Cherry
COURSE – HORT -242
Introduction
Botanical Name: Prunus avium ( Sweet cherry)
Prunus cerasus (Sour
cherry )
Family: Rosaceae
A delicious fruit rich in sugars, minerals and
protein
More calorific value than apple.
Sweet cherry- table purpose
Sour cherry – processing.
Native of Europe and Western Asia
States: J & K and H.P.
Production in HP – 765 MT (NHB, 2023-24)
FLOWER TREE
FRUIT
Varieties
About 120 varieties are available.
Most of them belongs to sweet cherry group.
All varieties are divided into two groups:-
1. Heart group: Fruit is heart shape, soft and tender
flesh, dark to light colored.
2. Bigarreau group:- Fruit roundish, colour vary
from dark to light red. e.g. Sam, Sue, Summit,
Sunburst, Lapins, Compact Stella and Hybrid (13-17-
40).
Recommended Cultivars
The cultivar Lambert, a late flowering, can be
planted in areas where spring frost is a problem.
Being prone to rain splitting, it should be
cultivated in drier areas.
Stella is a self- fertile cultivar.
Climate
Cherries require colder climate than peaches and apricots.
Chilling requirement is 1000-1500 chilling hours.
Grown in areas between 2000 to 2700 m amsl. Annual rainfall – 100-125
cm.
Hill slope is a preferable site where the cold air may drain down .
The valleys with an outlet for the heavy cold air to move out are also
suitable sites.
Select a frost free site.
There should not be high rainfall at the time of flowering and
towards the ripening period.
Soil
Cherries require deep, fertile, well drained,
gravely to sandy loam soils .
The soils should not be waterlogged.
pH – 6.5-7.0
Rootstocks
Locally called as Paja (Prunus cerasoides) – common rootstock
Wild bird cherry (Prunus padus) – also used as rootstock
Mahableb (Prunus mahaleb) – used in J & K
Clonal rootstocks – Colt and Mazzard F12/1 – are also promising.
Propagation Method
Tongue grafting: January– February
Cleft grafting : January– February (Top working
method)
T- budding : May- June
Planting
Confined to hilly and slopy lands.
Planting system – Contour or Terrace system and in valley area – Square
system
Distance : 6x6m (Seedling rootstock)
Distance :4x4m (Colt rootstock in HP)
Time : December – February. Early planting is desirable
Pit size - 1x1x1 m, filled with 35-40 kg FYM
Training and Pruning
Modified Central Leader System of training.
Heading back of 60-80 cm at the time of planting
Centre leader is retained – 2-5 wide angled branches, 20-25 cm apart
Lowest branch should be 40-60 cm above the ground.
Cherry plants require more corrective pruning rather than too
much heading back
Bearing trees need pruning to keep the centre of tree open.
Pruning is restricted to eliminate dead, diseased and
intercrossing branches
Fruits are borne laterally on spurs of one year old shoot.
Average productive life of these spurs is 1-12 years, requiring
less spur pruning.
Manure and fertilizers
Method of fertilizer application
Apply FYM during December- January along
with P and K.
Apply half N in spring before flowering and
remaining half N one month later, if irrigation
facilities are available.
Under rain-fed conditions, N fertilizer should
be applied in one lot about 15 days before
bud break.
Pollination
A large number of sweet cherry cultivars are self-
unfruitful or self sterile and thus do not set crops
with their own pollens ------need cross pollination.
There are many incompatible groups and the
varieties within the group should not be planted
together without a pollinizer.
Thus, only compatible varieties can be inter planted
to get commercial crops.
Stella, which is a self- fruitful variety should
preferably be used in the combination of varieties.
Pollination problem in cherry is very complex because most of the
varieties are not only totally incompatible with their own
pollen but also with the pollen of some other varieties.
Care should be taken to see that not only their flowering period
overlaps, but they also do not have the same fertility
alleles.
The varieties which have the same sterility allele if planted
together will not set fruit and require at least one other
variety having different sterility allele for better fruit set.
The universal donor varieties – Stella, Vista, Vic, Seneca and
Vega ----- can be planted with any other variety to get good fruit
set, provided their flowering period overlaps.
Incompatibility groups of some
varieties
Irrigation
The peak water use period is from middle of
April to middle of May.
The irrigation interval should be at weekly
intervals during fruit growth and
development
Due to slopy lands and non-availability of
irrigation water, cherry is grown under rainfed
conditions of the country.
Harvesting & Yield
Harvesting of the fruits is the most expensive operation
associated with the production of cherries.
Early picking results in flat fruits with less yield as cherries
usually develop rapidly in the last few days before maturity
is reached.
Determination of degree of maturity should be employed as a
guide for harvesting of fruits.
Colour development, TSS and flavour are the best standards
for judging optimum time of harvesting.
.
Sweet cherry is picked with the stems (pedicels intact) unless
they are to be delivered for processing.
Handle the fruits carefully to avoid cuts and bruises.
Average yield – 15-20 kg/tree
Fruits are packed in boxed lined with paper, 5 kg boxes being
used for packing.
Yield: 6-9 tones per hectare
Fruit Cracking and Splitting
Cracking of sweet cherry fruit due to rain near harvest is
a major source of crop loss in the cherry industry.
The disorder is characterized by a splitting of the outside
layer of the cherry skin.
The splitting most commonly appears around the stem
bowl, where water can accumulate, but is also seen
on other areas of the cherry cuticle.
Bing cherries have a higher incidence of cracking
while Van, Sweetheart, Lapins, Rainier and Sam are
lower.
Control: Spray CaCl2 @ 300-350 g per 100 L water.
Storage
Cherry can be stored for 2-3 weeks
at a temperature of 0˚C with 85-
90% relative humidity.
