The Tropical Fruit Forum
Temperate Fruit & Orchards => Temperate Fruit Discussion => Topic started by: BestDay on March 05, 2017, 01:05:38 PM
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My second leaf Minnie Royal and Royal Lee just started blooming together! I'm excited. Hopefully I can taste some of these cherries this year off my own tree. I'm excited so I had to tell someone. My wife doesn't care.
Bill
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That's great. :D Post some pics if you get the time!
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Very nice!
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The wind last weekend wreaked havoc with a lot of my fruitlets. I lost many pluots peaches plums nectarines pluerries... and cherries. Salvaged 5 royal lee but lost all Minnie royal cherries.
When will you harvest?
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Although I've heard it's possible, I don't dare try attempting the pair along the coast of sf. Hope you get many to enjoy.
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Royal Minnie appears to be much more precocious and vigorous growing than its partner Royal Lee.
Three or four cherries appeared on two of my Royal Minnie trees (second year in the ground, south of Los Angeles).
Last year, Bing and Rainier (not low-chill varieties, don't ask me what I'm doing with them) blossomed just a week after Royal Minnie, and the bloom times did overlap! There were still blossoms on Royal Minnie.
Oh, by the way, even Bing appears to be able to grow just fine in this climate (as long as you keep it well watered in the summer and give it just a little bit of partial shade). Fruiting is a different story.
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Has anyine in the deep south gotten these to fruit?
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I don't think they'll have problems fruiting in somewhere like Georgia, zone 9. In the South, with its humid summers, the issue will be disease. Will probably require a lot of spraying and your cherry tree (Prunus avium I'm talking about) may not last too long. Insects may also likely be an issue. There's a reason cherry trees are not traditionally grown in the South.
In case you were interested, native Black Cherries have slightly more resistance to the disease and insects.
Late spring freezes can also be a problem with stone fruit in many parts of the South. Will zap those new blossoms before they even have a chance to start growing fruit. You should still be able to get fruit some years though. Cherries tend to be later to bloom than peach by maybe about 2 weeks.
Oh, by the way, it is physically possible for any cherry to pollinate any other cherry, regardless of what specific species it is, as long as it's a different cultivar variety. (There's only a tiny number of exceptions, because a few cherry varieties may be too closely genetically related to be able to pollinate each other, for example the cultivars Bing, Royal Ann, and Lambert)
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Last year, Bing and Rainier (not low-chill varieties, don't ask me what I'm doing with them) blossomed just a week after Royal Minnie, and the bloom times did overlap!
There's a CRFG member in Carlsbad, about 1 mile from the ocean, who told us he gets Royal Rainier & Lapins just fine despite getting way fewer chill hours than the stated requirement. I'm hoping to test this for myself next year.
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Well, my Minnie Royal held five cherries and my Royal Lee dropped all its fruit. Three of the Minnie Royal cherries look ripe and I will try them today. The trees are growing like weeds. They need a good heavy pruning. I will upload a picture in a minute.
Bill
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(https://s11.postimg.cc/ybj8319gf/image.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/ybj8319gf/)
(https://s11.postimg.cc/5zxo5zpjz/image.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/5zxo5zpjz/)
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Bill,
Those are beautiful trees and fruits you got!
Thanks,
FruitFool