cherry tree trouble

[jaximus]

my brother got some cherry trees on sale from menards for $10 each a while back. he planted them real close to the apple trees we already had in, but now they starting to show signs of trouble.

not 100% sure what is ailing them, but here are a few pics

i thought maybe fireblight, but the internet mentioned brown rot. i have no experience with either.

 

[Turkey Creek]

I am leaning towards fireblight as well. Fireblight affects more than just apples and pears. However some fire blight strains are specific to what they infect. So you might want to research if fire blight on cherries will affect other fruit trees you might have.

 

[CrazyEd]

If they're sweet cherries and you planted them in central WI....they were going to die this winter anyway

Not hardy enough? I was going to try grafting some sweet or tart cherries onto my wild black cherrys that i hinge cut. Sounds like maybe it's a waste of time and effort and is a good way to introduce disease?

 

[Turkey Creek]

Tart (pie) cherries would likely survive a "normal" winter. Sweet cherries won't survive a "mild" central WI winter.

Stu is on the money. They dont even reccomend sweet cherries for zone 5b. Sweet cherries are like peaches in that they are generally looking for a reason to die! That doesnt stop people from trying to grow them though. Ed you would want to check the compatibility of wild black cherry with sweet cherry as well. Sweet and tart cherries arent compatible on all rootstocks.

 

[CrazyEd]

Sweet and tart cherries arent compatible on all rootstocks.

Understood. This is just 100% experiment. I plan to also try putting an apple on a black cherry just to see if somehow it would survive. Not likely but no harm in trying.

 

[Turkey Creek]

Understood. This is just 100% experiment. I plan to also try putting an apple on a black cherry just to see if somehow it would survive. Not likely but no harm in trying.

Seeing your comment to my comment :) Made me realize I might not have worded mine in the manner which I had intended, though you still get the drift. Some rootstocks that will grow sweet cherries will not be compatible with tarts and vice versa. Meaning if you are in mad scientist mode you might want to try sweet AND tart varieties on your black cherry rootstock. It might be compatible with one and not the other.

 

[wooduck]

Sweet cherries are and have been bred for Minnesota up to zone 4 , Have seen the trees at the uofm research facility and was told they achieved the crosses 10 to 12 years ago and have recently released trees to selected sites thru out Minnesota for hardiness testing and fruit production . Do not know of any planned public release at this time . But my bet if they are released Bailys nursery will be the supplier

 

[jaximus]

they are lapin sweet cherries rated to zone 4

 

[jaximus]

thanks for the info! my efforts on the land are more focused on the crabapples/dogwoods/grapes, but he wanted some cherries and found them at a price he couldnt pass up. i sent him the link to the thread because i was having trouble convincing him myself.

 

[wooduck]

Are you talking about sweet cherry trees or sweet cherry "bushes"? There a couple sweet cherries shrubs/bushes available that came out of Saskatchewan (I think).

These are not from the Canadian breeding program and are a true sweet cherry long single stem hangs like a bing the ones I have seen at the research facility were a yellow tinged with red on the sun side and was told that they were the foundation stock for breeding cold hardy sweet cherries for the north , asked about the canadian breeding work and the reply was not related at all , completely different cultivar .

150 years ago everyone in this latitude believed apples would not grow in Minnesota . Peter Giddion was the founder of apple growing in the north and also the creator of variety Wealthy. His work on apples started and is the foundation of apple breeding at the u of m .



Fireblight is very hard to control once established and varies year to year . All you can do now is get a head of the damage .

 

[wooduck]

Good info, thanks. So maybe folks in their 20's and 30's will be able to grow sweet cherries in MN sometime in the future. I've never understood the thought that apples wouldn't grow in MN. They've grown in northern Maine for hundreds of years and at similar latitudes in Kazakhstan probably pretty much since man knew what an apple was.

The foundation seeds that Giddion worked with were from all over the world including Kazakhstan , Russia , northern Europe and I believe Maine also , All seedling work and chance crosses .

If your ever get time or a chance tour the Arboretium near excelsior mn , fantastic gardens and trees that are being bred. Open to the public , small fee

 

[aerospacefarmer]

Jaximus,

Have your brother watch this video. You'll want no part of fireblight.
I'd get rid of those cherries ASAP.

That was great video NH but so depressing since I have a few trees this year with shoot blight. My Scarlett O'Hara has it and a few other trees with a few shoots. It's gross stuff