Regardless of last season’s cherry crop, or the crop this season; fruit buds are forming right now that will become the basis of your crop next season.
Fruit bud development, and the viability of buds, are influenced by a number of factors:
Light
Sunlight is the engine that drives the leaf factory that builds healthy fruit buds.
Light needs to penetrate through the tree.
If most fruit is at the top of the tree and the lower half of the tree is shaded, fruit buds are not likely to form in the shaded area.
Water
Water should not be limiting from the time buds start to show white. Trees should not be stressed during flower fertilization.
The previous season’s crop
Over-cropping of cherry trees can happen more readily in self-fertile varieties, and sometimes when very solid crops occur two years in succession.
The tree needs a rest and fails to form as many fruit buds as normal. Sometimes setting single fruit buds in place of the more common multiple fruit buds.
Pruning
Regular annual pruning, rather than a casual approach to pruning, will assist in setting fruit buds.
End–tipping or pruning of new growth will also help set up fruit buds for the following season.
Removal of limbs that restrict light penetration to the lower part of the tree is recommended.
The lower part of the tree is the cheapest to harvest.
Nutrition
A balanced nutritional program is needed for trees to stay healthy and crop consistently for many years.
Control these factors
These are some of the factors that we can control—or at least have some influence over—when it comes to healthy fruit bud development.
There are many climatic factors over which we have no control such as chilling hours, frosts, rain, hail, extreme high temperatures, excessive wind and more.
So the advice is to manage the factors that you can control, in order to minimise the negative effects from factors that you can not control.
For more information, see Tree Fruit November 2013
