Most cracking in cherries occurs between straw and harvest.
Rain water sits in the stem bowl of the cherry and can be very hard to ‘blow out’ by air-blast fan or helicopter, resulting in the stem bowl circular cracks.
The longer the fruit stays wet, the rate of cracking increases.
Rainwater droplets also hang onto the fruit allowing water uptake through the bottom scar.
Apply Parka before it rains
Parka applied before a rain event coats the fruit around the stem-end and the bottom of the fruit.
Parka is hydrophobic (repels water) so the rainwater is ‘blown out’ of the stem bowl significantly more readily, and the water droplet doesn’t hang onto the bottom of the fruit.
Early Parka applications repair the micro-fractures in the cuticle, giving the greatest impact reducing cracking in cherries from rain.
See this article in Tree Fruit Nov 2019
