Although this cherry harvest is continuing in the later harvest regions of the country, and following a season that had a plethora of weather and climate events affect the health of cherry trees in the orchard, the time is right to consider what needs to take place post season.
Water logging
Excessive rain in some areas may have caused water logging of the soil and some trees may show signs of extreme stress.
If dead limbs appear, cut them back to some green shoots. If trees look like they might die, remove them. Check if drainage is adequate so that water moves from the root zone.
Damaged limbs
Identify broken or damaged limbs and cut them back and remove them from the orchard.
Dried or rotten fruit
Check for dried or rotten fruit that may be still hanging in the trees and apply an appropriate fungicide to kill off spores that may linger and cause infection in wood that is in contact with the fruit.
Better still, remove the mummified fruit and then apply the fungicide.
Pests
Beware of high levels of one kind of insect that may have bred prolifically during the humid conditions.
Take action—via an appropriate insecticide if required—to gain a proper balance of beneficial insects in the orchard.
Excessive vegetative growth
Inspect trees that turned out to be light cropping this season as a result of excessive vegetative growth.
Check for the formation of fruit buds for next season. Is the growth so strong that too much sunlight will be excluded from the canopy? If so, remove limbs or branches to improve light penetration.
Remember that light drives the energy that creates the fruit buds for the following season.
Production figures
Finally, take a look at the production figures from each block and each variety.
Data collected over a period of years can assist in considering if a variety is earning its place in the orchard.
If it turns out to be non-profitable during that period then it should be removed and replaced with a variety that you know can average a profit for your business.
See this article in Tree Fruit Jan 2014
