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Cultivars
Two important species of cherries are grown for commercial production: Prunus avium, sweet cherry, and Prunus cerasus, tart cherry. They can be grafted onto each other and, when cross-pollinated, produce seeds that become Duke hybrid cultivars.
Sweet cherries are more difficult to produce than tart. They are scarcely more hardy than peaches, bloom early, and thus are frequently caught by spring frosts. Many sweet cherry cultivars experience severe cracking if water is allowed to remain on the skin for a few hours before harvest. Rains at harvest time will often ruin a crop. Recent testing of antitransparents has shown them to have promise in reducing cracking. Also, breeders are trying to develop more crack-resistant cultivars; many have been and will continue to be released.
Many common cultivars were originally developed in Europe and brought to this country. European cultivars still grown in the United States are Black Tartarian, Napolean, Hedelfingen, and Schmidt. Windsor, Vista, Van, Vega, Summit, and Stella are cultivars developed in Canada. Ulster and Hudson were recently introduced in New York, while Angella and Utah Giant were recently introduced in Utah.
There are four kinds of sweet cherries: light-colored hearts, dark-colored hearts, and light- and dark-colored Bigarreaus. Hearts are mostly soft-fleshed fruit best suited for home use or eating fresh. Light-colored hearts produce nearly colorless juice and have a predominantly yellow skin with or without a red blush. Dark-colored hearts have red to deep red juice, and soft fruit. Black Tartarian is the best known example.
Bigarreaus produce firmer fruit and are widely planted by the commercial industry. They also are divided into light- and dark-colored groups. The lights have yellowish skin and nearly colorless juice, and are used mainly for brining and maraschino production.
Sweet cherries are further classified based on their ability to cross-pollinate with each other (see Table 1-23). Nearly all sweet cherry cultivars appear to be self-unfruitful. They produce viable pollen, but not all cultivar combinations are fruitful. There are many cross-incompatible groups of sweet cherries. Cultivars within a group should not be planted together without a suitable pollinizer. Following are some of the more common cross-incompatible groupings:
I. Bing, Lambert, Napolean, Emperor Francis, Somerset, and Vernon
II. Windsor and Abundance
III. Black Tartarian, Somerset, Black Eagle, Knight's Early Black, Bedford Prolific, and Early Rivers
IV. Centennial and Napolean
V. Advance and Rockport
VI. Elton, Governor Wood, Stark's Gold, and Hartland
VII. Early Purple, Royalton, and Rockport
VIII. Black Tartarian, Early Rivers, and V29023
IX. Sodus, Van, Venus, and Windsor
X. Velvet, Victor, Gold, Merton Heart, Viva, and Vogue
XI. Hedelfingen, Vic, and Ulster
XII. Hudson, Giant, Schmidt, Ursala, Chinook, Ranier, and Viscount
XIII. Seneca, Vega, and Vista
XIV. Royal Purple, Lambert, Ironside, Woodring, and Bing
XV. Schmidt and Orelaund
Tart or sour cherries are a different species from sweet cherries. As a group tart cherries are probably as hardy as any other fruit. Their ability to adapt to various soils and climates is much greater than that of sweet cherries. Tart cherries are self-fruitful and will produce heavy commercial crops when planted in solid blocks. They do not have severe cracking problems or as much brown rot as sweet cherries.
Self-fertile sweet cherry cultivars
Due to the problems associated with cross-pollination of sweet cherries, plant breeders have been developing self-fertile sweet cherry cultivars. These cultivars do not require pollen from a different cultivar to set fruit. The self-fertile cultivars can therefore be planted in solid blocks. At present there are 11 self-fertile cultivars (Table 1-24). Very little is known about their performance in Pennsylvania, and some are reported to be susceptible to rain-induced fruit cracking in other states. Growers should be cautious when ordering these cultivars because of the unknown crack susceptibility.
Newer sweet cherry cultivars
White or yellow-fleshed cherries (used mainly for brining)
Corum: July 8 ripening. Semifirm, but productive and hardy.
Emperor Francis: July 10 ripening. Major cultivar used in the East. Can be eaten fresh or used for brining.
Gold: July 15 ripening. Trees are hardy and productive. Flower buds more hardy than most other cultivars. Fruit is small. As part of a unique pollination group, Gold can serve as a pollenizer for many other brining cultivars.
Whitegold™: (NY 13688) Early to mid-season self-fertile cultivar released by Cornell University in 1998. Fruit can be used for fresh or processing purposes. Whitegold™ can serve as a universal pollinator for other sweet cherry cultivars. Fruits are yellow with a red blush. Reported to bloom later than other white-fleshed cherries and to have good field tolerance to bacterial canker and leaf spot.
