If I remember correctly, they still need more chill hours (you probably already know what that means, but for anyone else reading along) which is the amount of time the temps stay low, as opposed to how low the temps go. As an example, the Cherry Festivals in my native Michigan are held in the upper part of the mitten (Traverse City,) which is much colder than the lower part of the state.

I've added a link to a publication that gives the info on chilling hours for many fruits and nuts that can be grown here. I'm afraid they don't even mention cherries.
HTH

Here is a link that might be useful: Desert Fruits and nuts

There are a few native cherry trees in Arizona. The ones that come to mind are the big ones up around the town of Cherry. Unsure exactly what type they are or if the fruit is even edible. Trying to grow edible cherries in Arizona might be a challenge but I've been successful with a Hollyleaf cherry tree in Mesa. It thrives in the heat and does put out fruit every year. The birds love 'em. Good luck.

Thanks Pagancat and AZJeff for your advice.
Despite advice to the opposite (by Mesquite Valley Growers staff also! :) I bought a Lapins Cherry. It was only $29.95 so I figured it'd be pretty low risk.
I'll be planting it in an area of my house that will be getting shade after 2PM in the summer (so it doesn't fry).

The 700 chill hour requirement seems almost attainable in my area.
I'll also augment this by placing ice around the tree when temps are over 45F during the winter.
I figure if I cover it with a sleeping bag or something, I'll be able to extend the chill hours to, hopefully, over the 700 hour limit.
And since temps under 32F is counterproductive to the accumulation of chill hours, I'll be covering it also when it gets really cold. :)
Wish me luck.
If this works, next year I'll plant a Rainier and a Montmorency. What can I say, I'm nuts for fruit/nut/citus trees... :D
Andreas

I don't know if this is true, but I've read that if the temperatures go above 65 F during the day, you have to subtract that many hours from your chill hours calculation (total hours below 45 F). As for cherries, I've been looking for something called a Jamaican Cherry (Muntingia) to see if it grows well here. It might get too cold some years for it, although I could probably protect it some its first few years.

Yes, for purposes of calculating chill hours ( hours at 32 - 45 degrees), you must subtract any hours above 65 degrees.

I wanted to add, I found capulin cherry trees at home depot today and according to this page: http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/capulin-cherry.html it doesn't need chill hours to bear fruit.

Some other Cherry options are Suriname Cherries and Cherry of the Rio Grande. While my Surinames have not bore fruit yet, they are thriving in pots. The type that I have are the darker purple colored ones. There have been mixed reviews as to flavor of the various types with the higher marks going to the purple fruits.

My Cherry of the Rio Grande was doing really well but was killed by one of my dogs so I'll have to replant that.

I have tried the Lapins, Capulin, Stella, Royal Lee and Minnie Royals. I even tried them on different root stocks and have not been successful with any of them. This could be a problem with my planting area since it is a bit salty from having horses living on there in the past along with our usual high PH conditions.

There are people who have posted on various forums for the Valley that say they have had good luck with them. Here is a thread from one of those forums: http://phoenixtropicals.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=693

Since my cherry experiments have failed, I am now trying Cherry Plums and so far they are actually doing well. I haven't a clue as to how they taste or much else about them but since there was Cherry in the name, I thought that I would give them a try :)

I have mini royal and royal lee cherry trees. After 3 years. of growing they had their first cherries this year. The fruit were a little on the small size but we're real good. The pit was also small so it wasn't a small cherry that was all pit. I got the dwarf root stock. In 3 years the dwarf trees are about 10 feet tall and still getting taller. I have tried the semi dwarf and full size root stocks with limited luck. Many years ago I got a cherry plum advertised as size of a plum but tastes like a cherry. It was the size of a large cherry and tasted like a plum. The fruit was good but did not taste like a cherry. This year I planted a couple of Stella cherries. Both are growing well but don't think there will be enough chill hours to ever get any fruit.

Last winter was warm and I still got cherries although many fell off when it hit 90 in February. The cherries ripen about the last week in April.

azallan, where are you located in AZ? I've been tempted to try those 2 cherry trees, but I wonder how well they can handle our heat. I think my area stays a little cooler than Phoenix in the summer, but not by much (just a few degrees usually).

I'm pretty sure my winters give more than enough average chill hours for them.

gilbert, near baseline and power. When I first moved there there were few houses and was a "colder outlying area". nights were usually 15 degrees below airport. this didn't do much for summer temperatures as they were usually only a few degrees below the airport. Now the area is infested with houses, the summer and winter temperatures are much closer to the airport. The trees have survived 115+ temperatures with only a little leaf wilt by sunset. leaves recover by next day. By end of summer older leaves are not in real good shape with wide areas of brown around the edges. These leaves are first to turn brown and fall off. Leaves growing later In the season look good and will turn a bright red with first frost in early December.

Nice, sounds like they're okay with it. Do you have them in full sun?

