Cherry Tree advice please

[jackie j]

When I took on the top allotment it already had a cherry tree on it, I have no idea what it is or how old it is. We have had the plot 15 months, I have put well rotted manure around the base and we got lots of flowers this year, unfortunatly there is only about a dozen ( if that ) cherries. Can anyone tell me why, it wasnt very windy during flowering time and I watered it well. Its in the ground and the site is very sunny all day.

[FB.]

Some varieties of cherry have very specific pollination requirements, such that they can only be pollinated by one or two other varieties. Perhaps you have one of these difficult-to-pollinate varieties.

Trees that aren't properly established will not fruit well for 2-3 years, during which they should be building a strong root system to supply the fruits in later life.

It is also possible that your tree is a one-off seedling.
Can you see a kink or scarring near ground level that signifies a graft?
Random seedlings can often take many years to start cropping and often reach a very large size. Cherry trees are especially vigorous growers.

The other possibility is that you're being too kind to the tree. Heavy feeding of nitrogen (including manure) can result in vigorous growth and a tendency to not fruit properly.

.............

I've had strange pollination events with my fruit trees this year, which I believe is due to poor quality flowers as a result of a very early and very mild spring.
A number of my dependable croppers (Spartan, Bountiful, Scrumptious, Beauty of Bath, Worcester Pearmain) had plenty of blossom but have set very little fruit and certainly didn't lack bees nor get frosted.
On the other hand, my Tydeman's Late Orange, Fiesta and Crawley Beauty are already groaning under the weight of an enormous crop.

[jackie j]

Not having a clue which variety it is dosent help me at all. Its possibly no more than three years old so will see how it does next year, there are other cherry trees around the allotment site but again not knowing what they or mine is. Will take a look at the trunk and see if its grafted or not. I had to feed it cos it hadnt been looked after for quite a while, the whole plot hadnt been fed at all, its hard and stoney ground
My unknown apple tree has loads of fruit on it this year so hoping to get a good crop from it.

Is there anyway I can find out what variety it is.

Thanks FB

[FB.]

It might be possible to determine the variety, but if it is a random seedling, it may somewhat resemble one or other of its parents and be misidentified.
Additionally, different rootstocks, different soils and different growing seasons can cause fruits on any tree to differ slightly from their "normal" appearance.

If you want to know the variety, it may be helpful to take note of the following points:

Tree vigour
Growth habit (upright/tall, spreading/wide, drooping, thick/thin branches etc)
Bark colour and texture
Leaf size and colour
Fruit size and colour
Fruit taste
Season of ripening
Shape, size and colour of leaves
Flowering time
Fruit quantities and position on the branches

But even then, you can't be certain.

If pollination is a concern, consider another cherry, selected from varieties which are known to be good pollinators of all other cultivated cherries.
The following link may help with identifying your variety and selecting a "universal pollinator":

> Link <
.

On a similar note, I grow a few apple trees mostly for their ability to heavily pollinate almost every other apple variety.
One of them is Beauty of Bath (early flowering) and another is Worcecter Pearmain (mid flowering), while another is Spartan (mid-flowering).
They have pollen types:
1 & 4
2 & 24
9 & 10

I therefore have pollen of types 1, 2, 4, 9, 10, 24 available.
Since an apple tree has two "incompatibility" genes (e.g. Discovery, being a cross of Beauty of Bath {1,4} x Worcester Pearmain {2,24}, has incompatibility genes 1, 24)

My six pollinator genes mean that there will always be at least four genotypes available to pollinate a given tree, and that doesn't include any of my other varieties or trees in nearby streets.
In the case of Discovery, Worcester's type 2 pollen, Beauty of Bath's type 4 pollen and all of Spartan's type 9 and type 10 pollen will pollinate Discovery.
Of course, Worcester, Beauty of Bath and Spartan are all good pollinators of each other too, with Worcester and Spartan being such heavy pollen producers that they are fully self-fertile and prone to over-crop and produce lots of "funsize" apples.