Tree Fruit Newsletter — April 2, 2025
In this newsletter:
- Pruning Tips for Cherry Trees
- Bud Stages and Bud Survival
- Guest Articles from Cornell Cooperative Extension
Pruning Tips for Cherry Trees
Cherry trees are usually trained as a multiple leader tree like peach and plum with about 4 leaders per tree. Fully dwarfed sweet cherry trees can be trained as a central leader or tall spindle.
As you prune cherry trees, look for the relative number of flower buds on the older branch sections. This is the part of the limb that develops ‘blind’ wood or long sections with no buds. Cherry flower buds do not have a side shoot unlike apples and pears. When the shoot forms flower buds at every node, it fails to form a new spur and stops growing. This blind wood will never regrow new spurs or buds. Renewal pruning is the best corrective action. In cherry and other stone fruit, the terminal buds on spurs and shoots are leafy and will grow a new shoot. Therefore, you can severely head back limbs to an older spur or shoot as insurance for regrowth.
The best time for pruning cherry trees is considered to be at bud swell to reduce the chance of bacterial canker infections. At this stage, pruning cuts can heal more quickly than after dormant pruning and, hopefully, prevent infection by bacterial canker.
Flower Bud Development and Survival at Highmoor Farm
Apples are at silver tip. Bud survival is close to 100% in Honeycrisp. Some blocks have poor return bloom, and none of our blocks have an excessive amount of flower buds.
Pear bud survival is close to 100%
Cherries are showing signs of bud swell. Survival is generally good, but some buds have dead flowers.
Peaches are at silver tip. Flower bud survival this spring is highly variable among the three orchards at Highmoor Farm. The orchard at the highest elevation (450 feet above sea level) has an average survival of 94%. In the variety block, which is at 350 feet, survival is 17% on average, but highly variable among varieties. In the oldest collection located in a frost pocket, also at 350 feet, survival ranges from a low of 0% in Blushingstar to a high of 49% in Garnet Beauty. The new peach seedlings from the breeding project have good survival despite being located at the lower elevation.
| Orchard Block | Variety | Bud Survival (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Lower | Autumnstar | 0 |
| Lower | Blazingstar | 6 |
| Lower | Coralstar | 54 |
| Lower | Glowingstar | 50 |
| Lower | PF Lucky13 | 7 |
| Lower | Messina | 6 |
| Lower | PF 15A | 12 |
| Lower | PF 17 | 10 |
| Lower | Raritan Rose | 19 |
| Lower | TangOs | 3 |
| Lower | PF 8Ball | 46 |
| Lower | Blushingstar | 9 |
| Lower | Desiree | 38 |
| Lower | July Rose | 25 |
| Lower | PF 23 | 13 |
| Lower | Summer Serenade | 25 |
| Lower | Starfire | 13 |
| Lower | Veteran | 37 |
| Upper | Harken | 89 |
| Upper | Selena | 91 |
| Upper | Coralstar | 87 |
| Upper | Glowingstar | 98 |
| Upper | HW272 | 99 |
| Upper | Messina | 100 |
| Frost Pocket | Blushingstar | 0 |
| Frost Pocket | Garnet Beauty | 49 |
| Frost Pocket | Starfire | 0 |
| New seedlings, lower orchard that are from the breeding project | HF1 | 80 |
| New seedlings, lower orchard that are from the breeding project | HF2 | 69 |
| New seedlings, lower orchard that are from the breeding project | HF3 | 25 |
| New seedlings, lower orchard that are from the breeding project | HF4 | 63 |
| New seedlings, lower orchard that are from the breeding project | HF5 | 84 |
| New seedlings, lower orchard that are from the breeding project | HF6 | 76 |
| New seedlings, lower orchard that are from the breeding project | HF7 | 72 |
From Cornell Cooperative Extension’s newsletter:
Choosing and Prepping Your Honeycrisp Planting Sites
Dr. Terence Robinson, Cornell AgriTech
We have recently added two articles to our blog regarding Honeycrisp soils and fertility recommendations for new Honeycrisp sites. These articles summarize talks from the In-Depth School held in Syracuse on March 19th. Follow the links below to learn more.
- Choosing the Right Soil for Your Honeycrisp Block
- New Preplant and Maintenance Soil Preparation Recommendations for Maximum Honeycrisp Tree Performance
Renae Moran
University of Maine Cooperative Extension: Tree Fruits
PO Box 179
Monmouth, ME 04259
(207) 933-2100
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