Will Bing or Montmorency cherry trees grow well in San Diego county?

Hi Rod Knocker,

This is Ricks Picks. I work in the Garden Department for the Home Depot. Thank you for your question. Your zip code 92021 puts you in zone 9a.

The difficulty you would have with a Bing cherry tree, is meeting the chill hour requirements. Typically in Southern California, we receive about 300 to 450 chill hours on average depending on our area. This is not enough for a tree which requires a minimum of 900 chill hours for the Bing and 900-1000 chilling hours for the Montmorency cherry tree. Unless you take some extraordinary steps to increase your available chill hours a Bing cherry tree or a Montmorency cherry tree is not going to work. You can however increase your chill hours by keeping a few blocks of ice around your tree for two three months, you can reach the 900 chilling hours required for the Bing cherry tree & the Montmorency. As well as the chilling hours, the Bing cherry requires a second tree for a pollinator, such as the Black Tartian or the Stella. The Bing cherry tree will ripen around early July if the chilling hours and pollinating requirements are met and the Montmorency with ripen around late July

Sounds like too much work? Yes it is. A good alternative for the Bing would be a Brooks cherry tree. This one only requires around 400 chilling hours and is suited for zone 9a and 9b. A pollinator is required for this one as well and it is recommended that a Coral, Kansas Sweet or a Tulare cherry be used as a pollinator.

Another good cherry tree which has just been introduced by Dave Wilson Nursery located in the Central Valley of California is the Minnie Royal Cherry. This is a new variety of cherry tree and may be available at your local Home Depot Garden Center. Just ask when you stop by.

http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-Grow-Low-Chill-Sw...

That should give you a good start on selecting some of or fruit trees. Cherry trees can be grown in your area, it is just a matter of picking the right one.

Have a happy 2011

Ricks Picks

Tulare Cherry Tree

Montmorency Cherry Tree

This Site Might Help You.

RE:

Will Bing or Montmorency cherry trees grow well in San Diego county?

I want to plant some fruit trees and am looking for different fruits that will grow and produce well in the 92021 area (El Cajon, CA)

Thanks

I go to SDSU and I am a senior. WooHoo! Anyways, the local area schools have a tranfer agreement so that you get in even if you do not meet the GPA requirements....which keep going up. So I would go here in SD. It will guarantee you a spot at State. Also, alot of the majors have this thing called pre-majors and you can not apply for upper division classes until you have completed all the pre-major classes. I went to a JC in Menifee, CA (1hr north) and I "lost" a year, meaning I am a 5 year, because I could not apply for upper division right away because my JC did not offer the classes that were required. The SD JCs have all of those classes! Oh, you need to go to one of the San Diego City Colleges to have this option :)