CHERRY Rainier
Prunus avium
Large, super sweet, white/yellow fruit with red blush and white flesh. Ripening early to mid season. Requires 700 chilling hours to set fruit.
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Planting | ||||||||||||
Harvesting |
Pollination
Compact Stella, Lapins or Stella.
Colt - Vigorous rootstock that grows to 5-6 metres. Good for difficult soil.
Edabriz - A dwarfing rootstock, tree grows to approximately 2-3 metres.
Edabriz interstem – Colt roots grafted with Edabriz on top, then grafted with the chosen variety. This way if you have difficult soil but still want a dwarf tree you can have the best of both worlds. Due to the Colt roots, vigour is a little higher than straight Edabriz. Tree grows to approximately 3-4 metres.
Cherries |
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SOIL |
Prefers well drained soil, rich in potash and lime. |
PLANTING SITE |
Warm, sunny, dry and sheltered site is best, protected from Spring frosts. Plant 4-5m apart from other large trees. |
CLIMATE |
Cherries do best in areas with cold Winters, dry Springs and Summers. |
WATERING |
Water well during the early stages, during long dry periods and when the fruit is developing. |
PESTS & DISEASES |
Cherries are particularly prone to bacterial canker, silver leaf disease and aphids. |
PLANTING IDEAS |
Stonefruit trees can be ‘espalier’ trained against a wall or fence in a fan shape. Cherries on dwarf rootstocks may be planted in containers. |
FRUIT |
Fruit ripens from early to late Summer, depending on the variety. |
POLLINATION |
Some varieties are self fertile, while others require another variety for pollination. |
TREE SIZE |
Cherry trees can grow up to 7m tall. |
RECOMMENDED PRUNING SYSTEM |
Central leader or Vase shape.
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