090 The Sweetheart Cherry. Painting fruit trees. How to stop fruit tree suckers. It's Fabulous Fruit Friday!

Looking for a later ripening cherry that tastes great and is hardy in some of our colder climates? Fruit tree expert Ed Laivo of TomorrowsHarvest.com returns with one beautiful, deep red cherry variety for Fabulous Fruit Friday that can be grown throughout most of the United States… the Sweetheart Cherry. Plus, we answer your garden questions about painting fruit tree trunks to prevent sun scald, and how to keep tree suckers from popping up all over your yard.
It’s all on episode 90 of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast, brought to you by Smart Pots and Tomorrows Harvest. And we will do it all in under 30 minutes. Let’s go!

Pictured:
The  beautiful white flowers of the Sweetheart Cherry tree

Links:
Smart Pots
Sucker Stopper Label
Tomorrow's Harvest
Sunburn Protection Tips for Trees
Fruit Ripening Chart for a long harvest season from Tomorrow's Harvest

More episodes and info available at Garden Basics with Farmer Fred

Garden Basics comes out every Tuesday and Friday. More info including live links, product information, transcripts, and chapters available at the home site for Garden Basics with Farmer Fred. Please subscribe, and, if you are listening on Apple, please leave a comment or rating. That helps us decide which garden topics you would like to see addressed.

Got a garden question? There are several ways to get in touch: 

leave an audio question without making a phone call via Speakpipe at https://www.speakpipe.com/gardenbasics

Text or call us the question: 916-292-8964. E-mail: fred@farmerfred.com or, leave a question at the Facebook, Twitter or Instagram locations below. Be sure to tell us where you are when you leave a question, because all gardening is local. 

And thank you for listening also to the Green Acres Garden Podcast with Farmer Fred .

All About Farmer Fred:

Farmer Fred website: http://farmerfred.com

Daily Garden tips and snark on Twitter

The Farmer Fred Rant! Blog

Facebook:  "Get Growing with Farmer Fred"

Instagram: farmerfredhoffman

Farmer Fred Garden Videos on YouTube

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases from possible links mentioned here.

Thank you for listening, subscribing and commenting on the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast and the Beyond the Garden Basics Newsletter.

Transcript

GB 090 FFF Sweetheart Cherry, Ques 

Thu, 4/1 4:04PM • 28:12

SPEAKERS

Ed Laivo, Farmer Fred

Farmer Fred  00:00

Garden Basics with Farmer Fred is brought to you by Smart Pots, the original lightweight, long lasting fabric plant container. it's made in the USA. Visit SmartPots.com slash Fred for more information and a special discount, that's SmartPots.com/Fred.

Farmer Fred  00:20

Welcome to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast. If you're just a beginning gardener or you want good gardening information, you've come to the right spot. 

Farmer Fred  00:32

Are you looking for a later ripening cherry variety that tastes great and is hardy in some of our colder climates? Fruit tree expert Ed Laivo of Tomorrow's Harvest dot com returns with one beautifu,l deep red cherry variety for Fabulous Fruit Friday, and it can be grown throughout most of the United States. It's the Sweetheart cherry. Plus, we answer your garden questions about painting fruit tree trunks to prevent sunscald. And how to keep fruit tree suckers from popping up all over your yard. It's all on episode 90 of the Garden Basics podcast brought to you by Smart Pots and Tomorrow's Harvest. And we'll do it all in under 30 minutes. Let's go. Every Friday, it's Fabulous Fruit Friday here on the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast, we bring in Ed Laivo, from Tomorrow's Harvest, of Burchell nursery. I think one of the first fruits that are going to start, shall we say, bearing in the near future here, are going to be cherries.

Ed Laivo  01:36

Well, yeah, you bet. We talked about cherries, a couple of shows back. We talked about the Black Republican cherry, and primarily, talking about the Black Republican was to share the excitement about this fantastic piece of fruit that's absolutely wonderful, just tremendous, for anybody who loves outstanding, unusual fruit. But the one I want to talk about today actually is one of the most modern of the self fruitful or self fertile varieties. And that's a Sweetheart cherry. It has a similar kind of exciting lineage in that it originates from one of the most prolific breeders of cherries in the world, the Summerlin Research Station up in British Columbia. And they have a history of introducing some incredible varieties of cherries, one of which is the most popular, that would be the Lapin cherry, which came out of the Summerlin Research Station. And the Sweetheart is a new variety. When I say new, I don't mean new, new, new.  I mean it actually was introduced back in 1992. So that's very, very new for these exciting, fruitful varieties of cherries. Sweetheart actually is very versatile. It has a number of different qualities that make it a superior choice for backyard gardeners. I'm just really, really jazzed about it and have been for quite a while.

