I give up unless someone can give me good advice on cherry trees.
By mentalward
@mentalward (14690)
United States
June 5, 2011 5:17pm CST
I have four cherry trees that I planted around four years ago. Last year, ONE of them produced a few cherries but they did not get bigger than 1/4 inch. They turned red and everything but never got big. I thought it had to do with the horrible drought and suffocating heat wave we had here last year. But...
This year, I was surprised by all four trees producing cherries. They are different varieties, all sweet cherries. The trees are very healthy, blossomed nicely and now there are literally thousands of cherries on my trees.
Sadly, the cherries on one tree have started turning red but they are the exact same size as the ones last year, no bigger than 1/4 inch. They've been this size for weeks now and I haven't noticed any change. ALL the cherries on all four trees are this same size.
I've given the trees everything they need, as far as I know so I have no idea why I'm not getting full-sized cherries. The trees were bought from 2 different nurseries. I prepared the ground and planted them all as they were supposed to be planted. They've received all the fertilizing they need. They're gorgeous trees but they simply will not produce good fruit. The funny part is that one of these trees is planted in a completely different location than the other three. My other trees are doing fine, such as my peach trees, which are covered in fruit, all very nice-sized peaches. It's just the cherry trees that have this problem.
Can anyone give me a hint as to what is wrong? I'm beginning to think that my house and land is haunted or something. (Our lake is called 'Indian Lake' so maybe the house was built on ancient Indian burial ground???) Our electronic equipment never has worked well for long in this house. I've gone through 4 cell phones in 4 years and not because I need the latest model... they just start acting very weird.
It has been a struggle since I've lived here, as some of you know, with various issues and this thing with my cherries just may be the last straw and I'm going to stop trying to hang on to something that is just not working.
Any ideas? Have you ever experienced anything like this or know anyone who has? I've searched the internet but found nothing about cherries not reaching their proper size. 
3 people like this
6 responses
@kris182_2000 (5475)
• Canada
5 Jun 11
If you could post a picture of the trees, that would really help.
How big are the trees now?
I'm not an expert, but I have had clients with fruit trees, and the best advice is to prune the trees so they stay smaller.
Make sure they get a lot of water.
The root system is as wide as the widest branches, that is an important factor that not too many people know about. Because of this, larger trees need more water than smaller ones.
If they are close to each other, then they are competing for nutrients. They shouldn't be too close together at all, no plant should be.
When it's hot and dry, plants and trees fight over any nutrients in the ground, especially water. If there isn't enough, they don't fare well.
I'm hoping this helps you, otherwise there is more advice I could probably give you, but I'd need more information about the trees.
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
6 Jun 11
I'll post a photo tomorrow but I can honestly say that the trees are extremely healthy. They've been planted at the suggested distance for the variety. I'm not a novice gardener, nor am I new to fruit trees. I've just never grown cherry trees before.
They were given plenty of water each year. (I gave them water last year since we had the drought but, before that, nature was very good to all my fruit trees.) This year has been a rather normal Spring with average rainfall. These trees were selected specifically to grow well in this area. They are about 10' tall now, well, except for one which is a dwarf. They were chosen because they are all good to cross-pollinate with each other.
They get full sun and were planted at the top of a long slope so they don't sit in water. I have mulched out to the branch line and that is where I've watered each time I watered them. There are no visible signs of disease, no fungus, no insect damage, nothing.
Maybe I'm getting all excited over nothing, though. I have no idea how long new cherries stay at this small size, if they do normally. Maybe this is normal. Maybe last year's cherries stayed small and even turned red because that's what they're supposed to do but those few cherries never got big because of the horrible summer weather we had.
If you know cherry trees at all, how long does it take for cherries to become full-sized? (Oh, those cherries turning red, they're Napoleon cherries which are normally yellow with a red blush, not all red when mature.)
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
6 Jun 11
I'm going to follow one link I found on Rainier cherries since at least one of my trees is a Rainier (with a Bing as pollinator). They supposedly mature in early July so maybe I should just be patient for another month. By the way, I'm in Zone 6b and Rainiers are good from Zone 4 to 8 so I know that's not the problem. Sigh!
@kris182_2000 (5475)
• Canada
6 Jun 11
One of our clients has a cherry tree and it's extremely massive. She's never pruned it like she should have.
I'm doing a little research on this and found this little tidbit:
Dwarf cherry trees are most productive when trained to a central leader. The lowest branch should be about 2 feet off the ground, and the limbs should be spaced at least 8 inches apart. Train semidwarf or standard-size trees to a modified leader. Prune the trees every year in late winter to encourage new fruiting wood to grow. After harvest, cut back overvigorous branches to control the size of the tree. Summer pruning can be done any time until early August; the later you prune, the smaller you'll keep the tree. Don't prune in the fall, as that leaves the tree more susceptible to winter injury.
I'm not able to access the PDF file I found for fruit size that I looked up, but there is a way to increase the size of cherries with a good fertilization program.
@GardenGerty (169449)
• United States
6 Jun 11
I am not even sure how long I have had my cherries, and in fact, the first one I did not realize was a cherry when I planted it. I picked it off a bargain pallet at Wal Mart. It seems it took them a long time to come into their own as far as production goes, though, and one variety is smaller cherries than the other. One is North Star and the other Montmorency, and at this moment I am not sure which is which. Last year and this year I have abundant crops of big nice cherries, In 2009 and 2008 we had late snow that killed the crop. Most of my adult life I have been too busy working to pay any attention, I think we have had some small crops before that. About your electronic equipment---perhaps there is a magnetic mineral in the soil that is ruining them.
@GardenGerty (169449)
• United States
11 Jun 11
I think there is a stone or mineral called magnetite. I am thinking that is not the only magnetic mineral. Since veggies are annuals and fruits are perennials, it may be that the drought from last year is still having an effect on your fruit trees.
