Cherry Trees in zone 9

General Fruit Growing
1

Are there any Cherry trees that would survive and flourish in zone 9. Thanks

2

It depends on if its eastern or western US zone 9. I assume you are in the east, there sweet cherries are not possible in zone 9. Sour cherries are borderline there, so survive yes but flourish perhaps not… There are some tropical cherries you can grow which I know nothing about, e.g. Surinam cherry etc. There are not many zone 9 easterners here now but there are several zone 8’s who probably know more than I do.

3

Hunte, if you are zone 9 west coast, the Minnie Royal and Royal Lee combination would be your choice.

4

There are high chill areas in CA where any cherry can be grown. This includes the central valley areas from Fresno to Red Bluff.

5

Hey Hoosierquilt, Im in zone 9 in southeast TX.

6

So much depends on what kind of zone 9 you are in. First step is to figure out your chill hour readings for your location. Find a nearby weather station on the weather underground and then plug it into the www.getchill.net website. Report back findings.

Also not a bad idea to check with your county cooperative extension office and see if they know if anyone in the area is successfully growing cherries.

7

SE TX is not cherry friendly. The trees might live for a while on well drained soil. But actually getting cherries would be difficult. Chilling in that area is minimal. The only sweet cherries that would get enough chilling are those mentioned above.

8

400 chill hours in my area.

9

Thanks for the replies

10

Hunte, if you can control for diseases, both of these cherries have low enough CH to produce for you. They produce right on the coast here in San Diego county, which has almost no CH. I am about 400-600 CH depending on our winters, and mine produce. My biggest issue is bloom times not overlapping well with my 2 trees, but I hear they both do better with bloom overlap on NewRoot rootstock, so that might be a consideration for you.

11

Thanks a lot hoosierquilt. I might have to give it a try. Thanks again

12

Urban Harvest in Houston sold a Cherry of the Rio Grande (Eugenia aggregata) at their annual plant sell that is suppose to be a cherry substitute for the warm climates, hardy to 20 degrees. It is not a true cherry but suppose to have a sweet cherry like flavor. I think that Minnie Royal and Royal Lee would have a hard time with our disease pressure in SE Texas.

13

Eugenias and Acerola are an cherry alternative option if the OP has the desire to protect the plants from frost/freeze injury, or grow in containers and/or greenhouse. Select known tasty cultivars.

14

Thanks guys