Farmer Fred  03:13

Just for the sake of clarity, I'm looking at a book called Fruit, Berry and Nut Inventory, the third edition, and it says about the Sweetheart that is a large bright red fruit with good flavor. It talks about it being sourced in 1992. But I noticed that Tomorrow's Harvest's description for the Sweetheart cherry says it was officially released in 1994.

Ed Laivo  03:34

That's the truth too. I wrote that, so that you know of course it is true. And it was officially released.

Farmer Fred  03:42

I have another question about the description in this book of the Sweetheart cherry. The book calls it "precocious". Now when I think of the word "precocious", I think of Shirley Temple or Little Stevie Wonder. What does the word "precocious" mean, in reference to a fruit tree?

Ed Laivo  03:58

It means Shirley Temple or little Stevie Wonder. Except for its ability to be young and productive.

Farmer Fred  04:07

Oh,  so it produces earlier.

Ed Laivo  04:10

Correct. Yeah. And it produces a lot. Precocious is beyond just, you know, some fruit early on. It produces a substantial amount of fruit at a much younger age than the average. And so that would be your Shirley Temple or your Stevie Wonder example

Farmer Fred  04:30

That would be a little Stevie Wonder example.

Ed Laivo  04:32

Correct little Stevie Wonder. Right?

Farmer Fred  04:34

Because he's our age now.

Ed Laivo  04:36

Yeah, yeah, but he shouldn't play harmonica better than I did when he was my age. Yes.

Farmer Fred  04:43

So the Sweetheart cherry is a large, bright red fruit  with good flavor and from what I understand, it bears later in the year. It's a late cherry.

Ed Laivo  04:52

Yeah, yeah. So it's kind of like, for a successive ripening it would be an anchor cherry, one of the last ones that you'd harvest. Its parent is a Van and then a variety that probably nobody's ever heard of, called New Star. But it's a Van cherry. Van is an incredibly intense flavored cherry to begin with. And so it's inherited that characteristic. The Sweetheart has a very wonderful rich, sweet flavor. And it's rather firm as well. For those people who like their fruit firm, the Sweetheart is large and very firm as well.

Farmer Fred  05:28

Now, if it is precocious, and it grows and bears fruit, and it's a late bearing crop, one problem I know that cherry trees might have if this pest is in your area, and it really likes the late cherry crop. And that's the Spotted Wing Drosophila, part of the family of vinegar flies that are out there that pierce cherries and lay eggs inside of them, making them rather unappetizing.

Ed Laivo  05:54

Yeah, and one of the things about the the Sweetheart cherry that we should point out is that it produces a tremendously heavy crop, it crops very heavy, dependably very heavy, so much so that it really should be pruned back aggressively, to keep the canopy in check, keep it low, so that the limbs on what they call the secondary, or the primary wood are the primary laterals off of the tree. So they become very stout and very, very thick and heavy, so that it can support the weight of this tree's large crops. And of course, this becomes a target for the Spotted Wing Drosophila. But covering techniques, the simple act of throwing a row crop cover over the top of the tree, just while just before the fruit starts to color. So the insect likes to attack fruit as it matures. And that's where it does its primary damage. But if you can throw this cover, like a simple row crop cover over a well managed, low kept cherry tree, you'll avoid that problem completely.

Farmer Fred  07:06

How low could you keep the tree?

Ed Laivo  07:08

Oh, you can keep the tree probably in the five to six foot range. You know, when I was with the Dave Wilson nursery, I kept the cherry tree at 48 inches for almost 10 years. And it bore every year, same as the Santa Rosa plum that I had, just adjacent to it. Keeping the tree short makes it easier to net. 

