Return to the Louisiana & Mississippi Forum
| Post a Follow-Up
Growing Cherries
| | |
Posted by dblaze LA (My Page) on Thu, Sep 3, 09 at 15:19
| Hey everyone. I would like to attempt to grow cherries here in Lake Charles. All the advice available on the internet recommends the "Stella" variety. What are your thoughts? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Growing Cherries
| | |
| I tried a Montmorency cherry in Jackson Mississippi. The first year it leafed out barely, the second year it never even came out of dormancy. I don't think we have enough chill hours for cherries here, but I may be wrong. I replaced the Montmorency with a Fuyu non-astringent persimmon- they are relatively pest free for me so far, bear well, and taste divine!!!! I don't want to waste space with something that won't bear fruit well. |
RE: Growing Cherries
| | |
Contact the county agent for your parish - look under (probably) US govt. dept. of agriculture, or maybe agriculture extension office. They will have printed materials specific to your parish, sometimes even broken down into several micro-climates. Ours has "north of I-10" and "south of I-10." That's pretty specific!
You get more chill than we do, but the are definitely no cherries that can be grown in Lafayette. I really think most cherry varieties require at least 600 hours of temps below 45F to fruit. The tree might survive our climate for a few years, but you won't get fruit. Something like a Taiwan cherry is a very attractive tree that can produce bird forage. But usually just flowers.
Producing in my yard: starfruit, several varieties of guava, tamarillo, jujube, sapote. I will lose some of these if we get a really hard frost, but they don't *need* cold.
Good growing - Nancy |
RE: Growing Cherries
| | |
| Petite Orange, I'm so envious that you can grow Tamarillos! Those things are so delicious. I love to just cut them in half and eat them with an iced-tea spoon...just like we eat Kiwis. Do they fruit reliably? Or are they hit-and-miss, like Bananas are in Louisiana? Someone told me that people are growing Avocados in New Orleans, and that they set fruit....and will add to the value of a house (sounds a tad optimistic, if you ask me). But If we could grow Tamarillos and Guavas, we might just move to Thibodeaux, or at least have a weekend place there (too busy. Just dreaming). The neighbors here think it's weird that I make Gumbo every Saturday of the world (and me chopping Sassafras leaves in the Mini-Prep for File Gumbo totally amazes them). |
RE: Growing Cherries
| | |
DBalze,
Hope Im not posting this too late for you to notice but I wanted to say that there are some new Low chill varieties of Cherry available now. You will probably have to mail order them and I think a place called Bay Laurel has them for sale online. I'm told they are good. I live in Austin Texas and I have heard that these cherries are great south of us in San Antonio and I'll bet they may do good for you too. My family is from Lake Charles and I lived in SLouisiana for a long time and I still view this forum for fun sometime. Check out the cherries some time if you can. Scape |
Post a Follow-Up
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Louisiana & Mississippi Forum
|
|
|
