CHERRIES California has always had a reputation for producing quality fruits.

And now, the world is talking about our sweet, snackable cherries. Here, in the San Joaquin and the coastal valley regions of Hollister and Gilroy, cherry orchards thrive in the mild climate. Every tree is exposed to the perfect balance of nutrient-rich soil, warm, sunny days and cool nights. Hazardous freezing temperatures, even in the winter months, are rare. This ensures optimal budding and bloom conditions which lead to bountiful harvests. With such fertile soil and fantastic weather, it makes perfect sense that California is one of the top three cherry producers in the United States. <Picture> Bing This popular cherry has red/mahogany-colored skin and flesh. The stone is relatively small, while the fruit itself is crisp, firm and juicy. Consumers enjoy its sweet, rich flavor, which is the reason that it's the dominant variety. Rainier This cherry is recognizable by its golden/pink blushed skin color. It's a finely textured variety with firm, clear flesh and colorless juice. The Rainier offers consumers a very sweet, delicate flavor. Lambert This heart-shaped, dark red cherry is slightly smaller than the Bing. It has a sweet, rich flavor and moderately firm flesh. The Lambert variety is also a favorite among consumers. Vans Vans This late-season cherry is appreciated for its refreshingly sweet taste and deep red color. Consumers love to snack on Vams, one after another. <Picture> Our growers' dedication to quality, careful handling and specialized shipping practices, has put California n the map in the minds of cherry retailers and consumers. When a cherry reaches optimal maturity, it is hand-picked and repeatedly inspected for perfection. Our cherries are known for their quality and distinctive sweet, rich flavor. That's what makes them the perfect snack. <Picture> <Picture> First, multiple passes are made through the orchards to make sure only the ripest fruit is harvested. Next, the cherries are "hydro-cooled" with chilled water to reduce their temperature and retain their superior quality. And finally, the cherries are specially packaged for freshness in sturdy, display-ready boxes, and quickly shipped to stores. <Picture> California cherries are the first and best stone fruit of the season. <Picture>

<Picture> Ideal storage if 32 Fahrenheit (0 Celsius) and 90%-95% humidity. Under these conditions, your cherries will stay fresh for several days. Try to keep your cherries out of the sun. As temperatures rise, the fruit becomes limp and the stems will turn brown and shrivel. Don't sprinkle your cherries with water. Cherries absorb water ad get soft. Also, water can spread decay. Handle with care to avoid bruising. Remove fruit with any sign of decay. Place cherries in a refrigerated display area. If possible, refrigerate your display cherries at night.

German growers are intensifying sweet cherry production using seedling and dwarfing rootstocks on several types of training systems. "Traditional sweet cherry production has not been economical for the past 20 years, especially as prices for sweet cherries have risen slowly since 1950," said Dr. Sabine Franken-Bembenek, a German plant breeder who spoke at the International Dwarf Fruit Tree Association conference held in British Columbia in late February. "In order to raise yields per acre - especially early yields - to reduce picking costs and to make a profit, several promising efforts have been made by researchers and Extension people to develop new methods." Spindle on Vigorous Rootstocks A slender spindle system on vigorous rootstocks was developed in the Niederelbe region of northern Germany and the Netherlands to achieve small trees and prevent infection. The aim is a slender spindle without scaffold branches, which is precocious and productive, may be planted narrowly spaced and limited to a height of 13 to 16 feet. At the time it was developed dwarfing rootstocks had not been developed and the planting material was grafted onto a vigorous rootstock, had a dominant central leader and well spaced side branches. In this system the central leader is only pruned if the planting material was unbranched, and at a high level, so that vegetative growth is not enhanced and side branches will not develop too strong. With branched planting material the leader is not pruned until reaching the maximum height of the tree. Intensive pruning always provides enough two- and three-year-old wood and keeps the productive zone close to the stem. Four-year-old wood is always removed because only a few fruit can be expected there. In order to prohibit infections of wood fungi, special care must be taken so no side branch gets thicker than half of the central leader. If the diameter of a side branch at the crotch is more than 50% of the diameter of the central leader, it will overtake the leadership and gummosis and die back are likely to occur. If such a side branch has developed, it may not just be pruned at the point of insertion, but has to be reduced to a stump of four to eight inches in length. The stump will dry out and will not become infected. This is called the stump method and is best done in August or early spring. For this type of planting it is recommended that the relation of distance to height be a ratio of 2:3. For a planned height of 15 feet the maximum plant distance should be 10 feet and side branches should be no longer than five feet. Slender Spindle on Dwarfing Rootstocks The intent of this system is to create a precocious slender spindle tree, 10 to 15 feet in height, with a dominant central leader, no scaffolds and well-spaced weak side branches, similar to a slender spindle apple tree. The main emphasis is on forcing side shoots into a horizontal position by use of clothes pins, clips, weights, strings, spreaders and avoiding pruning in the first years. Only the weak and unbranched plants are topped at a height of 32 to 36 inches. A tree with well-spaced side branches is not pruned and only surplus, very long and vigorous shoots are removed. In the following spring, the remaining shoots are forced into a horizontal direction. In order to keep the dominance of the central leader and to prevent upper buds from sprouting and building up competitive shoots, three to five of the following lower buds are removed after the middle of March. The top bud will sprout and below that less vigorous and less steep shoots will develop. As soon as these shoots have a length of 2.4 to four inches, they are forced apart by clothes pins, which are inserted above the young shoots at a 90 angle. Two or three weeks later, the clothes pins are attached to the shoot tips for weighting and preventing the tips from growing upwards again. Further training is very intensive and mainly done by bending, spreading and weighing down older side shoots. Doing this inhibits vegetative growth and enhances fruiting and flowering. The central leader is only pruned (in spring) if growth has exceeded 20 inches. Each year the first two to five buds below the terminal (after the middle of March) as well as upright shoots on laterals (at harvest time) are removed and side branches are reduced if too long. By training this way, trees on dwarfing rootstocks will produce fruits after two to three years. Mature trees are topped at a height of 10 to 15 feet, depending on the rootstock. During the next harvest the numerous upright shoots arising in the top are pulled out by hand - not pruned. In order to prevent early senescence, removing of old fruiting wood and promotion of new shoots has to provide for a rotation of fruiting wood. Each year new shoot growth of six to 10 inches is necessary. Slender Spindle Without Scaffolds

