I simmer in a regular pot and strain out the solids, which is a little different because it will concentrate the juice some. The sugar and acidity varies from year to year, so I will add sugar while simmering to adjust for whatever I’m making. Most of the time I want both juice and solids, so I only go far enough to get about a pint of juice and 2 cups of solids per quart bag of frozen cherries.
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Yeah, I’ve seen posts about using Carmine Jewel as a rootstock.
I’m talking about taking a Carmine Jewel scion and grafting it to a standard sweet cherry. We can expect they will be graft compatible.
I’m wondering about vigor, growth habit, and especially fruiting. Has nobody tried this?
Are the fruits just not as tasty as more vigorous sour cherries? Is my idea pointless, like grafting columnar apple on a limb of a multi-grafted apple tree since the primary selling point is their growth habit?
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I like your idea. I use rootstocks to graft both sweet and sour cherries to. It is very hard to grow sweet cherries here in my climate, but i will always keep trying. If you want a branch of sour cherries to make a couple of pies or tarts, that makes sense to me. Let me know if i can be of help. Dont forget you can always cheat and use an interstem. I do it all the time.
I have a decent crop of Carmine Jewel this year with little bug damage. It has been a bug magnet in years past. To the point of no useable fruit.
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That really surprises me. We have zero pressure here because of all my birds. The western fruit fly is ever present but the fly catchers get them before they get to many fruits. Mulberry attract more insects and birds in my experience.
Thanks clarkinks, I may hit you up for some scion wood this winter if the seedlings do well this year.
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fly catchers = traps? can you post a link?
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Fly catchers as in birds
Swallows probably catch more than flycatchers for what it’s worth
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Exactly i have loads of birds.
Just let me know.
They have huge tail feathers that look like scissors.
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Here’s Montmorency on Compact Stella sweet cherry today at my old place. This is the first significant crop in over 15 years I think. I’m not sure what was different this year.
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Your tree finally likes you! 
or my mom 
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It is fabulous!
We have a Carmine Jewel bush and a Juliet bush growing about 10 feet apart. They are too close; I wish that I had p[lanted they 15 feet apart. Last year was the first full production year for these two cherries ans we picked 7 1/2 gallons of great cherries. This year, we only picked 4 gallons, but probably left a gallon on the trees.
The Juliet bush is 3-4 feet taller than the Carmine Jewel. The Juliet is our favorite; the cherries are larger, sweeter and much more productive. Since the Carmine Jewel ripens about 5-7 days before the Juliet, it gets most of the bird pressure, which is ok with me.
Last year we also had a lot of worms in the cherries, which we found while pitting. This year, we did not find a single worm. I do not know why, although I did change my spray schedule.
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has anyone planted carmine jewel suckers in a wildlife capacity in a pasture or something like that with minimal care and just let them go, to compete with native grasses/weeds etc? Im thinking about transplanting some suckers into some native prairie just to see how they survive and spread over time. They seem to be pretty drought tolerant, so Im thinking they will survive, unless they are heavily eaten by deer or rabbits.
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Why would you purposefully add a bunch of plants that maybe invasive into a native prarie
primarily to benefit wildlife…
This is extremelt ill advised then. You already have a native space which is actually supporting wildlife. Plant native plants in areas without to support wildlife. Head over to the native plant thread and throw in yiur general location and people can give suggestions
ive got both native areas and orchard areas on my land, and the native areas have MUCH less animal and insect activity… Pretty much where Im located native areas are just grass, no trees or anything else, some small bushes, but they arent more than a couple feet tall.
Youre totallt missing the mark here. Most insects are very small and not something you would observe without reallt getting down and looking. Native plants host dozens to hundrends of native larval species in addition to the seed heads providing extremely important nutrient dense foods for birds in the winter. The grasses alsonprovide shelter for nesting birds and small mammals.
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