What is cherry fruit drop?
Fruit drop in cherries occurs in some seasons, and it is simply the drop of a lot of the unripe cherries. It is not caused by a pathogen, but it is simply the tree that abandons part or most of its crop of fruit when it doesn’t have the resources to bring it to maturity. It is caused by climatic conditions, such as cold, wet autumns (preventing the tree from storing sufficient reserves of nutrients that will be needed in early spring), low light intensity at blossom time, and low temperatures during the initial phases of fruit development.
How do you treat cherry fruit drop?
Cherry fruit drop can be avoided by ensuring that all leaves are able to photosynthesize well. This requires good sunlight, and this can be encouraged by ensuring that the canopy is open, by proper pruning. If fruit set is heavy – groups of more than 10 cherries – it can be helpful to reduce the number of cherries. Cherry thinning should be done when the fruitlets are still small, under 5mm in diameter.