This method was developed for poor branching cultivars. The intent is to achieve a slender spindle, which may be planted at high densities. Preferred planting material are two-year-old trees with horizontal side branches at a height of 24 to 32 inches. At the beginning of the vegetation period plants are topped 24 inches above the uppermost side branch. A technique called the June nip is used to weaken both the central leader and the vigorous competitive shoots in the upper part of the crown. The June nip is done two or three years following the planting year by pruning the central leader or vigorous competitive shoots back to seven or eight leaves of growth of that year. Subsequently, one or more sleeping buds will sprout, reach a maximum length of eight inches in autumn, and have a flat direction and bear flower buds at the basis. This method is preferred over bending as it is said to be more effective in breaking the apical dominance of the sweet cherry. During the training period of three to four years, all other branches that aren't horizontal in the lower part of the crown are forced in a horizontal direction by bending. If a side branch with a diameter of more than 50% of the central leader has developed, it has to be reduces using the stump method. If new shoots are too vigorous and it is not possible to nip them, then the branch is pruned at the point of insertion on the upper side of the branch. The bud will sprout vigorously and another, subordinate bud will sprout weakly. In August the branch is pruned back to its subordinate shoot.

U.C. Fruit & Nut Research and Information Center<Picture> Specialists/Farm Advisors/Research Activities/Educational Activities/Publications/ General Sweet Cherries <Picture> The sweet cherry (Prunus avium) appears to have originated in the Caucasus, between the Black and Caspian Seas. Sweet cherries are susceptible to brown rot and thus should be grown where it is too cool or too dry for the disease to develop. It can be partially controlled by sprays during the bloom and preharvest period. This fruit develops good quality in climates too cool for peaches or apricots. Thus areas with good winter rains and dry, cool summers are ideal. The crop matures early, so irrigation is not needed in some areas. The better-quality, firm cherries tend to be more susceptible to rain crackling than lowerquality, soft cherries. The selection of sites with dry summers to prevent crackling is the principal reason that the major U.S. acreage is in the Pacific-slope states. Sweet cherry trees and buds are somewhat more hardy to cold than are peaches, but less so than pears and common plums (Prunus domestica). Windsor, Governor Wood, and lyon seem to be hardier than other older cultivars. Sweet cherry buds require somewhat longer winter chilling than Elberta peach (about 1000 hours). Bing, Lambert, and Napoleon have longer chilling requirements than Black Tartarian, Chapman, or Black Republican. -----------------------------------------------------------------------Return to Cherry Index -----------------------------------------------------------------------Crop Index//About the Center//Announcements//Calendar//University Personnel Publications//Statistics//Info. & Useful SitesUC Fruit & Nut Research and Information Center Dept. of Pomology University of California Davis, CA 95616 URL: http://pom44.ucdavis.edu This page was last updated Aug. 20, 1996. Suggestions to Naomi Hirsch.