steaks or other tree branches or such. The ants are protectors to the aphids because they like to eat the aphid honey doo. Without ants the ladybugs will eat them, and so will other good bugs. You need to figure out what kind of spray program you need. You should be spraying for fungus and bacterial canker at least a couple times a year. Best when applied right away after wet periods. Bacterial canker thrives in the warm moisture. You may have it already and that will cause die off on top too. look for split trunks and branches that have cracks. It might just be areas that look like sap is oozing out like bores. Fruit trees need to be taken care of in every season. I would mix up some water salable fertilizer and feed it now, but don't over feed it. Then mix in some 12 12 12 into the drip line of the trees on the ground. You need to get all that grass away from the drip lines and put some good mulch down. Mix the fertilizer into the mulch. Look up how to fertilize fruit trees on u tube. There is a formula that goes by trunk thickness. You know if your trees need to be fertilized by how long last years growth is. That's in those videos too. I watched every video I could find to figure out how to take care of my trees plus reading this forum. Its so much easier to watch someone.
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Hman, I scanned through the Scaffolds archive and couldn't find the article. Bugs me when I can't find the reference. Scaffolds recommended oil in the fall for pear blister mite, so maybe it wasn't them who mentioned the risk of winter damage from dormant Fall applications of oil. A quick Google search did yield a reference that a Fall oil app. can cause winter damage by delaying dormancy, but that's not the reference I was looking for. For the last couple years I've not put on a Fall oil spray (except for a little as a sticker). I never liked the way a 2% oil application turned the bark dark before winter. Then when I read (somewhere) that it can make the trees more susc. to winter damage, I started saving the main oil spray for the Spring as either a dormant, or delayed dormant. Saying all that, I never noticed a problem with winter damage from a Fall application. Have you ever seen winter bark damage from applying oil in the fall, or damage from a dormant oil spray applied near freezing weather?
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parker25mv
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
The climate in Wisconsin gets most of its rain during the Summer, so that could be an issue. You might want to get a variety that is resistant to fruit cracking.

If you are looking for some less common varieties, Vandalay is one to mention. Hartland is a very deep red cherry.
Leslie Tarly Z 5a thanked parker25mv
spartanapples
7 years ago
Iseltzer:

We have jap beatles all around me yet luckily so far, they are not in big numbers where I am at. 30 miles away they are horrendous so I suppose some day they will be a problem for me. I grow grapes too so I hope they stay away. When they come, I will try carbaryl since I heard it is supposed to work great on jap beatles.

I grow tart cherries too and find I must net at the first sign of pink on the fruits. If you wait a few days longer, it will be amazing how much of the crop just vanishes to birds. Even with a net I got one crafty robin who always walked around the tree every morning and finally found some way in. Very hard to remove the birds once inside the netting. Thankfully I only had that happen twice. Never did find any opening how it got in.

My biggest pest with cherries is birds. I do spray for curculio, cherry fruit fly, cherry leaf spot (if and when it happens). I do not spray once the tree is netted so I have had an outbreak or two of powdery mildew if we get very cloudy and rainy weather for a long period at this stage but it was only bad once and more so on some varieties than others. Cuculio season here runs potentially from petal fall to about mid-June. Just before I net, I like to spray one last time at the first sign of pink on any fruit and that seems to do the trick for me (only found one larvae in all the fruit I picked and pitted over the years).

If I get leafspot, I will spray chlorothalonil AFTER harvest as not cleared for cherries after shuck-split stage in spring. Not a huge issue so far except for one year and again definite differences in susceptibility based on variety.

Most of this pertains to my tart cherries since I have only tried growing sweets the past few years. I do not think they will be much different that the tarts as far as birds,insects and disease issues except that I avoid using Imidan insecticide on the sweets due to phytotoxicity.
Leslie Tarly Z 5a thanked spartanapples

what kind of sweet cherry tree should I buy?

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speedster1

spartanapples

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