Xtremehorticulture

Low Chill Cherries and Other Fruit for the Desert

Q. I heard about a cherry tree from the Dave Wilson Nursery website that has very low chill hours. Can we order these from the UNCE Orchard? Low Chill Fruit Trees for the hot desert A. There are low-chill sweet cherries but they have been in such high demand we have not been able to secure any in past years.             However, we have had no problems growing high chill hour apples, peaches, apricots and plums here in the valley. They have been productive for over 15 years. So the idea of chilling hours being an “on or off switch” for producing fruit should not always be a consideration for homeowners when selecting fruit varieties.             Sweet cherries are a problem in southern Nevada unless you can plant them in a backyard where they have protection from wind and there is some humidity from a pool or a lawn. We had many different varieties of sweet cherries and produced only about 12 cherries from all of them in 15 years at the UNCE orchard. We could not get sweet cherries to produce at the UNCE Orchard even with good flower production and lots of pollination opprotunities from many different sweet cherries planted in the same area             Sweet cherries flower extremely well so chilling has not been the problem. The problem has been in setting the fruit and keeping it on the tree. Poor flowering is what you would more likely expect if you didn’t have enough chill hours.             Other people in town have had success with sweet cherries but nearly all of them appear to be in backyards that are protected and have a higher humidity. The people in Las Vegas who have been growing sweet cherries successfully tell me that they have grown Bing, Lambert and other common varieties.             You might have more luck with sour cherries and they are more versatile anyway. We have no reports to give you yet whether they will work here or not because they are still being tested.

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Planting Two Cherries in a Single Hole to Save Space and Pollination

Q. I have two cherry trees and one needs to pollinate the other. Can I plant both trees in the same hole so save space?  The trees grow to 20 feet and I will keep them pruned to a smaller size. Sweet cherries produced at the Orchard. Production is erratic in the Las Vegas Valley.   A. Yes, you can. Plant them about 18 inches apart, one on the east side and one on the west side of the hole. Try to pick varieties that are similar in vigor (how strong they grow) and on the same variety of rootstock. Multiple apple trees planted in a single hole at Dave Wilson Nursery             I will warn you that sweet cherries are squirrely in our hot desert environment. They produce cherries in some microenvironments and not in others. They usually seem to do better in backyards that are somewhat protected (no strong winds) and have a more humid environment during pollination.             If you plant these two trees together, keep them occupying only half of the canopy. Do not let them compete with each other but keep them occupy their own, separate spaces. This means there will be a clear physical separation between the plants in their own half circle of canopy space. Also, do not let one get bigger than the other. Keep them pruned to a similar size.             These cherries must also bloom at the same time if they are to pollinate one another. Check your pollination charts to make sure they are compatible.

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