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Sweet Cherry Cultural Practices and Concerns

As soon as harvest is complete some cultural concerns for NJ cherries need to be addressed. One of
biggest obstacles to successful cherry production is the disease, bacterial canker. Last fall in the Plant
and Pest Advisory, September 22, 1998 Vol.3 No. 25, we covered this disease in depth. That issue
can be accessed online at http://virtualorchard.net/rce/plantpest/default.html


Bacterial Canker can be a serious bacterial disease of sweet cherry in New Jersey. Bacterial Canker
or bacterial gummosis of sweet cherry is caused by a Pseudomonasbacterium. This disease infects
flower buds and spurs. It can completely kill new spurs and leaves and then move into the trunk.

This topic will be covered in depth in a future issue of the Plant and Pest. However for now there are a
couple of things to keep in mind. We plan on pruning our sweet cherry blocks immediately after
harvest is complete. We do a complete pruning now and do no dormant pruning. We will also be
applying a copper spray immediately after harvest to help reduce the bacterial inoculum. Champ
Formula 2 is labeled for application on Cherry, post bloom at 1-2 pints per acre in 2-4 spray
applications two weeks apart. We will also be pruning out any bacterial cankers observed. More on
this later.

Finally, be sure to maintain good fungicide coverage for Cherry Leaf Spotcontrol through the rest
of the growing season.


1999 North Jersey Tree Fruit Annual Report

52