Farmer Fred  07:31

Well, that's one great strategy for thwarting the Spotted Wing Drosophila. I guess the time to throw that net over the tree is as soon as you start seeing the fruit turn color, probably from yellow to pink or there abouts.

Ed Laivo  07:43

That's exactly when you put it on. You want to make sure that when you cover the tree, you actually tie the canopy or tie the cover to the bottom of the trees so that no insect can get in there and get trapped. Still, you'll ward off better than 90% of the damage that would be typical if you left the tree uncovered and didn't spray or didn't do anything to control the insect. I think it kind of harkens to the need to size control the tree. Because your fruit trees have so many different challenges in terms of pests or even disease control that it makes it so much easier if your trees are kept at a reasonable height.

Farmer Fred  08:27

Now obviously we're not talking about bird netting when we're talking about an insect that's only 1/8 of an inch big. So what do you use for a cover?

Ed Laivo  08:36

You can just use row crop cover. The same thing you would use to protect your vegetables from cold during the wintertime and you can buy big sheets of that, they are relatively inexpensive as well. I keep quite a bit of it on hand here for  my winter vegetables. I throw these frost blankets over the top and you can throw them over the top of fruit trees as a screen for insects as well.

Farmer Fred  09:05

It's the Sweetheart cherry, you should add it as your late cherry alternative. If you like to grow cherry trees, why not have a nice sweet late cherry that ripens in July, a very hardy tree, down to what, USDA zone five?

Ed Laivo  09:20

Yeah. Actually it does have a little bit more hardiness than the average sweet cherry. But when you talk about sweet cherries and USDA zone five, you're really talking about some areas in zone five. You want good air drainage in a zone five location. You want morning sun,  and you want a full day's worth of sun, eight hours at least.

Farmer Fred  09:41

There you go. The Sweetheart cherry, available from Tomorrow's Harvest, by Burchell nursery. Just visit their website, Tomorrow'sHarvest.com for more information about the Sweetheart cherry tree. 

Farmer Fred  09:55

Smart Pots are the original award winning fabric planter. They're sold worldwide. Smart Pots are proudly made, 100% in the USA. Smart Pots are also BPA free. There's no risk of chemicals leaching into the soil your herbs, vegetables and other edibles. That's why organic growers prefer Smart Pots. Smart Pots' breathable fabric creates a healthy root structure for plants. Smart Pots come in a wide array of sizes and they can be reused year after year. Speaking of the cold weather that's on the way, if a frost or freeze is in the forecast, moving your frost tender plants that are in the Smart Pots that have handles makes them even easier to move closer to the house for added warmth or you could even move them inside for the winter. Visit SmartPots dot com slash Fred for more information about the complete line of smart pots lightweight fabric containers. It's Smart Pots, the original, award-winning fabric planter. Go to SmartPots.com slash Fred for more info and that special farmer for a discount on your next Smart Pot purchase. Go to SmartPots.com slash Fred. 

Farmer Fred  11:02

So people are writing you questions, Ed. We may turn the name of this segment from Fabulous Fruit Friday into "Ask Ed." You want to field some questions here?

Ed Laivo  11:13

Oh, yeah, that sounds fun.

Farmer Fred  11:14

All right. Here's a question posted on the Apple Podcast page in the comments. And thank you for commenting on the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast, if you listen to it via Apple. A grower in California, who gave the podcast five stars, God bless you, sir, or Ma'am, for that! They write: "I'd like to hear your response on the best type of paint mix to protect trees for sunscald. In the past, I've made my own whitewash using a mixture of salt and type S lime, and cover the lower trunk of the tree. I never liked the idea of using latex paint. However, I listened to your show about salt in many types of fertilizer. So what is an alternative? What do big orchards use? What options are there, Ed?".

