How to grow Sour cherry

Prunus cerasus · tart cherry, acid cherry, pie cherry

The sour cherry is a self-fertile fruit tree, smaller than the sweet cherry at 4–10 m, grown for tart red to near-black cherries used in pies, jams and sauces. It flowers later than the sweet cherry, so it escapes more frosts, and it is hardier (USDA zones 4–8).

Quick facts

Type	Fruit tree
Family	Rosaceae
Light	Full sun
Soil pH	6.5–6.7
Frost	tolerates light frost
Sowing to harvest	1095 days
Where it grows	Open ground

When to plant

Planted as a young plant from a nursery while it is dormant — in early spring before the buds open, or in autumn after leaf fall.

Harvest from June to August (northern hemisphere).

Care

Open ground

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Growth	every 7 days	—	organic, at the start of the stage
Flowering	every 7 days	—	—
Fruiting	every 7 days	—	—
Harvest	—	—	—
Winter rest	—	—	—

Growing notes

Light

Full sun gives the best crop, but it is the one cherry that also fruits in partial shade, even on a north-facing wall.

Soil

Deep, fertile, well-drained soil that is slightly acidic, ideally pH 6.5–6.7; it rots in waterlogged ground.

Care

Water a young tree once a week in dry spells, but not while the fruit ripens, as that splits it. Mulch each spring with compost and feed only after a good crop. Prune every year right after harvest, in late July or August, never in winter; the fruit comes on last year's shoots, so it can be cut back harder than sweet cherry. Net against birds and cut the cherries off rather than pulling the stalks.

How to tell it is ripe

Amarelle types are fully coloured a lighter, bright red.
Morello types are fully coloured a dark red to nearly black.
Press gently: a ripe cherry is somewhat soft and juicy.
Taste one: it has its full flavour, since quality does not improve after picking.
Cut the stalks with scissors rather than pulling them, which can damage the tree, and pick in dry weather before heavy rain.

Pests and diseases of Sour cherry

Sources

Figures checked against these sources.