Cherries

[mosstrooper]

Hi all, do cherries (fruit size) get bigger as a tree grows bigger?
I suspect not but having never grown cherries before i thought it best to ask someone who knows better than i.

I've been fan training this tree for three years and this year is the first time it's fruited so i only left a few fruits to grow on. Well, they are edible and they are a sweet cherry but they are rather small,bigger than ornamental cherries but not really worth the bother if you know what i mean.
This tree was a gift from someone who was giving up their garden and they had lost the label (big mistake on my behalf)
Anyway, i have my eye on a Sunburst cherry tree and would rather dig this one up now if it's not going to improve.

[nickdub]

It depends :-)

Sorry not to be more precise but there are various factors involved. The size of the fruit may be influenced by the fact that this is still a young tree and hasn't got established enough to generate the biggest size it could, when its older for example - there is also the possibility that the tree is not genetically able to produce better sized fruit.

The only way to be absolutely sure, with out the name of the variety, is to continue to cultivate it over several more years and find out that way.

My feeling would be to keep on with this one for a while, but possibly buy another tree this winter, which you can grow on on the side in a container or whatever with a view to replacing this tree if it continues to prove disappointing.

There is also the option of budding a new variety on to the tree you have now and so working it over to a more desirable type without sacrificing the growth its already made ie top-working it.

[mosstrooper]

Thanks Nick,your thoughts match my own. Iv;e not had much success with bud grafts in the past so, i.m going to buy a known variety and move this one to another place and see how it turns out. much appreciated,thanks

[Jungle Jane]

Do you think it might be a tree that needs a pollination partnerto improve fruit? If you’re getting a sunburst cherry I wonder if the two are compatible,there’s a list on this page but we don’t know the name of the neighbours gift-
https://www.orangepippintrees.co.uk/...er.aspx?v=1489

[mosstrooper]

Thanks Jungle Jane, i'm growing these on my allotment garden and there are numerous cherries growing nearby. btw where is Orangepippin? I've never seen him post for a while.

[nickdub]

Thanks Nick,your thoughts match my own. Iv;e not had much success with bud grafts in the past so, i.m going to buy a known variety and move this one to another place and see how it turns out. much appreciated,thanks

You're very welcome - my record with grafting/budding is by no means good, but I figure if 1 or 2 come good out of 20 then at least I'm making progress. One further option which might work for you is approach grafting - its when you have a tree and bring a growing scion in a container near to it, then bend branches from both trees together and bind them up so they can grow together slowly - obviously later, if the uniting succeeds, you cut them apart again.

[mosstrooper]

Well, after failing to bud graft plums for the past three year i,ve decided to have one more try with this cherry.
I came across this black one which is much better than the one i have, both in taste and size.
There's a graft on each arm of the fan and one on the main trunk and a further three grafts on a rootstock i have planted in a pot.
If they should take i'll put some pictures up, if not i'll be spending some pennies come winter

[Nicos]

I have an enormous black cherry tree usually producing fruit larger than those in your hand,
However, the size does vary year on year and I suspect it may be due to how much water the plant is able to take up.
Maybe extra watering to encourage root growth over the Autumn/winter and again in the spring as the fruit are growing might do the trick?
Take care though not to overwater in one go as the fruit are forming or they will split.
Just a thought....