Sweet Cherry Trees in Alaska: Can It Be Done?

On a roomy 5-acres in Sterling, Alaska, we made a go at making us a tiny orchard—someday. We have apples, a pear, apricot, kiwi, a variety of berries, and first year grapes. Right now most of our trees are little over a few feet tall and have only been in the dirt a few years, but one thing we lack is cherry.

I love sweet cherries. They are by far my favorite. So, you can imagine how bummed I was when I learned the general consensus was that while sour cherries do well here, sweet cherries are a solid no-go. I, however, am a bit stubborn and have some serious google-fu so I did some digging and found as many references to sweet cherries in Alaska as I could. You can see what I found with links at the end of the page, but in summary, it seems sweet cherries go just fine down a little more to the southeast in Haines and Skagway, drop dead further north in Fairbanks, but have had some success in Anchorage. Anchorage has a very similar climate to where we are down on the Kenai Peninsula, so there is hope. Hope enough to buy some trees.

My next question was, what kind? I mean not all sweet cherry trees are created equal. Luckily, that same digging for mentions of survivors did leave a few repeat varieties mentioned, though many mentions simply stated sweet cherry. I eventually decided and ordered Kristen and Lapins.

Kristen is black sweet cherry that’s done quite well in some northern climates such as Norway. It’s touted as the hardiest sweet cherry variety usually rated for zone 4. Kristen is not self-pollinating and needs a friend. I did check and Lapins is a cross-pollinator for Kristen.  Lapins is self-fertile and a universal pollinator, though often rated slightly less hardy than Kristen. Some sources say zone 4, others zone 5.

Kristen also produces fruit early in the year, which is important up here with our short grow season. Lapins, sadly, not so much. Honestly I am just hoping she survives and flowers enough to pollinate Kristen. Survival is step one, fruit can come after.

Both our trees are on gisela 5 root stock, suggested to hasten fruit production and remain hardy to -20 F. I can remember winters we hit below -20, but not in recent years, so I think I’m playing a hopeful gambler here.

I bought both trees from Raintree Nursery at around $30 each with a painful $50 shipping working out to $55 a tree. They arrived in wonderful shape and have begun leafing out nicely. The pics below were taken about 2 weeks after arrival. These were “whips” meaning they were literally bare-root sticks when sent. The second picture is one of the grafts. Stalks are about the width of a quarter. Trees about 4 ft tall.

sweet cherry alaska sweet cherry alaska sweet cherry alaska
UPDATE July, 2017: These experienced great growth during the summer with more than a foot per branch. In fall, we got a bit busy and forgot to take any steps to protect them though. Then we had a particular cold winter holding around -22 for over a week, and sadly, these poor girls died back to the snow line. The roots did survive and broke dormancy below the graft at the same time our local birch did. A scratch test also found life above the graft. Lapins finally put out new growth above the graft in early July and seems to be making a recovery despite being much shorter now.

Kristen followed suit in late July. In my opinion, if tried in a high tunnel or with better weatherization (as  the bottom 18 inches or so covered in snow did fine) Kirsten and Lapins could make it in South Central no problem. Once we have a high tunnel, I will definitely be trying. For now, I suppose I am stuck with two very dwarfed sweet cherry trees.

UPDATE: Winter, 2018
Kristen did not survive above the graft after a second winter. It recovered poorly in the summer of 2017, and I assume just didn’t have the strength to make it through.

Lapins did survive above the graft, but also didn’t recover much over the summer, and I have my doubts it will survive winter 2018– will update in the spring. Both root stocks have sent off branches, and we stopped pruning them as the plan is to let those get stronger, and then try a new graft.

I will also continue to update this page as to how these two continue to fare, and any new plantings/grafts.

UPDATE: Summer 2019
Both trees did not come back above the graft this spring, but the root stock is flourishing. This will be my last update until I try again (and I definitely will).

