Is Nanking Cherry self pollinating?

Does anyone know if nanking cherry is self pollinating? Thank you

I think it needs another…but will find out and report back as my lone NC is just starting to profusely bloom. It could use a friend!

This is very hard information to find, some sites say yes others say no. The University of Sask. says no, they are not self fruitful and you need two or more genotypes to set a decent size fruit crop My question is, how do you find those? I have never seen different varieties of Nanking so purposely obtaining two different ones is hard. Others sites say that you need plums for proper pollination.

I have 4 bushes and one amazingly blooms a deeper shade of pink than the others, maybe that is why I usually get fairly good fruit set. It certainly can’t be plums as I am miles from the nearest plum tree and they do not grow wild up here.

My lone Nanking did not set any fruit this year. I will be planting another one soon.

I have always grown several nankings and never had a pollination issue, I have seen posts here where people that have one may not get fruit.

That is interesting, as I said I have 4 and no issues, but I thought maybe the wild chokecherries were helpful in the pollination as they are related.

I assumed that planting a tree of the same variety was not helpful in pollinating a non self pollinating tree so another Nanking would not pollinate a Nanking just as happens in some plums.

2 Likes

I think the difference in Nankings is that they are all from seed so there is enough genetic variation to cross polinate unlike grafted trees of the same variety that are genetically identical.

1 Like

I haven’t been able to find an answer to this question anywhere. I have lots of them planted together and pollination is not an issue for me. However, customers always ask me if they need two or can just plant one. I was hoping to hear from someone who has one planted by itself that sets fruit. I suppose I could plant one by itself and see what happens, but I have seen from some species that individuals may be self pollinating while others are not. This is true of elderberry and I am starting to think is also true of cornelian cherry. Probably best to always plant a couple genetically different individuals which can be tough for folks with small yards.

1 Like