Mold on cherry fruit

[William Brown]

We have a mature sweet cherry tree (Stella, sold as self-pollinating) that has produced very well for quite a few years. This year we had a warm and very wet spring. We're in zone 5/6, very near lake Erie which moderates the weather. The tree set its usual abundant crop but just as they started to turn, a mold started developing on the fruits, and the whole crop shriveled up. My concern is what I should to to protect the tree now that this has happened. The leaves seem healthy, and I don't find an abnormal amount of insects. Since it is a full sized tree, and my climbing days are over, I have not kept it as pruned as I do my dwarf tree, so I think my fall project will be to do a drastic pruning and try to get more breeze into the tree for next year. Is there anything else I can do for it?

[nobody]

Sounds like brown rot. Do a web search, and you'll find sites telling you how to deal with it (what and when to spray.) Good luck.

Alan

[Square Foot Gardening]

As far as the climbing thing, get yourself an extension pruner. You can cut branches as high as 12-15 foot reach with one of those, and if it has a saw on the end, you can do some pretty big branches.

Here is a Tree Fruit Pest Problem Solver

On this one, scroll down to cherry and this should help you keep track of future problems, too

I hope they help.

is my site on Square Foot Gardening, but you can find some general gardening and plant info there.

GC Certified Square Foot Gardening Instructor

to be a freelance web designer

[William Brown]

Thanks for the information. The pictures at the web sites confirm that it is brown rot.

As for climbing, this is a very large fruit tree, easily 25 or 30 feet tall, so I'm going to try and remove all the residue of the infection using a ladder.