Carmine Jewell Cherry Yields increasing with age

You would think Don, but I actually think our bushes produce about the same if I recall.

My observation has been that as they have aged and grown taller/wider, less fruiting occurs in closer to the interior. Some of the wood seems almost bare for several inches, though they still bear fruit well inside the bush. Not sure I’m conveying this very well, but it’s not as if they only bear on the outer reaches, just not as much in close as maybe a couple years ago. I’m sure it’s a sunlight thing, that opening up via pruning would resolve.

But my 5 bushes averaged 29.7 pounds per bush harvested (33 gallons or 148.5 pounds/5) There were a bunch on the ground from a wind event, and I left some in the bushes that were kind of hard to get, thinking I would see if the brix numbers would climb some if I left them, but they would eventually be discovered by JB’s…

By and large, I think that my harvest was about on track with what your smaller more manageable bushes were getting (again if I remember right anyway)

But these 10-12’ bushes begin to seem a lot like a tree at that point, and my bad for letting them go this far.

Don’t get me wrong, they are still simple enough to spray, and I assume if I’d only do my job and get the pruning part done, they’d be even simpler to harvest…

What spacing did you use on these CJ and how far apart are the closest branches now? Do they still have room to grow? I know they were recommending 5-6 foot spacing when I bought mine but Im thinking 10 foot might be better? What do you think?

I put mine on 12’ centers, and I just now went out and it measures right at 2’ between closest branch tips before they leaf out. All CJ’s in ground since '11 & '12.

In June of last year I could not walk between the older bushes without turning sideways, and still had foliage touching me front & back at about chest height. That isn’t a real issue for me, as I don’t plan on letting them get a ton bigger anyway, and I think a few judicial snips with the pruners would be all that would be needed in any case to keep a clean pathway.

Your question as to spacing is somewhat hard for me to answer though. If yours grow like mine, and you want (or need) space for air circulation, or just to maneuver around them then I like the wider spacing, and I am really happy with the 12’ I have. But depending on location, these things may never grow out of control like mine, and 12’ could be overkill. 8-10’ might be about right if you want that kind of stand alone planting. And of course a ton of folks prefer them planted in a hedge style too.

1 Like

Do they get fertilized? What type of soil? How much sun?
Mine planted in 2013 is 5.5 ft. No fertilizer, Sandy soil, pH 6, only about 6 hrs sun. On 4/10 has green buds but no leaves yet.

For the first 3 years or so I would sprinkle a little 10-10-10 on them in March or early April. And every once in a blue moon if I happened to be doing some garden stuff and had the hose end sprayer on with some of the blue Miracle Grow crystals I’d maybe water around them a tad with that, but that’s the extent of it. After about year 3ish I just didn’t do anything other than replacing or adding to the wood chip mulch around them.

But I’d say our soil would probably be considered a loam, and I’ve not done a pH. My cherries get full sun, and they’re not too eager to take off so far this year yet either.

I have boulevards with no trees on them at all right now. Considering adding carmine jewels and training them to a tree form, they seem plenty sturdy for that… Anyone think this is a bad idea? If so why? I havent had my carmine jewel sucker at all yet, but Ive read that they can, maybe a less suckering version of the Romance series would be better?

1 Like

Suckering is the only problem I see with them.

1 Like

I hope I get some suckers from mine but I can see where at some point that is a nuisance

1 Like

I wouldnt mind some either. I wonder if nutrition has anything to do with a plant suckering. Mine are well fertilized and I get none. maybe the ones that sucker a lot are exploring more, looking for food.

1 Like

They sucker year 5 or 6.

If you are getting 30 lbs per bush, there’s no complaints to be had there, and you are obviously doing things right. My yield last year was comparable – 25-30 lbs on the Carmine Jewel, and about 20 lbs per bush on each of Cupid, Juliet and Romeo, but that is my first good year of production so who knows if that will be typical? Maybe that yield stressed those 6’ bushes and this year I will get half-that, or maybe nothing at all? Honestly I’d be happy with 10 lbs per bush per year… but more is OK too :slight_smile:

I see you spray your cherries… what pests/diseases are you spraying for? I have no issue with spraying, I just haven’t seen any need to yet… unless the dreaded SWD make an appearance here…

We’re pretty humid, so at various times I spray with a fungicide like Kocide 3000, Immunox, Chlorothalonil, or Propiconazole. Been hit by Brown Rot, and touch of cherry leaf spot before so they need a little help for that.

I’ll also spray dormant oil, and then I spray Triazicide as my main insecticide. Left untreated and they’d be full of worms. Then the JB’s show up usually about the time the Cherry harvest is over, and they’ll either finish off the remaining cherries, or begin defoliating the bushes. By then I can use liquid Sevin.

2 Likes

You know, I’ve read thru both this thread and the other big Romance Series thread, I couldn’t find any info about how folks’ Crimson Passion bushes have done. I’m talking about production, flavor, annual growth, etc. Can anyone give a CP report?

I’m just curious because I just planted a CP, plus a Juliet and Romeo bush a couple weeks ago. I know it’ll be prob 3 years before we get any production, but wanted to see how they compare.

2 Likes

Tomorrow we will be picking carmine Jewell by the 5 gallon buckets! The crop is very heavy this year but the cherries seem slightly smaller than last year. Montmorency trees are still young but I’m overall pleased with the trees because one is already carrying a heavy crop! Hope your cherry crops are good this year. My cherry crop makes the sting of my apples and pear crop loss easier!

10 Likes

The gallon bags are piling up here are the first two!

13 Likes

Better send out a blast-out for helpers now Clark!

1 Like

Looks good, Clark. Excuse my ignorance, as I haven’t picked any such fruit, but are those cherries ripe? I understand that these Romance Series cherries are best when they are purple or even black. Maybe yours are, but the angle of light or the camera makes them look like they are reddish in color. Are these for preserves, and are they good just fresh eating, or still a bit tart?

Sorry to hear about your apple and pear losses this year, I guess this year was especially hard on a lot of folks growing fruit. Do you have any berry plants producing this year, like blacks, strawbs or rasps?

1 Like

We have rain coming which will crack them , yellow spot and a host of other diseases are on my heels. The fruit flies are in the air this morning and I don’t want my fruit full of maggots. The CJ taste better than Montmorency now so not perfect but better call them ripe enough! Ideally we want them black as 10 feet down. I’m not greedy and it’s important to get them out of the field ASAP. We have around 5 gallons now and still picking.

18 Likes

Clark has those wild blackberries that never fail to produce. Even when purple Carmine Jewel is still going to be tart. Best for processing. I think I’m going to make pies this year. Mine are still three weeks or so from being ripe.

1 Like

Very nice, they are little Jewels. I understand about picking them now, gotta stay ahead of the weather and pests. Barring any of these problems, how long would you have left them? I understand they are pretty much done by July?

1 Like