Editing Cherry (section)

== Cultivation ==
{{redirects|Cherry orchard||Cherry Orchard (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Salvatore Postiglione Kirschenzeit.jpg|thumb|upright|''Cherry time'' by [[Salvatore Postiglione]]]]

The cultivated forms are of the species [[Prunus avium|sweet cherry]] (''P.&nbsp;avium'') to which most cherry [[cultivar]]s belong, and the [[sour cherry]] (''P.&nbsp;cerasus''), which is used mainly for cooking. Both species originate in Europe and western Asia; they usually do not [[cross-pollinate]]. Some other species, although having edible fruit, are not grown extensively for consumption, except in northern regions where the two main species will not grow. Irrigation, spraying, labor, and their propensity to damage from rain and hail make cherries relatively expensive. Nonetheless, demand is high for the fruit. In commercial production, sour cherries, as well as sweet cherries sometimes, are harvested by using a mechanized "shaker."<ref>{{cite web |author=Chainpure |url=http://www.chainpure.com/2009/06/wow-its-cherry-harvesting.html |title=Soul to Brain: Wow! Its Cherry Harvesting |publisher=Chainpure.com |date=2009-06-23 |access-date=2011-11-26 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307205932/http://www.chainpure.com/2009/06/wow-its-cherry-harvesting.html |archive-date=2012-03-07 }}</ref> Hand picking is also widely used for sweet as well as sour cherries to harvest the fruit to avoid damage to both fruit and trees.

Common rootstocks include Mazzard, Mahaleb, Colt, and Gisela Series, a dwarfing rootstock that produces trees significantly smaller than others, only 8 to 10 feet (2.5 to 3 meters) tall.<ref name="ingels"/> Sour cherries require no [[pollenizer]], while few sweet varieties are self-fertile.<ref name="ingels"/>

A cherry tree will take three to four years once it is planted in the orchard to produce its first crop of fruit, and seven years to attain full maturity.<ref name="ucd">{{cite web | url=http://fruitandnuteducation.ucdavis.edu/fruitnutproduction/Cherry/ | title=Cherry | publisher=Department of Plant Sciences, University of California at Davis | work=Fruit and Nut Information Center | date=2016 | access-date=28 June 2016 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160708001347/http://fruitandnuteducation.ucdavis.edu/fruitnutproduction/Cherry/ | archive-date=8 July 2016 }}</ref>

=== Growing season ===
Like most temperate-latitude trees, cherry trees require a certain number of chilling hours each year to break dormancy and bloom and produce fruit. The number of chilling hours required depends on the variety. Because of this cold-weather requirement, no members of the genus ''Prunus'' can grow in tropical climates. (See "production" section for more information on [[chilling requirement]]s)

Cherries have a short growing season and can grow in most [[temperateness|temperate]] latitudes.<ref name=ucd/> Cherries blossom in April (in the Northern Hemisphere) and the peak season for the cherry harvest is in the summer. In [[southern Europe]] in June, in [[North America]] in June, in [[England]] in mid-July, and in southern [[British Columbia]] ([[Canada]]) in June to mid-August. In many parts of North America, they are among the first tree fruits to flower and ripen in mid-Spring.

In the Southern Hemisphere, cherries are usually at their peak in late December and are widely associated with [[Christmas]]. 'Burlat' is an early variety which ripens during the beginning of December, 'Lapins' ripens near the end of December, and 'Sweetheart' finish slightly later.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://australiancherries.com.au/varieties-and-seasonality |title=Varieties |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2011 |website=Cherish the moment |publisher=Cherry Growers of Australia |access-date=12 September 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170913000440/http://australiancherries.com.au/varieties-and-seasonality |archive-date=13 September 2017 }}</ref>

=== Pests and diseases ===
[[File:Brunatna zgnilizna drzew pestkowych.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Cherries with ''[[Monilinia laxa]]'']]

Generally, the cherry can be a difficult fruit tree to grow and keep alive.<ref name="ingels">{{cite book | last = Ingels| first= Chuck |display-authors=etal | title=The Home Orchard: Growing Your Own Deciduous Fruit and Nut Trees | pages=27–8 | year=2007 | publisher=University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources}}</ref>  In Europe, the first visible pest in the growing season soon after blossom (in April in western Europe) usually is the [[Myzus cerasi|black cherry aphid]] ("cherry blackfly," ''Myzus cerasi''), which causes leaves at the tips of branches to curl, with the blackfly colonies exuding a sticky secretion which promotes fungal growth on the leaves and fruit. At the fruiting stage in June/July (Europe), the [[Rhagoletis cerasi|cherry fruit fly]] (''Rhagoletis cingulata'' and ''Rhagoletis cerasi'') lays its eggs in the immature fruit, whereafter its larvae feed on the cherry flesh and exit through a small hole (about 1&nbsp;mm diameter), which in turn is the entry point for fungal infection of the cherry fruit after rainfall.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.plantwise.org/KnowledgeBank/Datasheet.aspx?dsid=47051|title=cherry fruit fly (Rhagoletis cingulata)|work=plantwise.org|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924074441/http://www.plantwise.org/KnowledgeBank/Datasheet.aspx?dsid=47051|archive-date=2015-09-24}}</ref> In addition, cherry trees are susceptible to bacterial [[canker]], [[cytospora]] canker, [[Monilinia fructicola|brown rot of the fruit]], [[root rot]] from overly wet soil, crown rot, and several viruses.<ref name="ingels"/>