To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] short life in sweet cherries
Date: Fri, 07 May 2010 14:03:02 -0400
Commercial growers generally plant both sweet and sour cherries on deep,
well-drained usually sandy soil, especially here in the Niagara
Peninsula. Vineland Station's old rootstock publication warned that
Mahaleb was only to be used on a deep, well-drained, "gravelly" subsoil
- interesting because here we usually have clay a couple of metres under
the Vineland fine sandy loam.
Fruit trees are usually propagated for the orchard market, and retailers
buy more of the same. Research stations do research and issue
instructions primarily for the commercial growers. I don't think many
fruit trees are propagated specifically for the home grower market, and
few of those with cultivar and rootstock combinations to suit.
Nurseries, especially the mass market types and garden centres, sell
what their customers want to buy. Relabelling deliberately for the sake
of sales is something that I have personally encountered.
Look around a garden centre and assess the size of the fruit plant
section in relation to the whole. It's usually pretty small. Finding
information about the home fruit grower's needs and incorporating it in
the product is a complicated, expensive, tedious, locally oriented,
limited-market sort of business. It's not the best way to get rich.
People who buy fruit trees for their yards are usually blanking
ignorant. I get the impression that most sellers do not have a high
opinion of them. This does not make for a healthy relationship.
Let the buyer beware. There are some nurseries around who try to do
their best for you. Seek them out and give them your business.
Doug Woodard
St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada
Melissa Kacalanos wrote:
Hm. Good to know. I planted two sweet cherries on mahaleb in my heavy
clay soil last year. Since mahaleb seemed to be a very popular
rootstock, I didn't think much about it.