Sweet cherry
Prunus avium
HighSecondary
Production
A classic fruit tree grown for sweet cherries and spring blossom, best kept in check on a dwarfing rootstock. Most varieties need a pollination partner, and birds will fight you for the harvest.
Tolerances & traits
- Strata
- High
- Lifecycle
- Secondary
- Soil preference
- Loam, Sandy
- Soil pH range
- 6 – 7.5
- Min. temperature
- -28°C
- Min. rainfall
- 600 mm/year
- Wind tolerance
- Medium
- Frost tolerance
- High
- Growth rate
- Medium
- Irrigation needed
- Medium
How to manage it
Vigorous on seedling rootstock; use a dwarfing rootstock and summer-prune to keep it manageable. Prune only in dry summer weather to avoid disease entry.
Watch out for
Most cultivars need a compatible cross-pollination partner; needs winter chill to fruit; birds take the crop; prune in summer, not winter, to avoid silver leaf and bacterial canker.
Design your line to see how your land fits Sweet cherry.
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