Neighbor has an older Bing cherry that has produced well in the past. Last 2 yrs it's barely putting out any fruit. Is it just the crappy weather we are having? I don't know if Bings need a polinator or not. If they do what? barb
Hi Barbara. Yes it needs a pollinator. Here's a short article from Washington State University. I've read that Rainier, Stella, and Van are good pollinators for Bing--or you could use a sour cherry like Montmorency. I hope this helps.
If it were a pollination issue, presumably past years of good cropping wouldn't have occurred. Has there been any new pruning going on the past couple of seasons? If there isn't an obvious polllenator to be seen, perhaps there was one nearby that has been removed? Might be the weather, as you suggest, though this year has been a great harvest for me, and we experienced much the same cool, wet weather.
There's also the possibility of grafting a branch of a pollinator onto the Bing. I agree with woodschmoe but if I had a fruit tree needing a pollinator, I wouldn't want to wait and hope for some unknown neighbor's pollen. That's why my lonely plum tree that bore 3 plums/year, now has 3 plum friends planted nearby.
Yes, alot of new development near him so that could well be the reason. I will pass this info on. Thank you both for your help, esp. the WSU article. (Shame - I'm supposed to be the WSU Master Gardener. Neg points on that one) ;)) barb
Both last year and this year had cool, wet Spring weather that reduced pollination success in many kinds of fruit trees, including sweet cherries. My Stella cherries had poor crops in Burnaby, BC, both years.
