A high level of chill units this winter in the UK has been good for UK cherry development, but high winds have sounded warning bells.
It is still a little early to give an accurate outlook for the cherry crop, but Don Vaughan, senior fruit adviser at FAST warns that high winds recently may have an effect. “When you get strong winds you can get heavy run-off from the Colt rootstock,” he said. The adverse weather can cause a lot of what appear to be fertilised blooms to fall - or run off - and the wind can cause leaf damage in the process. A significant proportion of the UK crop is grown on Colt rootstock. At least winds this spring have mainly been south-westerly rather than the cooler north-easterly winds that can cause more damage.
Vaughan reports that Sunburst, Summer Sun, Lapin and Stella are all fairly heavy set. “But the set for Colney is a little more erratic and varies from site to site,” he said.
Orchards planted on Gisela 5 and Gisela 6 rootstock look to be in for a bumper crop. “They account for up to 25 per cent of planted area, but I haven’t seen a light crop on any Gisela tree yet,” he said.
Heavy rainfall these past two weeks is not a cause for concern, added Vaughan. “If we are going to have any rain, then lets have it now before we are under threat of fruit splitting,” he said. “What we want is some nice still weather with warmer, double-digit, night-time temperatures.”
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