Mentions of sweet cherries in Alaska:

Successful:
Location: Haines,  2012

Writer Rob Goldberg notes he is in zone 5 near the coast.
Source

“They (sweet cherries) ripen from mid-July to early August. Stop watering when the cherries start to turn red.  All varieties will crack when it rains heavily during ripening, but varieties bred for the dry summers of Eastern Washington, such as Bing and Rainier are more susceptible.  Look for Stella, Lapin, Black Tartarian, Kristin, Sam, Hartland and any others that are crack resistant.  One solution to cracking is to put down a tarp around the tree if rain is imminent.”

Location: Sitka, 1949 (zone 7)

Source: Report on Exploratory Investigations of Agricultural Problems of Alaska
Agricultural Research Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1949 pg 160

Text simply notes “sweet cherries” bearing fruit at an experimental station. An image shows a large tree  (double the height of the man in the photo) stated to be a sweet cherry.  Fruit production unknown.

Sweet cherries are mentioned at the Sitka station again, here, stating 10 variety were tried with “Republican” being the most successful. Many suffered winter-kill, but all bore fruit in 1927. It was noted that there were also unknown variety of sweet cherries thriving in local orchards, however none produced fruit, potentially due to a lack of a cross pollinator. Lapins, a self-pollinator, is then suggested for trial but no follow-up could be found.

Location: Skagway (zone 7) 2015
Source

Stella, Kristen, White Gold and Kansas Sweet listed as surviving multiple winters, flowering, and setting fruit.

Location: Anchorage 1990 (zone 4)
Source

“Leiser says that one original Anchorage townsite lot has a producing sweet cherry tree that is 25 years old. It is an unknown variety that was bought from Sears……Wayne Leiser is well-known greenhouse manager, news-paper gardening columnist and gradnate-horticulturist.”

Location: Anchorage 2015 (zone 4)

Local blogger, mentions a sweet cherry in her yard producing fruit. Appears to have been planted in 2010 (5-year survival). I popped her a comment and she says her cherry is Kristen on Gisela 5 as well (so at least it seems like I’m on the right track).
Post mentioning purchase
Post mentioning fruiting

Survived with damage:
Location: Anchorage 1986-1987 (zone 4)

Source
“Kristen is a black sweet cherry that has performed well in Norway and Montana. Both I and Lawrence Clark noted moderate to severe winter damage in 1986-87 in Anchorage. Never the less…this cherry deserves to be tried again in Anchorage.”

Apple Trees to Grow in Alaska

After acquiring our first home and a healthy chunk of land, my husband and I were on a mission to have as many fruit trees as we could get to survive in this fickle Alaskan climate. The first step was to research, research, research. Once I dug into this task, I found there was little easily available for Alaskan growers as resource. I choose to share my research in a series of articles. The first is apples trees that grow well in Alaska.apple trees to grow in alaska

I choose apples first, because apples are the fruit tree with the highest success rate in Alaska as a whole. As a result, the number of apple tree types capable of surviving here is much higher than many other fruit varieties. I spent a good deal of time combing the web to find forums, gardening groups, and fruit growth trials to sort out which apple varieties fared the best in Alaskan climates.

Apples good in zones 2-4 are plausible depending on your area. The time required for fruit to ripen must also be short enough to accommodate the shorter growing season Alaskan summer’s provide.

The best apple trees to grow in Alaska included:

(determined by most commonly recommended by growers, being listed as a high survival rate, or being suggested by highly qualified sources. These six apple types fell under all three categories. Carrol and Parkland were the top runners.)

-Carrol: Carrol apples are a small to medium greenish-yellow to red apple with a tart, crisp flavor. They work well for desserts, cooking, and juicing.

-Parkland: Parkland apples are medium sized and red with a tart, crisp flavor. They work well for any apple application.

-Norland: Norland apples are a medium red apple with a tart, crisp flavor. They work well for pretty much everything, however do keep longer in storage if picked before ripe.

