Had a quick look at the legal requirements and yeah, it’s either a huge hassle or not allowed. Thanks anyway for the offer!
1 Like
I agree with @steveb4 and others said. These bush cherries seem to have a year or two of a lot of flowers but low fruit set before they will set and hold a big crop. I’m not sure why, but they seem to know when they’re ready… even if that comes a year or two after you were ready.
3 Likes
Cherries are smarter than way, apple trees can be much dumber. One of my favorite is prairie magic which has a tendency to skip years if you let it overproduce. Well last year I got greedy and let it try to ripen too big a crop, this year it is only pushing 2 clusters of flowers.
I guess it worked out for the best. This year it can focus on growth and still do 4~5 apples for me to eat off the tree.
2 Likes
all the wild and domestic apple trees are insanely covered in blooms this spring. never seen anything like it. many of mine are as well for the 1st time. the countryside’s are covered in wild bloom. im noticing i can smell them also. should be alot of apples to forage come late summer.
1 Like
My orchard of about a dozen varieties of apples was loaded with blooms, with sunny weather, but a very sparse fruit set. No thinning will be required. Nearby cherries loaded with fruit. Doesn’t make sense to me.
1 Like
You may want to check for nutrient deficiencies and ph. On my neck of the woods is safe to assume boron deficiency which affects fruit set. Said deficiency is compounded if a particular variety doesn’t like the ph of your soil because that makes it even harder for nutrients to be picked up.
Yes, I should probably get a soil test. They were heavily mulched with arborist mulch about 7 or 8 years ago, so shouldn’t be extremely deficient in anything.
1 Like
Romance cherries send their roots all over the place. The immediate patch of soil under the bush is not as significant as with other plants that stay put more.
2 Likes
If you are zone 4, I wonder if your fruiting buds are being damaged. When they declare hardiness, it usually means the survival of the plant. It does not take into account the amount of time spent at those low temperatures, or whether the fruiting buds will survive.
1 Like
I’m 4b and have @ 50 Juliet and 5 Carmine. They are 4th leaf and have been producing well since their 2nd year. Each year is better but no issues with pollination and fruit set. My soil is sandy loam and a slightly acidic soil 5.8- 6.0. I am pretty happy with them
4 Likes
I have one carmine jewel. It is definitely self fertile. Well, unless it’s pollinated by some random weedy prunus in the yard. Also, i see both bees and flies on the blossoms. I’m pretty sure it’s pollinated by insects.
I haven’t gotten any fruit because the critters eat it all. But this must have been a rough winter for chipmunks, and I’ve had several cherries from the sucker that fruited this year. The main bush is inside a cage, and I’m going to wait until most of the fruit looks ripe to open the cage.
I like sour fruits. I think the cherries I’ve eaten were very good. Not as good as the Bing my husband bought, that is just eaten. But quite nice. Small pit.
3 Likes
My Juliet had a fair increase in fruit this year. Went from a coulple dozen to about a pound. Quality increased, good to eat out of hand. They are darker this year but still clear juice inside. I would like to have left them hang longer but SWD were are all of the sudden insane on them. I picked them all and put them in fridge to stop the eggs and larva from developing until I have time to make a pie or some jam. We’ve had so much rain and cooler temperatures this year, not typical CO weather. I think that put a lot of plants behind schedule, so maybe that’s why there are SWD this year? Also tons of hail around the metro area, maybe damaged fruit has been good for them, but there isn’t really any native fruits that are ready to help the SWD populations yet. Here is a picture of an Evans Bali cherry which is about a week behind Juliet. Almost every cherry looks staked out like this.
2 Likes
I think most of the white specks are spots where a egg was laid into the cherry. Here is a less quality picture of one doing the deed. I was trying to get a better pic but the mosquitos were enjoying me too much, so I had to give up and run away.
Funny you mention this, I’m in almost the exact same boat. Juliet and Carmine Jewel both picked up production significantly this year. I netted them, learning from thieves from last year, but never anticipated SWD going crazy this year. I’ve had them get to my fall-bearing raspberries before, but never noticed them around anything else, nor this early in the year.
I agree, I think the colder temps, late bloom, frequent hail, and significant rainfall might all be causes for their super high numbers. I hope it doesn’t become the norm. I’m making notes to spray for them in advance next year.
1 Like
Our chipmunk population is down by probably 90% here in my yard located in Oxford Mi. We have about six cats in the area now too plus I bought one. I got my first real Harvest this year with 1 1/2 gallons. I also sprayed my bushes with deer and rabbit repellent to help with the deer up to when they set fruit then I sprayed the ground. It seemed to have helped keep everything away. I picked a couple of gallons of Carmine Jewel also.
1 Like
Anyone grafted any type of plum to the bush cherries?
i grafted Canadian plum to Juliet cherry and black ice plum. both took and put on about 2ft. of new growth. both are fruiting already so maybe some fruit from them next year. going to try black ice to Juliet as well.
4 Likes
Send me some please . I’m trying my had at grafting this year using Gisela 5 rootstock z
.
Will Juliet pollinate Carmine Jewel ?
yes but they’re both self pollinating.