Cherry Tree Growing Techniques: Sunlight Requirements and Tree Forms

Summer is here, and it is cherry-eating season once again. Have cherry lovers ever thought about growing a cherry tree at home? This article will introduce some tips on growing cherries.

As the saying goes, cherries are delicious but the trees are hard to grow. Cherry trees are quite particular about their growing conditions: they need a cool environment in order to bear fruit; they need protection from frost damage to their flowers; and they need at least eight hours of sunlight per day. In addition, cherry trees are prone to root rot, so they need fertile, well-drained soil. Growers also need to install bird netting to protect the trees from bird damage, hail and strong winds.

Another major challenge in growing cherries is building a trellis so that the branches grow in a specific direction. Depending on the situation, the tree can be trained into three shapes.

The "V" shape

The main trunk of the cherry tree is trained into a "V" shape: the smaller branches are also tied to the trellis. The advantage of this is that the tree gets plenty of sunlight and airflow through the middle, making pests and diseases easier to control and allowing the fruit to ripen better. The cherries hang on the outside of the trellis, making them easier to pick.

Upright Fruiting Offshoots (UFO)

The main trunk is pulled down to run horizontal to the ground and secured to a trellis so that the branches can grow upright. The spacing between branches is about the width of a hand, which allows air to circulate. Once a branch becomes too thick, it will only produce leaves and no fruit. When this happens, you need to cut the branch off, replace it with a neighboring shoot, and tie that to the trellis. This growing method is suitable for smaller yards.

Fan shape

Let the main trunk grow upright, with the branches first bending outward and then straightening upward. This growing method keeps the tree growing in a single plane, and the spacing between branches is also kept at the width of a hand, similar to the UFO tree form. The downside of this method is that it is not easy to manage, as the branches grow in a rather tangled way, making it hard to determine which branches need pruning or keeping.