Cherry fruit drop, as they call it, usually happens where cherries lose much of their fruit before it matures.
They also call it cherry run off by some, and there are reasons this happens. There are some fruit droppings that should not be alarming, especially if it is just a minimal early season fruit drop.
The fruit drop varies every year, and there are even severe cases where a majority of the fruits drop off, and there are fewer fruits to enjoy.
Main Reasons Why Cherries Drop From The Cherry Tree
Problem with pollination. The cherry tree will drop unpollinated fruits, and these fruits will not mature. The process of dropping the cherries will help the fruit focus on the pollinated cherry fruits instead.
Tree’s Overall Health. The health of the tree is a factor, when there are too many blooms and the tree can no longer support it. When there is an insufficient supply of food for the fruit, there is an imbalance in the phytohormones that leads to fruits dropping in huge numbers.
Season. The changing weather can be the cause when the tree doesn’t have much-reserved energy to support fruit growth.
This happens in early spring after cold weather, and there are late frosts. The excessive weather condition is not beneficial to a cherry tree, and any abrupt changes in humidity may cause harm.
This is true during the fruit-bearing period.
During early spring, the cherry fruit may benefit from some insulation to support it during the fruit-bearing time.
Ensure that it is in good health and is provided what is necessary.
Young Trees. Established and older trees can reserve and store food that they can use in fruit production, as compared to young trees that are in their early years of fruit production may tend to overbear fruits.
Since the tree is still young, it has no system that allows it to reserve and store food to support during fruit-bearing compared to established cherry trees.
Fruits will start dropping for fruits that cannot be supplied with nutrients.
The fruits left are hardier and can mature fully.
To protect itself. The cherry tree when there are too many fruits forming will start to drop fruit, so the weight will not be too much that can damage the branches.
A cherry tree may also have a load full of fruit this season, and then there will be none the next cause it is recovering.
In order for the tree to have a bountiful harvest every time, it has to level the fruits that it will support till it matures.
Not enough resources. Trees with insufficient resources may not be able to support all of their fruit to maturity.
One sample is if there is not enough moisture or water to satisfy its requirements, then this may also lead it to regulate and remove some fruits, so it can cover the rest of the fruits till it matures.
It is also an issue if there is too much water, that will not be healthy for the tree. Maintaining a constant level of water will help the cherry tree to be more robust.
How To Minimize Cherry Fruit Dropping From Cherry Trees
Reduce the fruits. When you have cherry trees, you need to be observant, especially, around the time it is bearing fruits.
You can help lessen the fruit drop by removing some fruits yourself before the pit hardens and when the bloom is less than a quarter of an inch in diameter.
You need this when there is too much bloom in one spur, over 10 fruits per spur is an indication for you to reduce it.
This is the easiest way to let the rest of the fruit have an abundant supply of nutrients it will need to mature instead of competing with the rest of the fruit and then not maturing because the tree cannot support its needs.
Exposure to sunlight. Ensure that the cherry tree is getting the sunlight that it requires and when you need to grow your tree, place it on a wall where it can get the sunlight, and not be covered by other bigger plants.
Pruning. It may require you to prune the tree so that the sunlight will be well-distributed to each area.
The photosynthetic rate will increase as compared to a tree with too many leaves that cover the entire tree.
This is also the best way to have a space between branches where it will be beneficial to the cherry tree and can help minimize fruit drop.
Inspect the water allocation. This is also another issue with a fruit-bearing cherry tree that if there is not enough ration of water or there is too much than what the tree needs.
Ensure that it is getting enough by checking the soil around it, and if it is damp and has the exact moisture, it is getting the right requirement.
Dry and crusty soil may mean it is not getting enough. Get a trowel and insert it into the soil, and if it comes out clean, the soil is dry and needs watering.
Shallow watering is not good for the cherry and can deprive it of the needed nutrient.
Checking for presence of pests or bugs. Although this may not be common during cherry fruit drops, it is not harmful to get this checked. This may also be a contributing factor to why your fruits are dropping.
Some birds are also likely to get attracted to bloom such as crows, starlings, blackbirds, robins and may need some protection.
You can also place a net to keep the cherry fruits protected during the fruit-bearing period.
Soil Testing . You may also need to rule out that there are not enough nutrients or the surrounding soil is toxic.
When there are not enough nutrients, you may need to provide some for the tree, so it can support the rest of the fruit till it matures.
If unsure, you may get the advice of a professional on how to go about checking, inspecting, and monitoring the condition of the soil.