I imagine it's a little hard to find both varieties at the same time at a local nursery so I'll probably get them online.

The first couple of years they were in afternoon shade of willow tree. Tree died so there is no afternoon shade, all is well. One tree is partially shaded by an orchid tree. This tree is doing well but not growing as fast as the ones in full sun.

The local places that have had them tended to have an equal number of both kinds and gave some resistance to my wanting more Royal Lee then Mini Royal. Local suppliers that I went to only had full size tree rootstock. A full sized cherry can be over 30feet. If you can't net it you won't get any cherries as the birds don't share. I got dwarf trees from bay Loral. they only ship winter/early spring. To late for this year. There are some local places that sell now as 15 gal. trees. The dwarf trees are supposed to get to 12 feet. Mine are nearly that after 3 1/2 growing seasons. The Mini Royal tends to grow a little faster and wider. The Royal lee have been more up right. I have weighted some of the lower outer upward growing branches down on the Royal Lees. More cherries are produced on outward growing branches then upward growing branches.

azallan, glad to hear your royal/minnie are producing!

I have both in pots now that I'm transplanting to my new home (w/flood irrigation, yah!)

Can you speak briefly as to the location you have yours, and if you've done much in the way of feeding or soil amendments?

Thanks!

The five dwarf, one mini royal four royal lee, are planted in the front yard near the east property line. The house faces North. The house sets 100 Ft. back from the road so there is no shade from the house. I have dug the irrigation ditch along the east property line for the entire 660 feet. The trees are just to the west of the irrigation ditch. My neighbor to the east does not water his property near my trees so the roots likely do not go east past the ditch. to the north, west and south is lawn and plenty of room for the roots to spread. To the north of the trees is a pistachio which gives no shade to the cherries. To the south west is an Orchid that somewhat shades the south most cherry tree. That tree is not growing as fast. When the leaves wilt from the heat of the day and don't recover by the next day it is time to give them additional water. If I am going to be gone for a while I set up a timer to water the week between irrigations. This is especially necessary for the first few years.

As far as soil amendments, I dug the hole somewhat larger then the roots spread out. to that I place a 1/2 compost 1/2 peat moss mixture forming a cone in the center of the hole. I spread the roots and position them such that the roots go down the side of the cone. I fill the hole with the compost mixture until the roots are covered, then finish filling the hole with regular dirt. Be careful NOT to plant the tree so deep that the dirt covers the graft. At that point you may use B1 or willow water to give the roots a little extra help. I used willow water until the willow tree died.

I do not believe in feeding new trees the first year. Plant food stimulates leaf growth. The first year with phoenix heat and mangled roots the last thing the tree needs is more leaf to supply water to. The second year and beyond I feed the trees with miracle grow bloom booster just before flowering (Mid Feb.) and first of March. Then I feed them once more with miracle grow after the fruit has set. To much food equals to much growth equals long thin branches that break in the dust storms. The nine full size cherry trees in the back were treated nearly the same but are not doing nearly as well. If you don't have luck with full size trees, try dwarfs.

That is valuable information, thank you!

So just to clarify (in your experience) the trees are doing well with no real shade to speak of?

Also, with the flood irrigation only every 2 weeks, do you believe that I will need to do supplemental watering during the summer heat? (at least for the first 2 years?)

The rest is pretty straightforward, but I appreciate the help!

4 of the 5 trees get no shade and are doing well. As of last year it was necessary to do supplemental watering. This year has not been hot enough, yet, to see if this is still necessary. I think I read somewhere that cherry trees are not deep rooted. I can not use mulch to help hold in the moisture as irrigation would wash it away. Good luck with your trees.

Thanks again for the great information!!

Azallan--I live in NW Tucson and just came across this thread, which I found very interesting. How did your trees do in 2016? Any update would be appreciated--thanks.

I'm not Azallan but these threads convinced me to buy them, and mine did well their first year. No signs of fruit yet but they look nice and healthy. I hear it takes 3-5 years for them to start fruiting. They really need shade in the summer their first year (maybe 2 years) if they are in a full sun spot. I have mine in a full sun spot and when it got real hot, I ran 3 misters over each tree and they responded well to it. Although it might have just been the extra water that helped them. Also, I find shading the ground around the tree a lot more effective than just shading the leaves. Mulch was a big help as well.

