North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Eileen Beckwith" <candebeckwith@pie.midco.net>]

 

Rodney-

 

I finally found time to compile a few brief answers to some of your questions about zone 4 sweet cherry growing.

 

So far none of the cherry trees I have planted have died; however, some did struggle for a few years and refused to set fruit

until they had bloomed for several years. Some are large standard trees probably on mazzard rootstock (Stark Gold is now over

20 feet high), others are somewhat smaller trees on mahaleb, and some are genetic semi-dwarfs(Stella and Lapins) that get

just slighly over 8-10 feet high. All of my newest trees(Glacier, Rainier and additional White Gold and Black trees)are on G5.

At least one other fruit grower in our city has what appears to be a Rainier cherry and another unidentified dark red sweet

cherry. Both trees appear to be healthy, are almost 20 feet high and are bearing fairly consistent crops.

 

Winter temperatures can drop as low as -30, however, most of our recent winters have had average winter lows of between -15-to -20.

Due to the low elevation of my orchard lot, frost protection is essential for any of the sweet cherry varieties I grow. 

Production has been very consistent on all of the trees grown in protected enclosures. (See Fall 2005 Pomona for article.) 

Last year all of the Lapins and Stella trees had to be hand thinned to prevent overbearing even after the worst seige of spring frosts in

decades. Fruit size and quality have been somewhat inconsistent, probably due in part to the widely variable weather that

occurs during the ripening period. Best flavored cherries so far have been White Gold and Lapins. Stella is a large, glossy, very

beautiful cherry but is sometimes lacking in sweetness. Black Gold is similar to Stella but noticeably sweeter.  

Kristin has been the least productive of all the bearing varieties so far and is similar to Stella for flavor. Stark Gold is a

smaller sized cherry that can have a nice sweet, spritely flavor some years, other years flavor is only fair. Glacier and Rainer

are too new to have fruited much yet.

 

Bloom time is spread over almost two and a half weeks starting with Lapins and Stella followed by Kristin, White Gold 

and finally Black Gold and Stark Gold. Right now Lapins and Stella have already set on cherries the size of small grapes, 

Black Gold and Stark Gold still have just opened bloom on some branches.

 

Some of my trees are on land with a fairly high water table so they essentially subirrigate; others are flood irrigated several 

times during the summer growing season.  Trees are surrounded with a permanent mulch of 6-8 inches of leaves from

non-related species (mostly shade trees). No fertilizing has been done so far because most of the trees have been growing

too much as is (2 to 4 feet of new branch growth a year). Yearly pruning has become essential to maintain size with any trees

on standard size rootstocks. Spraying so far has been limited to several sulfur sprays for leaf spot, and permethrin or
surround for plum curculio. Birds are a big problem in our area and thorough netting is essentail for protecting any cherry crops. 

 

I am currently working on developing a system for growing espaliered sweet cherries on G5 rootstock. Trees would be trained

to grow on a flat wire fence and enclosed in a protective surround for frost protection, deer, rabbit and bird control etc. If this type

of growing system works, it may make it feasible to consistently grow varieties such as Rainier, White Gold, Lapins, etc. with enough

size, quality and taste appeal for local markets and make at least a smaller commercially viable pick-your-own operation a possibility.

 

Carl Beckwith       Pierre, South Dakota    Zone 4a-5b