Dark sweet cherries
Blackgold™: (NY 13791) A mid- to late-season self-fertile cultivar released by Cornell University in 1998. It is the latest blooming cultivar in the Cornell collection, giving it a good tolerance to spring frost. The fruit, which has dark skin and flesh, can be used for both fresh and processing purposes.
Hartland™: Developed in New York, it ripens in early- to midseason productive black sweet cherry. The tree is winter hardy and disease-tolerant. Fruit are medium to large and medium firm better than Hedlefingen.
Hedelfingen: July 17 ripening. Early bearing and very productive. Reported not to crack in the Geneva area, but severe cracking occurs on the West Coast.
Hudson: July 25 ripening, making it the latest-ripening cherry commercially available. Very firm fruit of very good quality, low susceptibility of fruit to cracking in the field. Tree of medium hardiness and productivity.
Kristin: Originated in New York and widely tested in Norway, where it has performed well. Average ripening date of July 15. Fruit size averages 1 inch. Precocious and moderately productive. Moderate resistance to rain cracking.
Royalton™: (NY 11390) The exceptionally large fruit ripens midseason with Hedelfingen. Trees are vigorous with an upright growth habit. Fruit are firmer than Hedelfingen and may be a good replacement for that cultivar
Sam: July 6 ripening. Good rain-cracking resistance, but this may be related to soft fruit texture. Hardy, but only moderately productive. Late blooming. Fruit of some trees has a bitter aftertaste. Black fruit, 3/4 to 7/8 inch in size.
Somerset™: (NY6476) July 17 ripening. Developed by the Geneva Experiment Station and released in 1994. Fruit looks similar to Bing in shape but are much darker and ripen later than Bing. Fruit has a high tolerance to cracking. The tree is very precocious and produces many lateral branches.
Stella: The first named self-fruitful sweet cherry cultivar developed in British Columbia. Cracking can be a problem.
Ulster: July 14 ripening. Nearly black fruit, 3/4–7/8 inch. Medium hardiness but productive. Resembles Schmidt but more productive. Moderate resistance to rain cracking most years.
Valera: Introduced from Vineland, ripening a few days before Bing. Medium-sized, semifirm, good-quality fruit. More consistent cropping record than Venus. Cracking susceptibility unknown.
Vandalay: (V690618) Developed at the Vineland Research station in Canada from a Van x Stella cross. Trees are self-fertile. Cracking may be a problem.
Viscount: Another introduction from Vineland. Medium to large, firm, good-quality, dark glossy red cherries that ripen with Bing. Productive, with good resistance to cracking.
Viva: July 4 ripening. Dark red, 3/4 inch, semifirm fruit. Good cracking resistance, but this may be due to its soft texture.
Sweet cherries not recommended
Several cultivars that are not recommended or that have problems with rain cracking: Napolean (known as Royal Ann on the West Coast), Ranier, Bing, Chinook, Compact Lambert, Lambert, Schmidt, and Summit.
Processing sweet cherry cultivars
Two new cultivars that are especially suited for processing were released by Cornell University in the fall of 2006.
Andersen: Tested as NY 9295, this cultivar is named after Dr. Bob Andersen. It is a large-size cherry that may have good use as a cocktail cherry. The tree blooms mid to late with BlackGold and Gold and is self-incompatible. Fruit are moderately susceptible to cracking and tend to carry the fruit as large singles. The skin color is a red blush with a yellow ground color.
Nugent: Tested as NY 518, this cultivar is named after Dr. Jim Nugent. The fruit are all yellow and are similar in appearance to Gold. Bloom is early to mid-season, but fruit ripen the same time as Gold. The tree is spreading and quite willowy with heavy yields.
Tart cherry cultivars
Tart or sour cherries are a different species from sweet cherries. As a group, tart cherries are probably as hardy as any other fruit. Their ability to adapt to various soils and climates is much greater than that of sweet cherries. Tart cherries are self-fruitful and will produce heavy commercial crops when planted in solid blocks. They do not have severe cracking problems or as much brown rot as sweet cherries.
Montmorency: This is the most widely grown tart cherry cultivar. Some nurseries offer spur-bearing Montmorency types.
Balatontm: A new tart cherry from Hungary that was released through Michigan State University. Fruit are red-fleshed and the juice is red. It has a higher sugar content than Montmorency, but is still classified as a tart cherry.
Danubetm: Released from Michigan State, this new tart cherry is dark red and sweeter than Montmorency. Fruit juice is very dark red, indicating high levels of anthocyanins. Fruit ripen a few days before Montmorency. This cultivar produces the largest of the three new tart cherries.
Jubileumtm: A second dark red skin, flesh, and juice released from Michigan State. Has very high sugar levels (18 to 19 Brix). Fruit average 5.5 to 6 grams each. Fruit ripen early mid-season. Suitable for fresh-market sales.