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I recently planted a Bing cherry tree but learned after the planting that the cherry tree would need another cherry tree to make it bear fruits. Another way is, I was told, to graft a second cherry tree to the planted one.

Other than those two methods, is there any other method for making my cherry tree bear fruits? We do not have a space to plant another one, and grafting does not sound easy for me.

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  • Hi DSKim! We haven't seen you for a while, so I just wanted to say welcome back! Feb 24, 2016 at 23:52

2 Answers 2

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Depending on where you live there could be a compatible cherry near enough that you will get fruit. Fortunately there are good resources out there to find good pollinators for stone fruit. Typically the male part of the flower will become active at a different part of time than the female part, to help eliminate self pollination, so variety X may be suitable to pollinate variety Y, but not vice versa.

from: http://homeguides.sfgate.com/good-pollinators-bing-cherry-trees-57515.html (a result of a quick googling and not any real research on my part)

Several cultivars with overlapping bloom times are suitable for "Bing" pollinization including "Lapins," "Stella," "Black Tartarian," "Black Republican," "Van," "Sam" and "Windsor."

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    +1, I haven't ever lived in a place where there wasn't some cultivated or gone feral cherry trees. Doesn't matter if they are bred for blossoms, sweet or sour cherries so long as the bloom overlaps.
    – Escoce
    Feb 24, 2016 at 15:24
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You really have 3 options: plant a second sweet cherry tree, graft a limb on your current cherry tree, or take your chances and hope one of your neighbors somewhere near by has a sweet cherry tree in their garden that will pollinate yours. Not knowing where you live, I have no idea how likely this third option is, but if many of your neighbors have fruit trees, it is possible.

You mention that you don't have room for another tree, but would you perhaps be able to find room for a small one? Compact Stella is a small sweet cherry. It grows to 10-12 feet tall naturally, but can be kept smaller with pruning. I have had no trouble keeping mine at about 8 feet tall, so I don't have to get a ladder out to pick. Stella is a pollinator for Bing. Even if you do not have room for a full-sized cherry tree, maybe you could find a spot to tuck a Compact Stella into?

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  • Thanks for the suggestion. I will probably wait for this year to see if my Bing cherry bears fruits. If there is no sign of bearing fruits, I will probably plant or graft a second one.
    – DSKim
    Feb 24, 2016 at 18:19

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