Cherry

Cherry is grown as a grafted, long-lived perennial tree. Commercial production is divided between sweet cherry, grown mainly for the fresh market, and sour or tart cherry, grown mainly for processing, with each species having distinct orchard management traditions.

Because cherry is propagated clonally and cropped over many seasons, decisions on rootstock, cultivar, and — for sweet cherry — pollinizer variety are made once at establishment and shape orchard management for the life of the planting.

Family

Rosaceae (rose family)

Genus

Prunus

Principal species

Prunus avium (sweet cherry) and Prunus cerasus (sour or tart cherry)

Growth habit

Deciduous tree, commercially propagated by grafting a fruiting cultivar onto a selected rootstock

Sweet cherry and sour cherry differ not only in fruit use but in tree habit and pollination biology: sweet cherry trees tend to be more vigorous and largely self-incompatible, while many sour cherry cultivars are self-fertile, simplifying orchard pollination design for that species.

Sweet cherry and sour cherry both originate from regions spanning Europe and western Asia, with long histories of cultivation and selection across these areas before spreading to other temperate regions worldwide.

Commercial production of both species is now established across temperate regions on multiple continents.

Cherry trees require a period of winter chilling to break dormancy and flower normally; the chilling requirement varies by cultivar, but cherry is generally noted as having a comparatively high chilling requirement among stone fruits, which restricts the species to genuinely cold-winter temperate climates compared with some other Prunus crops.

Cherry tends to bloom relatively early in many growing regions, making spring frost during bloom one of the most significant climate risks for the crop, since flowers and young fruitlets are frost-sensitive.

Cherry is the least tolerant of wet ground of the common stone fruits, and the tolerance that exists is supplied by the rootstock rather than the cultivar. Mazzard, a Prunus avium seedling, is compatible with every sweet cherry scion and offers no protection against a high water table; Colt tolerates periodic waterlogging and is less susceptible to Phytophthora. On any site where drainage is uncertain, that choice is made before the cultivar is.

Establishing a cherry orchard begins with choosing a rootstock and cultivar combination suited to the site and market. For sweet cherry, orchard design must also account for pollinizer compatibility, since most sweet cherry cultivars are self-incompatible and require a different, cross-compatible variety planted nearby to set a commercial crop; sour cherry cultivars are more commonly self-fertile.

• Rootstock selection for size control, anchorage, and site adaptation
• Pollinizer selection for sweet cherry, given widespread self-incompatibility among cultivars
• Training and pruning system matched to planting density and species
• Frost-management planning given the crop's relatively early bloom in many regions

Potassium supports fruit size and quality in cherry, while calcium status is closely linked to fruit firmness, a particularly important quality trait for sweet cherry given its susceptibility to rain-induced cracking near harvest. Boron plays a role in flowering and fruit set.

Cherry is unusual among orchard fruit in being damaged by water arriving from above rather than below. Rain on ripening fruit is absorbed through the skin and splits it, and a single event close to harvest can render a block unmarketable, which is why orchards in wet climates are covered and why harvest date is often set by the forecast rather than by maturity alone.

Cherries are notably susceptible to rain-induced fruit cracking as fruit approaches maturity, since ripening fruit absorbs water rapidly through the skin. This makes rainfall near harvest, rather than irrigation alone, a major fruit-quality risk that growers manage through cultivar choice, canopy management, and, in some regions, protective covers.

Spotted wing drosophila changed cherry management wherever it arrived. Unlike the fruit flies that infest damaged or overripe fruit, it has a serrated ovipositor and lays into sound ripening fruit, so the crop is vulnerable through the whole colouring period rather than only at the end of it. Bacterial canker is the other characteristic problem, and it is one of the factors implicated in the sudden death of established trees.

Management combines resistant or tolerant cultivars, orchard sanitation, monitoring, and — where justified — locally authorized control products applied according to their labels.

Cherry fruit does not continue to ripen appreciably after picking, so harvest timing is based on maturity indicators such as color, size, and firmness, with fruit picked at or near full ripeness for fresh-market sweet cherry. Sour cherry grown for processing is often mechanically harvested, while fresh-market sweet cherry is typically hand-picked with the stem attached to reduce injury and extend shelf life.

• Fresh-market eating cherries (sweet cherry)
• Juice and juice blends
• Dried and canned fruit
• Pie fillings and other baked-good ingredients