We have a variety of Romance series cherries in our backyard. Five of them are in their fourth season. They flowered very heavily and we had a strong pollinator presence. We thought we were going to have a bounty of cherries. Many of the buds started to set fruit. But they got to a certain, quite small size, and just stopped. Only maybe 10-20% of the initial fruit set looks like it will mature to full fledged fruit. The picture shows what the "quitters" look like. Anyone know the cause of this loss?
The photo shows cherries undergoing typical "June drop". The amount dropped can be quite variable and seems to be dependent on weather conditions around the time of flower pollination. Here on the wet coast I usually lose a large percentage of stone fruits and apples unless it's warm and dry when the trees are blooming, which rarely happens. Some varieties of fruit trees are more susceptible than others, presumably because they aren't as well suited to the local climate.
