If you live in a rain prone region, either accept the cracking or try to create a plastic cover yourself. High plastic tunnels have also been used on dwarf cherry trees to protect them from the rain.Īdditionally, commercial growers have used surfactants, plant hormones, copper, and other chemicals with, again, mixed results and often blemished fruit. Chemical barriers and the use of calcium chloride sprays have been tried with varying success in commercial groves. How to Prevent Fruit Split in CherriesĬommercial growers employ helicopter or blowers to remove the water from the fruit surfaces but I am guessing this is a bit over the top for most of us. No one is exactly sure why, but the prevailing thought is that different cherry varieties have cuticle differences which allow more or less water absorption and the elasticity is varied among varieties as well. Vans, Sweetheart, Lapins, Rainier, and Sam have a lesser incidence of fruit split in cherries. Oh, and did I mention I live in the Pacific Northwest? We get rain, and lots of it. My Bing cherry, unfortunately, falls into the category of most afflicted. Some cherry varieties are afflicted by this more commonly than others. Usually cherry fruits split open around the stem bowl where water accumulates, but they also split in other areas on the fruit. Simply put, the cuticle, or outer layer of the fruit, can no longer contain the increasing sugar amount combined with the absorbed water and it just bursts. At this time there is a greater accumulation of sugars in the fruit and if it is exposed to long periods of rain, dew, or high humidity, the cuticle absorbs the water, resulting in split cherry fruit. This occurs as the cherry nears ripening. Rather, it is the absorption of the water through the fruit cuticle. Such is the case with cracking in cherries.Ĭontrary to what you might surmise, it is not the uptake of water through the root system that causes cracking in cherries. Of course, rain is welcome any time one is growing a crop, but too much of a good thing renders it more of a bane. Many fruit crops have a penchant for splitting under certain conditions. What is the reason for cherry fruits that are split open? Is there anything that can prevent fruit split in cherries? This article should help answer these questions. One of the most annoying aspects of cherry growing is split cherry fruit. I have a Bing cherry in the front yard and, frankly, it’s so old it has a dearth of issues.
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