Z6...how did your cherries do this year?

General Fruit Growing
1

I’m 6a. I have 2 White Gold cherries. They set some fruit but are pretty skimpy with fruit production. Last year they were loaded with cherries. Are cherries low yield every other year?

2

Did they get zapped by frost ?

3

My Romeo and Juliet bush cherries were covered with beautiful blooms and then came a hard frost and below freezing temps. I had hoped some cherries would develop but today I could find only a couple on Romeo. So disappointing! Oh well, they were quite beautiful in full bloom. Southern Indiana,6B.
I am not sure if the cold and freeze did them in or lack of pollinators. It was a very rainy cold time when they were blooming, but I thought I saw a few flying insects on them one day. Who knows?
Sandra

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4

I have one Northstar with a couple fruits forming but it’s a very young tree.

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5

Same for my White Gold, fruit set was not as good as last year. I was assuming it was related to the hard winter

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6

Zone 5 but I would like to mention that adding to much N to cherries is a bad thing. I have mature cherry trees that don’t blossom much. I added way to much N and didnt know at the time it was a no no. I added very little N in the last 2 season and they are doing better but not blooming like a cherry should.

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7

Carmine Jewels are loaded. Black Gold, White Gold and Black Tartarian are moderate (I’d guess about 40 or 50% fruit set). Surefire pie cherry seems good.

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8

I have a large Juliet branch grafted to a Carmine Jewel, so all pollination and weather factors are the same. The Juliet never produces as much as CJ.

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9

@ztom I have heard that Carmine Jewel is very productive compared to the other Romance cherries. I think I will look into getting one. Some years Juliet produces pretty well and Romeo also. Other years nary a cherry or just a very few. I think it is somehow related to the weather in early spring.
They are the first trees in my little orchard to bloom, and we will have a warm stretch and they burst forth into full bloom quite early. Unfortunately, a frost/freeze seems to hit right during full bloom fairly often.
They are beautiful big bushes, though. Right now they are putting up suckers like crazy. I have left a few when I mow around them. I think I will try to graft a couple of suckers with Carmine Jewel next spring and plant them elsewhere.
Sandra

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10

Thanks for all the feedback!

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11

Overbearing one year can reduce flower bud formation for the next if the tree doesn’t have enough time or energy to recover. Weather also plays a big role, cold snaps during bloom or poor pollination conditions can tank fruit set

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