Ed Laivo  12:00

Liming of trees goes back, you know, ages. But I think that's pre latex paint. I've used a  latex paint, forever. And I've actually experimented to great degrees with latex paint back in the late 90s, early 2000s, we had a lot of fun. And what we're looking for is,  the different ways that you can apply it, different styles that you could use. And so we came up with a lot of different anecdotal things that were a lot of fun. First, of course, you use an  interior latex paint, never use an exterior latex paint because exterior latex paints have fungicides in them. But interior latex paints don't. Dilute that to 50 to 70% (with water). A lot of times you'll hear 50%, I found that 50% can be just a little bit too thick, a lot of times 70% with water is just fine. And what we found was a lot of fun was, you don't have to do it with white, you know, you can do a peach tree in yellow if you want to, you can do a cherry tree in a very, very light color of red if you'd like to. And, your lemon tree, you could do it in lemon yellow if you want, as long as it's a bright, reflective color. And also, the latex acts as a barrier, so that not only do you have the reflective quality of the paint, or the color of the paint  to ward off sunburn and doesn't destroy the cambium layer of the tree. But also it keeps borers from coming in and puncturing through, they can't break through the latex. So that it acts as a double barrier. Using colors was a lot of fun. And also painting the canopy or the trunk up into the primary scaffolding limbs, the first parts of the canopy and the bottom of the tree. So we always want to go up into that first set of primary scaffolds. The other thing that we had fun with if you want to be a little bit more on the organic side, was we worked with talc paints, and these came out of a company and have to excuse me, because I haven't worked with these companies in years. But these talc paints came out of a company in Arizona at the time. And they sent us all kinds of samples of different colors and types of talcs. And we found that they were just as effective. I think that the surface created by the talc  was almost something that would ward off insects to begin with, as well. They just don't like crawling across that talc.

Farmer Fred  14:41

So to answer Grower in California's question: what do the big orchards use? I see it in Walnut orchards, still.

Ed Laivo  14:47

Walnut orchards. Yeah, but I would suspect that's latex.

Farmer Fred  14:51

Yeah, and it's probably 50 or 70% water and 30% interior latex paint.

Ed Laivo  14:56

When you get up to 70% dilution ratios, then you can put in a sprayer. You can actually spray the latex on, which I thought was a lot easier to apply than doing it with a paintbrush.

Farmer Fred  15:07

I find it soothing and Zen-like to use a brush on a tree.

Ed Laivo  15:11

That's alright as well. And keep in mind that it really is a thing that's done in the real, real hot climates and dry climates. Mostly because that's where we see sunburn. Sunburn is the big culprit here. We're trying to ward off sunburn because once you get sunburned, then the next thing you get is borers, and the Pacific flathead borer or the crown borer will come in. Your cambium layer of the tree could be damaged. That's going to occur on the south side of your tree. The south facing side of the tree is in that hot afternoon sun. In a real dry climate like we have here in California, there's no humidity to protect the tree. And so the odds of getting, especially on cherries, the damage on cherries can be devastating, especially in the first two years.

Farmer Fred  16:00

I hope that helps you out there grower in California. Thanks for leaving that message.

Farmer Fred  16:15

We're talking with Ed Laivo from Tomorrow's Harvest, from Burchell Nursery. Let's talk a little bit more about getting some more bang for your buck, when it comes to planting fruit trees. You want a long harvest season. Just about any deciduous fruit you can think of has many varieties which ripen at different times. Cherries leading off the season for instance, you could have several different cherry varieties if you really like cherries.

Ed Laivo  16:41

One of the cool things about cherries, if you wanted to do successive ripening, what you want to do is get one of those early varieties like the Black Republican or Black Tartarian. And then you want to get a variety like Rainier, one that's right in the middle of the season, and that also gives you the diversity of having a red cherry and a blonde cherry, because of course, the Rainier is that nice big blonde cherry and then end the season off with a Van or a Stella, your favorite. Or Lapins. 

Farmer Fred  17:10

Alright, so there you got three or four cherry trees as if you needed more cherries in your life.

Ed Laivo  17:16

And there's even a cooler one than that, that is Lapin-like. It came out of the same hybridization program as Lapin, it's called Sweetheart. And that's a monster cherry that I don't think enough people are actually becoming familiar with but it's a great variety. And before that you can have Utah Giant. There's a lot of good cherries, Fred.

Farmer Fred  17:37

Yeah, there are. And many of them are right there at Tomorrow'sHarvest.com. And you can check them out and find out more about them. Bob writes in, and he says: "Perhaps Ed has some ideas when he is next on Garden Basics. In 1989 I bought and planted an Italian prune tree. For at least the last decade, shoots come up from the rootstock and in more and more locations around the tree. Over time and above soil level,  growth bulges, creating space for additional shoots. Several times during the growing season. I prune off those shoots, I grow weary of pruning." 

