| We planted 2 bing cherry trees 2 summers ago. We have a lot of healthy cherries growing, but we also have some small shriveled cherries. Why? |
| The symptoms you describe may be caused by poor pollination. Bing cherry trees require cross-pollination in order to produce fruit. Bing cherry trees can cross-pollinate with just about any other sweet cherry, and will produce a plentiful bounty of cherries. It still needs to be pollinated by insecs, expecially honeybees. If the honeybee population is low, or if pesticide sprays have killed them off, then the flowers won't get pollinated. This leads to the underdeveloped fruit that you describe. First of all, encourage pollinators by planting a variety of flowers, and never spray plants with insecticides when they are in bloom. Some people have good luck with bee attractants, such as "Bee-Scent" spray (which you can get from Gardens Alive, www.gardens-alive.com). But your greatest concern is to make sure you plant an additional sweet cherry variety (other than a bing cherry) to encourage cross-pollination. Hope this helps and good luck with your fruit garden! |