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
11 Jun 11
You could be right about the magnetic mineral in the soil here. There's definitely something going on.
My cherry trees aren't the only things not producing like they should. My blueberry bushes didn't have a single blossom on them and I have 4 different varieties. I know the pH of the soil is correct for blueberries and they've received enough water so the problem is probably the same thing that's giving me these tiny cherries. My kiwi vines have also not blossomed at all this year.
My vegetables are doing great, though. I can't blame the soil on the problems with my fruit since my veggies have done very well, except last year with the extreme drought and high temps. They're doing very well this year, too. It's just my fruits that have this problem.
I dunno. Maybe I should just stick to veggies.
1 person likes this
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
11 Jun 11
Yeah, I was excited. My first cherries ever and so many! Literally thousands! Some of them have gotten a tiny bit bigger but have also already turned red, some a purplish-red, and have gotten soft, like they're ripe. I tasted one and blech! Totally bitter! I'll just have to spend some extra money buying my Rainier cherries at the grocery store this year, maybe from now on.
@Hatley (163772)
• Garden Grove, California
6 Jun 11
hi mentalward I am wondering if somehow the trees that you bought from two different nurseries could have been culls. that is wild cherry trees that were used only for root stocks for grafting onto name variety cherries. We had when I was a kid an apple tree my parents bought as a true crab apple tree. the thing really prospered but it turned out it was a wild crab apple tree that had been originally obtained just to use its sturdy roots to graft a name brand crab apple tree onto.,instead it had been put in with the real name brand crab apples. it bore a lot of fruit and they were tiny little apples about the size of marbles that kids p lay with. very tart and we did make some jelly out oof them which took some doing as the fruit was so small.I think those two nurseries should have been notified that the fruit what there was of it was abnormal in size,. I really think those two nurseries cheated you by selling you trees meant only to be used as hardy root stock to have good fruit trees grafted onto them.They should never have been sold as they soujd like wild cherry trees.
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
8 Jun 11
I kinda doubt that I got the wrong trees. One of the nurseries (Park) has a big reputation to uphold. Besides that, I've ordered other trees from them and they are all doing just fine and are definitely the trees I ordered.
One thing I have noticed about all my fruit is that none of it is doing very well except for my blackberry bushes and my peach trees. Well, the peaches are a bit smaller than they should be but I do get plenty of them.
We had a relatively mild winter this past year with normal snowfall so I know it wasn't that. With all the other issues I've had here (mostly having to do with my husband), I'm about ready to just pick up and move out of here. I know I'll be much happier somewhere else, wherever that may be. Maybe I'll move back to Maryland, where I know these things grow very well.
@LadyMarissa (12148)
• United States
6 Jun 11
I know absolutely NOTHING about gardening; except if it can die, I best NOT plant it!!! 
http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf98384798.tip.html
Check out this site. It might not help at all ...hopefully it will give you some ideas!!!
http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf98384798.tip.html
Check out this site. It might not help at all ...hopefully it will give you some ideas!!!@mentalward (14690)
• United States
6 Jun 11
Wow! Thank you, LM! The question on that link is MY question! That person is having the exact same issue I am, even right down to the age of the trees. Well, my trees are older than 4 years, I just planted them 4 years ago.
Of course, it still doesn't give me an immediate answer as everything they've suggested, I've done. The only thing I can do now is maybe give the trees more time to age a bit more and see what happens. It's just a darned shame that I've already waited four years and got my taste buds all excited because of the amount of fruit on the trees right now.
One thing it did say was that the fruit grows in three stages, with the second stage being the slowest-growing stage since the cherries are concentrating their energy on the pit at this time. (Mine do have pits... I cut one open to check.) Maybe that's where mine are right now and I should just be patient. They should be ripe enough to start harvesting in early July so I should know something soon.
If I don't get cherries this year, though, it'll bring me one step closer to putting this house up for sale and just getting out of this place. Darn, if I had only tried growing some of these trees on my other property at the same time I planted these, I might be getting big, fat, juicy cherries by now. But, you know what they say about hindsight. 
1 person likes this
@LadyMarissa (12148)
• United States
6 Jun 11
I knew the question was the same & assumed you had already done everything suggested, but hoped you'd see something that would make the light go on!!! I was raised that "patience is a virtue"!!! GOOD LUCK!!!! 
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
7 Jun 11
That's creepy about your stuff...it would make me think something was up with "Indian Lake" too.
I don't know a thing about cherry trees except that I used to climb one next door when I was a child..lol...it seems like they were pretty small too. Might have been me climbing it making it unhappy though.
I hope that you see a difference this season...it might be just a matter of time.
Take care.
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
11 Jun 11
Sounds like you were a bit of a tomboy when you were young, huh? I was. I climbed my share of trees, too. 
My vegetables are doing great which is another reason I'm baffled about these cherries. It's not just the cherries giving me trouble, though. My kiwi vines and my blueberry bushes haven't blossomed this year. Last winter wasn't bad, actually pretty normal for this area so I can't blame a harsh winter. Spring has been hotter than normal but not much and we've had normal rainfall for spring. I just don't get it.
I'll try to be patient but maybe I'll just have to concentrate on my veggies and give up on the fruits.
My vegetables are doing great which is another reason I'm baffled about these cherries. It's not just the cherries giving me trouble, though. My kiwi vines and my blueberry bushes haven't blossomed this year. Last winter wasn't bad, actually pretty normal for this area so I can't blame a harsh winter. Spring has been hotter than normal but not much and we've had normal rainfall for spring. I just don't get it.
I'll try to be patient but maybe I'll just have to concentrate on my veggies and give up on the fruits.