Farmer Fred  18:13

I just love that sentence: "I grow weary of pruning", it sounds like something Hemingway would write. "I grow weary of pruning. The great Dimaggio would be ashamed."

Ed Laivo  18:24

Well,  if you think about it, too, if you choose the right rootstock, you'll guarantee yourself the life of pruning your roots. Where I am primarily it would be Mariana 26 24 or it would be Myro, even the 29-C will sucker as well like that. And the older the tree gets, the more that you cut and prune back those, they just callus  up and then the tree produces more suckers. There are some chemicals that you can use that actually are like sucker stoppers. And I think they're done by Monterey chemical, I think they have some, and there's I think there's one other company that does them as well. And you might try those, they suppress those suckers keep them from coming up. 

Farmer Fred  19:19

However, we should point out that when you're using those sucker stopper type products is to be sure to read and follow all label directions. Make sure the plant you're applying it to is listed on the label.

Ed Laivo  19:30

Oh absolutely. You bet. Yes. Do that.

Farmer Fred  19:33

Thank you.

Ed Laivo  19:34

You're very welcome. All right.

Farmer Fred  19:37

But he does finish off by saying, "I've been toying with the idea to chop off these growths back down to the root they are attached to. How likely am I to kill the tree?" And like you just said, all you're gonna end up doing is producing more sprouts if you do that.

Ed Laivo  19:50

Yeah. And I tell you what, I've  seen what the results are of that. Keep in mind that at every place that those roots have popped out of the ground, you know, six, 8, 10, 15 feet from the tree, that right there it'll have a whole new root system attached to it. And you may dig that out. But the root that you leave in the ground, you'll be surprised. It'll sprout up everywhere. It'll start pushing new growth everywhere, in places where it's never pushed before. When you've got it calloused up, and one spot where the root calluses up every year, it seems like that's where your greatest concentration of new growth occurs every year, almost like a new tree starts there every year. But when you start trying to cut those roots off, man, they can get to be a nightmare. You can turn your yard into a into one big rootstock patch.

Farmer Fred  20:41

Is that a particular characteristic of the Mariana rootstock?

Ed Laivo  20:51

 Yes, it is more of a characteristic of Mariana 26-24, but Myro 29-C is prone to it as well. Myrobalan rootstocks are prone to it as well.

Farmer Fred  21:02

Someday we'll do a rootstock show.

Ed Laivo  21:04

Yeah, we should.  Absolutely.  But to be exact, I was in meetings  today. That was almost the entire conversation. It was on hybrid rootstocks. All new. And we were talking about the huge push towards hybrid rootstocks today, which is kind of exciting. You know, it's not something that's been really intensely investigated by hybridizers in the past, but now, because of our ability to be able to generate results quicker, because of the mass plantings we have everywhere, we can get results sooner.

Farmer Fred  21:43

All the magic happens underground.

Ed Laivo  21:45

Yeah.  And you know, there's all sorts of reasons to select rootstocks that are adapted, to the soil, conditions that you plant in. It's something that I've always said, and I mean always. I've always said, rootstocks are not for dwarfing. Rootstocks are for soil adaptation and disease resistance. If they happen to keep the tree a little bit smaller, that becomes the compliment. You selected the root stock for the real reason that it would be adapted to the soil conditions or it's tolerant of diseases that may have been prevalent in your area.

Farmer Fred  22:26

I would think a good local independent nursery would be cognizant of that when they bring in their fruit trees each year. That they would insist upon fruit trees that have rootstocks that are compatible with the soil of most of their customers.

Ed Laivo  22:41

When you get into the home garden, though, it's I think it's a greater challenge. In commercial, I think you're probably more forced to look at rootstock. But when you're in the home garden, you do have some options. And one of them probably is, one of the best ones is, drainage is always is a key in a home garden situation. I can say that 90% of all home garden trees fail because of poor drainage, it could be higher, you know, of course. You're going to want to plant on a mound or in an elevated planting. And it doesn't matter then what root stock you're on. Because if the root stock can withstand the heavy clay soil that you plant in, or the heavily compacted soil that you're forced to plant in, in some housing areas, then, it will get plenty of oxygen. In most cases, it's going to do fine and pruning becomes more of a concern. You're only talking about one tree in your backyard or two or three. In commercial orchards, they can be talking about 10s of 1000s of trees.

