Sweet Cherries 2017

[Susu]

Mine is also on K5. Good to know.

[Matt_in_Maryland]

An Amish farmer in humid Lancaster County, PA, tells me his cherries on K.5 have proven highly susceptible to deadly canker.

My single tree on K.5 - Whitegold - has been healthy and modestly productive for two years running, but I am paranoid about subjecting it to any more pruning than may be necessary for fear of introducing canker.

[fruitnut]

An Amish farmer in humid Lancaster County, PA, tells me his cherries on K.5 have proven highly susceptible to deadly canker.

Same here in the desert.

[mamuang]

It will rain substantially tomorrow. I have already removed the tarp that I put on top like an umbrella against light rain this past Sat. Had to get off my butt to pick Black Gold. This year, the yield is less (rained during bloom time). Fruit are smaller than prevoius years.

Had to net before I could spray Indar. What a mistake!!! Spraying through netting, I missed a few spots. Any spots I missed, got brown rot. The actual BR damage was less than 5% but there were more damage from insects’ puncture wounds. The total fruit loss was about 20%. The rest are clean fruit.

In my area, if you don’t spray for brown rot, you won’t get any cherries or peaches. Plums are new to me but I suspect the same would happen. I sprayed plums this year ( first year) with Indar through the bags, too.

[Johnnysapples]

Well done congratulations Mamuang! I had to buy a bunch today, three bags. They were on sale for 1.99 LB!

[mamuang]

Thank you, John. As you can guess, our backyard fruit probably costs as much as a $64 tomato.

Last Sat, I had several guests tried it. They all said it tasted fine but the flesh was soft. I am the only one complaining about it. That makes me feel like a cherry snob indeed.

The brix is between 12-15.

[Drew51]

our backyard fruit probably costs as much as a $64 tomato.

Ha! Yes indeed!

but the flesh was soft

Let’s go over the hard flesh types, Bing, Rainier, White Gold? Seems fairly firm to me. I have Glacier too, it is soft, all I have.

[mamuang]

There are several but the info is based on a west coast growing condition.

Attika, Benton, Regina, Saleh, Sweetheart, etc. all firm flesh with good eating quality.

[Drew51]

Wow, thanks for that info!

[scottfsmith]

So far the Indar is looking like a miracle cure for brown rot, I have gotten almost zero. Its doing quite a bit better than the MFF did. One problem I had in past years is things not rotting on the tree would start rotting when brought in. With the Indar the fruit inside is also doing a lot better, I don’t need to eat immediately. I am also getting some Euro plums I have not gotten really any of in ten years - my Pearl for example is starting to ripen, and zero brown rot on it!

[mamuang]

I had little actual brown rot, all from the branches that I could not reach through the net when spraying Indar.

However, I found I had almost 20% of rot/ooze caused by puncture wounds from insects (OFM?). Need to tighten up spraying and getting Surround on in a timely manner.

[mrsg47]

That is really terrible!

[ahassel4u]

Late for a reply, but may be helpful this year… My solution for a taller tree is the frame of a patio umbrella with DeWitt heavy duty bird netting on top - I purchased 1.5" wooden balls (ebay) with partially drilled a hole to put over the spoke ends.
IMG_0906.JPG

[jxz7245]

Benton or Utah Giant if I only had room for either or? How is Lambert comparatively?

[jxz7245]

How is Benton compared to Utah Giant? is Lambert inferior to these two? Don’t have room for all three (I have many other varieties).

[mamuang]

I have not tried either. I believe @Antmary has positive experience with Utah Giant.

Sweet cherries in humid east is challenging. So far, my home grown sweet cherries have not been as good a product as the store bought ones. That’s disappointing.

[jxz7245]

They might not be up to par with grocery store cherries but at $8/lb I can only buy so many

[mamuang]

I’ve found that cracking and rotting is enemy #1 for me. Where I am, it often rains when cherries are about to ripen, unfortunately. Having said that, Black Gold is cold hardy and very productive.

The varieties that do well in CA, OR or WA may not be as cold hardy for our colder zones, either.

[jxz7245]

I read that Black Gold wasn’t very firm compared to most modern cherries?

[mamuang]

I have not found any backyard grown sweet cherries that are firm. I use Bing as a standard for firmness.