I grafted 5-7 varieties on my BG and lost most of the tags. I think this was White Gold comparing to BG. They tasted similar. Both lack firmness that Bing has.
5 Likes
Just thought about measuring brix after eating WG.
So, got my refractometer to measure BG. The first one was17 and the second cherry was 18.5. The extended hot and dry weather really helped with the sweetness.
2 Likes
They are so perfect and look very delicious.well done, Tippyđ
1 Like
Thank you, Annie. Some years (like this one) are better than the others.
1 Like
What does Surround taste like?
The hardest part to clean off Surround is at the stem end. If I clean them well, there is no Surround left. When there is, it tastes like dry flour. Tasteless but hasa little dry feel to it (at least to me).
Just do not put sticker with Surround. That would be very difficult to wash off. Without sticker, it came off easily.
2 Likes
Black Gold is ripening in Central MA. We had 4 consecutive days of rain. I was worried that my cherries would crack so I put tarp as a âroofâ. Somehow it worked. Very little cracking on Black Gold.
I have grafted about 4 varieties on it, White Gold, Sweet Heart, Utah Giant and an unnamed variety from a friend.
Black Gold
White Gold
11 Likes
Tippy, I donât know if these cherries are related but I found these today. They were simply labeled Noir , so I bought them; they are the sweetest cherry I have ever eaten .
5 Likes
Those white golds are beautiful. I look forward to the taste test report.
1 Like
@Mrs.G,
Did those cherries have firn texture? Black Gold is not firm, but not as soft as Romance cherries. They are not very sweet, either. Brix was consistently at 15.
@Mpigg,
White Gold is a bit firmer. Though they have the same brix, I prefer White Gold to Black Gold. Wish I planted it instead of Black Gold.
I also tried Utah Giant and Sweet Heart. Both had firmer texture than W&B Gold. All about the same sweetness.
Sweet Heart tasted good but was prone to cracking. All of mine, under the same condition as other varieties, all cracked.
Of these 4, Utah Giant would be my choice, larger and darker than Sweete Heart and Black Gold. Good texture and taste. White Gold would be my 2nd choice.
3 Likes
Here is the pic. Left to right:
Black Gold, Utah Giant and Unknown (thought it was Sweet Heart but it is not. I lost the label). You can see the crack at the bottom of It. All cracked like that.
(Forgot to have White Gold in the line up)
10 Likes
No they were not hard, but creamy, really sweet and good!
1 Like
After looking at your BG, I would like to grow cherry trees. I like firm and sweet tree. I was looking at lapins and rainier. Do you have any recommendation what varieties I should get? Thank you.
@Minnie,
Where are you located?
Knowing a location will give us some idea how much pest pressure you will have and what variety could do well for you.
Hi Mamuang, I am living in zone 7a/6b in Philadelphia.
@minnie,
Have you seen this thread?
It is a good read as these are membersâs actual experience growing cherries. Please pay more attention to growers in the east coast.
@scottfsmith is probably more experienced than most with years of growing cherries and number of varieties.
I also hope @Moley will chime in as I have not heard much input from those growing the Pearl series.
I have seen people praising Lapins. I donât know how well Rainier will do in PA. White Gold is a good choice for the east and is similar to Rainier.
Cherry is not easy to grow in the east coast. Good luck.
I harvested my White Gold yesterday. A little over 7 pounds. Average brix was about 18 ranging from 15 to 19. The 19âs were very sweet for White Gold. Still a great producer, although cherries are fairly tart. Some years only a brix of 14.
Another problem is the color. Processed they look yellow to brown, not appealing at all. I usually just dry them and snack on them. They look terrible. This year Iâm making a White Gold cherry-Indian Free peach jam. The IF peach is deep red and will make for a nice color jam. In my berry cookbook is a white cherry- peach jam. I need to check that out.
A couple years ago I made a Indian Free preserves and it was very good.
9 Likes
Those looked very nice, Drew.
âalthough cherries are fairly tartâ. Are you sure you talked about White Gold?
Mine was sweet enough and had no hint of tartness. Granted I had only a dozen WG cherries this year. The texture of my WG was firmer than my BG. If I were to choose between the two, I would choose WG.
Here was the line up of my cherries this year.
8 Likes
Beautiful, Mam! You are such a good grower and your fruit is always beautiful.
5 Likes
Well in relation to being sweet cherries I felt they have more tartness than most. Not comparing to actual tart cherries. Like Utah Giant has a lot less tartness. You have to try hard to notice any. There is some acid there, but very little. The way my tree is the north side does not get much light, and the cherries there are quite tart. My wife wonât eat them fresh, too tart for her. I myself believe the self fertile gene taken from tart cherries came with tartness. Itâs too close to the first cross with tart cherries (Stella) which is one of itâs parents.