Ed Laivo  22:43

It'll be on Ed Laivo's tombstone: Plant them high. Keep them low. 

Ed Laivo  23:46

Yeah, yeah, that's right. Hey, I love it. that was great. Yeah,  I think I've advocated raise bed plantings for the last 30 years. I just watch the walnut guys. The walnut guys up north in the Santa Rosa area, all planted on mounds and I couldn't figure out why they had planted, we're planting so high. And so I asked a few of them and they said "oh, you know, it's because we don't know what the winter weather is going to bring here. And so, you know, we want to make sure that there's always oxygen available above ground to supply oxygen to the root systems that are inundated with water throughout the winter time". And so I took that back to the nursery and basically I don't care what root stock it was on. I just recommended that in Sonoma County soils, heavy compacted and shallow hard pans. It's best to plant all your fruit to trees 12 to 18 inches above the grade.

Farmer Fred  24:39

There you go. Sweetheart cherry tree, available from Tomorrow's Harvest, by Burchell nursery. Visit tomorrowsharvest.com and find out more about the Sweetheart cherry tree. Make it part of your cherry tree arsenal. Ed Laivo, why don't you come back next Friday for Fabulous Fruit Friday and we will take some scenic diversions after we talk about whatever we talk about?

Ed Laivo  25:00

You know what, I'll look forward to that, and I won't even plan.

Farmer Fred  25:05

No, please plan, please plan. Right. Thank you for your help on this.

Ed Laivo  25:12

You're always welcome.

Farmer Fred  25:15

The warmer weather means that fruit trees and berry bushes will soon spring to life, with the promise of tasty, nutritious fresh fruit for you and your family. What are you waiting for? A website for more information? OK, it’s Tomorrow’s Harvest dot com, your go-to site for a complete line of backyard fruit trees and bushes. Tomorrows harvest fine line of fruit trees is the result of 75 years of developing, testing and growing.  For well over 75 years three generations of the Burchell family have been at the forefront of research and development of plants of the highest quality. All of these beautiful, edible plants have been carefully cultivated for your home garden. And they come in Plantable Paper Pots, ready for you to stick directly in the ground, pot and all. Look for Tomorrow’s Harvest fruit trees at better retail nurseries. And If your favorite nursery doesn’t carry any of Tomorrows Harvest fruit, nut and berry varieties, you can order them directly from Tomorrows harvest dot. com. Let the Burchell family’s three generations of experience take root in your home orchard, landscape and garden. Tomorrows Harvest: It’s goodness you can grow. To find out more about their nutritious and delicious fruit and nut varieties, visit tomorrowsharvest.com.

Farmer Fred  26:29

The Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast has a lot of information posted at each episode: transcripts, links to any products or books mentioned during the show, and other helpful links for even more information. Plus, you can listen to just the portions of the show that interest you, it’s been divided into easily accessible chapters.  Plus you’ll find more information about how to get in touch with us. Leave an audio question without making a phone call via Speakpipe, at speak pipe dot com slash gardenbasics. it’s easy, give it a try. And you just might hear your voice on the Garden Basics podcast! If you’re listening to us via Apple podcasts, put your question in the Ratings and Reviews section. Text us the question and pictures, or leave us your question at: 916-292-8964.916-292-8964. E-mail: fred@farmerfred.com . If you tell us where you’re from, that will help us greatly to accurately answer your garden questions. Because all gardening is local. In the show notes you’ll find links to all our social media outlets, including facebook, instagram, twitter, and youtube. Also, a link to the farmerfred.com website.

Farmer Fred  27:47

Garden Basics comes out every Tuesday and Friday and is brought to you by Smart Pots. It’s available just about anywhere podcasts are handed out. And that includes Apple podcasts, I Heart Radio, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, Podcast Addict, CastBox and Google podcasts. And for Northern California gardeners, check out this podcast: the Green Acres Garden Podcast with Farmer Fred, also available wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you for listening, subscribing and leaving comments. We appreciate it.