Thanks for the information, iandyaz--and I hope you'll continue to let us know how it goes over the long haul! You may also want to consider joining the Phoenix Fruit Growers facebookk group, if you're not already a member.

update on cherry trees during 2016. cherry trees flowered much better then in 2015 and there were far more bees. fruit set did not appear as if it was going to be that great when I had to leave for brothers funeral. upon returning 6 weeks later there was a small number of pits on the ground but no cherries, BIRDS GOT THEM ALL! I think the small number of cherries that were set might have been caused by the very warm temperatures in February. We had the earliest 90+ degree day and during most of the flower time the temps were in the mid to high 80's. The trees finally stopped growing up and started to grow out. At the end of the growing season the trees are just over 15 feet, kind of tall for a dwarf. I added a Lapins cherry to the front yard group, they are supposed to grow in zone 9. That tree didn't grow but it also didn't die. I think the highest temp for the summer was 119 and trees only had a small amount of leaf burn around the edges. I still have to give some water by day 10 or 11, the 13 day irrigation cycle is just a little to long. From what I have read the dwarf trees also have a smaller root system, may need to always add additional water in the summer. Most of the 9 cherry trees planted in the back have died, maybe only 2 left. All the ones that I dug up had fairly large nodules on the roots. I was told it is crown root gall and there isn't much that can be done. Looks like no cherries in the back. All other fruit trees back there is doing well. I have not been able to find additional dwarf cherries, Bay Laurel, the place I got the original trees, now only has semi dwarf and standard trees. Two of the dwarf trees that I have are suckering from the root. I plan to remove the suckers and get them started this year. If that works I will graft new mini royals on them. Buds on trees are starting to swell and it looks like there will be a lot of flower this year. Hope the temperatures stay down in February.

Thanks for the update--too bad about the crown root gall. I would appreciate hearing about fruit set and bearing in 2017 on your surviving trees. If you're getting even a little fruit with your temperatures it can only be better in Tucson (although the birds may be worse).

I haven't tried cherries but my Sweet Treat Pluerry has done pretty well in Tucson. Last year was only the 2nd year in the ground and I got about 90 fruits off it. Not bad for a 5ft high tree.

Keep us updated on the Lapins.

Pretty impressive! How did they taste?

I really like them. They taste like a cherry with the aftertaste of a plum.

Thanks--sounds like it might be worth a try!

it has been over 90 the past couple of days. My dwarf cherry trees in the front are in full bloom, thousands of flowers. The flowering started well before it got real hot so I have hope that there will be a good set of fruit. Also the first year they flowered the Royal Lee flowered first and were almost done before the Mini Royal started. This year the first Royal Lee flower was only 1 day before the Mini Royal. Got some pictures but have to figure out if they can be posted to this site. Lost one of the 2 Stella cherries in the back. Upon digging it up there were nodules on the roots. Out of 9 there are 4 cherries left. 2, the royal lee and mini royal are flowering. These trees should become full size trees but are half the size of the dwarfs in the front and were planted only a year later. Will post again when I get a better idea of how many cherries I end up with.

Thanks--I look forward to your next progress report. You should be able to post photos easily by clicking the camera icon located just below the text box where you enter your comment.

There's actually one guy in Phoenix that's growing Minnie Royal and Royal Lee commercially -- Eric Amadio of Amadio Ranch. The key to his success, much like yours, is that both of you have your trees on the Z-Dwarf rootstock, which Dave Wilson no longer propagates. Z-Dwarf is the only cherry rootstock that can survive Phoenix's growing conditions -- the others -- Mazzard and Colt fail here. https://www.facebook.com/AmadioRanch/

I wonder if Eric would be interested in selling suckers/cuttings off the rootstock. Since Dave Wilson doesn't sell them anymore, is it still illegal to do that?

How long does it usually take for the colt rootstock trees to fail? I grew a few trees from the rootstock suckers and they seem to do pretty well by themselves so far. I thought about seeing if they flower and use them as a pollinator.

I love your determination! I’ve been struggling to find sellers who ship cherry trees to AZ, despite being Zone 9B friendly. Wondering if they’re restricted here but haven’t found any info stating this. (Only Olive and Mulberry tree bans.)

My last cherry tree died this summer. The other one died the year before. They were on colt rootstock and lasted about 5 years for me. I believe crown gall got them. When I dug them up, they both had galls on the roots and crown area. They both weren't looking good a year before this and summer time was always a bit of a struggle for them. I'm not sure if there's a way to prevent that but I wouldn't mind trying them again on a more crown gall resistant rootstock.

Minnie Royal and Royal Lee have been in for 2 years, both producing for the first time this (2021) spring - nice healthy looking cherries, about 30 on the Minnie Royal, about 15 on the Royal Lee, hopefully more next year. As of April 24 they need a few more weeks maybe - juicy, not big, but nice flavor, a bit tart.

One strategy some of you could try, sunny warm days can very much detract from the amount of effective chill accumulation the cherry trees receive in winter. If you're in a dessert climate where where the cherry trees already do not get very many chill hours, it might be better to plant the cherry tree somewhere where it will get partial shade. This will also help in the summer too, shading the tree from the scorching hot sun. You might often hear that "cherry trees prefer full sun", but this is for northern climates where cherries are traditionally grown. In desert climates that's just not true.

Also be sure to put mulch over the base of the tree. During the summer the ground temperature can get baking hot. The mulch will help insulate the tree's root area and prevent water loss, and help the soil from getting too compact, since the heat can bake the moist soil and make it hard, which then reduces air flow to the roots.