How to Grow, Plant and Harvesting Cherries. In the spring, cherry trees are a sight to behold, with their white or pink blossoms. They then produce the delicious cherries that everyone knows and loves. Learn how to grow cherry trees in your own backyard!
- Sweet Cherries are the most common variety found in markets. They have a thick, rich texture that is almost plum-like. Sweet cherries grow in hardiness zones 5–7, are self-sterile and are best suited to an orchard or a large garden. You’ll need at least two or three trees to pollinate one another. Consider the dwarf, self-pollinating cultivar ‘Stella’ if space is limited.
- Sour Cherries are not typically eaten raw, but they are widely used in preserves and other cooking applications. Sour cherries are smaller than sweet cherries, and they are all self-fertile. They thrive in zones 4–6.
How to Grow, Plant and Harvesting Cherries
Planting:
Cherry trees should be planted in a sunny location with good air circulation; avoid planting near larger trees or buildings that will shade the cherries. The Cherry trees should be exposed to at least 6 hours of sunlight per day.
Cherry trees thrive in deep, well-drained soil with a pH of 6.0-7.0. Sweet cherries should be planted 35 to 40 feet apart, while dwarfs should be planted 5 to 10 feet apart. Tart cherries should be planted 20 to 25 feet apart, while dwarfs should be planted 8 to 10 feet apart.
When to Plant Cherry Trees:
- Plant cherries in late autumn or early spring (when the ground is soft and has a higher moisture content).
- When choosing sweet cherries, make sure the various varieties will pollinate each other.
How to Plant Cherry Trees:
- When planting trees with conventional rootstock, the graft union should be a few inches below the surface of the soil. When planting trees on dwarf rootstock, the graft union should be placed several inches above the soil line. This will stop the graft from developing its own roots and displacing the rootstock.
- Construct the appropriate supports before planting fan-trained trees. only 12 to 15 feet apart when placing fans.
- When planting bare-root trees, distribute the roots down and away while avoiding bending them by placing the rootstock on a small mound of earth in the centre of the planting hole. Add soil as a backfill.
Growing
- Cherries, whether sweet or tart, require the same level of attention.
- Apply mulch to keep moisture in place.
- To keep birds away from the fruit, cover the trees with netting.
- Regularly apply water in dry regions.
- Cherry trees don’t require fruit thinning because the fruit naturally thins in the first few weeks of summer.
- To promote the development of new fruiting wood, prune trees each year in the late winter. Avoid pruning in the autumn.
- Before trees begin to bloom, treat them early in the spring with a low-nitrogen fertiliser (such as 5-10-10) and as needed thereafter (test the soil to determine its fertility) until cherries are harvested. After mid-summer, avoid fertilising because new growth requires time to harden off before the fall and winter. How to Grow Cherries
Varieties:
Sweet Cherries
- Early – ‘Black Tartarian’
- Midseason – ‘Bing’
- Late – ‘Stella’
Sour Cherries
- Early – ‘Early Richmond’
- Midseason – ‘Montmorency’
- Late – ‘Meteor’
Harvesting:
- Fruits should only be picked when FULLY ripe (dark red, black, or yellow), as the sugar content increases in the few days before full ripeness.
- You should be prepared to harvest in a week. Cook or eat right away.
If you plan to freeze the fruit, choose it when it’s firm. - To avoid damaging the cherry fruit, be sure to top-pick it with the cherry stem. On the other hand, be careful to lead the fruit spur so that it will bear fruit the following year.
- Hand plucking could harm the shoots and spread infection; use scissors to cut the stalks.
Keep in mind that cherry trees normally don’t start producing fruit until their fourth year. - After that, they ought to produce 30 to 50 quarts of cherries annually.
