Low Chill Cherry - Royal Lee & Minnie Royal

Home Depot has Royal Lee cherry trees for sale and I'm thinking about purchasing but would like some input. I read that they don't like humidity which is very high in South Mississippi. Anyone growing these and do you live in a humid area? Any experience with Minnie Royal or other pollinators?

There are a few people growing them in the Texas Rare Fruit Growers. Some of the guys are keeping them alive despite the heat and humidity here in Texas but they arent growing gangbusters.

I decided to grow Capulin Cherry instead which is a true Cherry from Mexico. It isnt a very sweet Cherry but it is more adapted to our area. It should be hardy to around 15F or a bit lower.

I know this info. won't help you much, but I have both the Royal Lee and Minnie Royal trees in my area. They are doing fine so far. Big enough that I expext to get significant fruit this year. I bought these varieties because they are low chill and sweet. Up until they came along we had to be content with sour cherries. The two varieties are supposed to be good cross pollinators. It won't help you to know that our area is very dry 15% to 30% humidity most of the time and very little frost each winter. There are areas at a slightly higher altitude, not more than a few miles away where cherries have been grown commercially for years. Don

I talked to a wholesaler in CA who said that the trees are not very productive compared to the commercial varieties and he doesnt grow them for that reason. However, they didnt sell Minnie or Lee so he could have been biased.

I don't know who you talked to in California, but you might want to get in touch with the Dave Wilson Nursery people. They are very knowledgable and helpful. They are a wholesale nursery. Don

Dave Wilson has a patent on those two Cherries so they are probably a little biased too.

I am sure that someone that grows them will eventually pop up on the board and say how they do as far as yields. California definitely has a nicer climate for Cherries than Texas. I tried to buy a Royal Lee at the Urban Harvest fruit tree sale but they sold out quickly. I wanted to use it too cross-pollinate with my Capulin Cherry.

Good luck on your Cherry adventure Imanerd. Take a chance and let us know.

Last April I attended a seminar on growing fruit trees in Fayette County, the county in which I live. I asked about the advisability of growing Royal Lee and Minnie in Texas, more specifically south Central Texas. I was told TAMU was still evaluating the two. You might try calling TAMU and ask if the evaluation is complete.
http://texasextension.tamu.edu/contact/index.php

One thing I do know about cherries. They must have the correct rootstock for your soil type or they will keel over faster than you can blink. They normally don't like heavy soils.
Cherry trees are also susceptible to cotton root rot and post oak root rot.

Here's a good link to rootstock for sweet cherries: ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/.../pnw619.pdf
I know it doesn't work as is and couldn't get it to work by altering the URL as I've done at other times. Here is the search result of Google's Sweet cherry rootstock. Both Oregon State and Utah Horticulture Org have good information to sweet cherry rootstocks.
http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS343&=&q=Sweet+cherry+rootstocks&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=

I would love them put one on Plum rootstock. I dont think it will be too long before we get a decent Cherry for Central Texas. I planted about 200 Cherry seeds this year in hopes that I would get one decent one that can take the heat.

I dedicated one row at the orchard for just seeds from the fruit I eat from the grocery store. It is about 330 feet long and I am planting every 12 inches. I will cut out the weak and see what happens with the rest.

Thanks for all the information. I contacted the Dave Wilson nursery to see what they recommend and will post their response.

jujubetexas,

How long have you had the capulin and have you taken any extra precautions during cold spells?

I've been saving pits from the bags of cherries we buy at walmart just to see what happens when I get around to planting. Those cherries are soooo good! I said the same thing to my husband that with all these we're bound to get something. I hope that your experiment goes well.

I wonder if the native wild plum would be a good rootstock?

I have taken zero precautions with the Capulin Cherry after I planted it. I have had it for little over a year and kept it on the back porch last winter when it was still in a pot. It still has leaves right now even though we have had 23-24F degrees. It would take mid to low teens to kill it in my estimation.

I will be grafting on Mexican Plum this spring to test it out. I was thinking of putting a Minnie Royal or Royal Lee on it if I can still get my hands on one. I will probably be forced to go through the internet. I also plan on trying Green Gage, Santa Rosa and Burgundy Plum on the same tree.

I hear from people in the warmer areas of CA that they do really well. i do not grow them, because my cherries that I do grow are not compatible, pollen-wise.

Response from Dave Wilson Nursery:

Don't have any data on how they'll do with humidity. Early spring rains during bloom will likely be more of a problem.