-Prairie Magic: Prairie Magic apples are a large yellow to red apple with a sweet, crisp flavor. They are great straight off the tree and in desserts.

-Rescue: Rescue is a type of crab apple that is red in color and has a tart, but sweet crisp flavor. They are great for jellies, but also work well for other apple uses. Rescue apple trees are often noted for being especially attractive trees.

-Zestar: Zestar is a medium, yellow to red apple with a crisp, sweet flavor. They are best for desserts and jams.

The second best apple tree varieties for Alaska included:

(These apples met a minimum of two categories)

-Adams Crabapple: Adams apples make a very attractive tree bearing crab-apple sized sweet, red fruit.

-Columbia Crabapple: While listed in two Alaskan fruit growing trials in the Fairbanks area with a high survival rate, nothing could be found on this apple’s appearance and taste.

-Heyer 12: Heyer 12 apples are crisp, small and yellow, but have a neutral flavor not tart or sweet. They work well as a texture-based cooking apple.

-September Rudy: September Rudy Apples are medium-sized, red apples with a sweet, crisp flavor many consider to be close to red delicious but better. They are excellent for desserts and jams, but also keep well in storage.

State Fair- State Fair is a medium, red apple with a tart flavor. These apples keep well and are good for desserts.

-Trailman Crabapple: The Trailman crabapple is typical size for a crab-apple variety. They are yellow to red in color with a tart flavor and are good in preserves, jams and desserts. Trailman apples are noted for growing rapidly in Alaska.

-Yellow Transparent: Yellow transparent apples are a medium to large, yellow variety with a crisp texture. They excellent for apple sauce but also work well in jams and desserts.

Acceptable apple varieties for Alaska:

(These apples met one category. Descriptions will be skipped for time’s sake, this is simply a list of varieties.)

18-10-32, 8919, Adamic, Altaiski Sweet, Anderson, Arctic Red, Ariole, Beacon, Brookland, Centennial Crabapple, Chinese Golden Early, Dawn, Gertrude, Ginger Gold, Golden Uralian, Goodland, Gravenstein, Heyer 14, Heyer 20, Jacques Crabapple, Lee 17, Lodi, Nova Novisibirski, Osmond, Patterson, Prairie Sun, Paula Sun, Red Dolphin, Red Heart, Rosthern 8, Simonet, Summer Red, Sylvia Crabapple, Tydeman’s Early, Ukalskojoe Nalivnoje, Westland, and William’s Pride.

Other apple varieties mentioned as capable of survival and fruit production in Alaska:

(These species were simply mentioned, had lower survival rates, or weren’t recommended but could survive and grow fruit.)

9.22, Adanac Sask, Advance, Alexander, Alma Sweet, Almata, Antonovka, Ardor Dale, Avernarius, Battleford, Breakey, Chestnut Crab, Collet, Crimson Beauty, Dakota Gold, Dakota, Dauphin, Dearborn, Diebel, Discovery, Dolgo Crab, Duchess, Duchess Red, Dudley, Early Harvest Harvest, Early Joe, Edith Smith, Erickson, Fameuse(snow),Francis, Garland, Geneva, Early Geneva, Golden Egg, Gravenstein Red, Harcourt, Hazen, Heyer, Heyer 6, Hibernal Russia, Iowa Beauty, Irish Peach, Jerseymac, Joyce, Julyred, Kelsey Crab Crab, Kerr Mani, Lee 21, Lindel, Livland Rasberry, Lobo, Lubsk Queen, Malinda, Mantet, Mclean, Melba, Morden 347, Morden 359, Morden 363, Norcue, Norda, Noret, Norhey, Norjuice, Norkent, Norlove, Norson, Nova Easy Grow, Oriole, Osman, PF 21, Quinte, Red Astrachan, Red June, Rosthern 15, Rosthern, Rosybrook, Shafer, Sofstaholm, Sunnybrook, Sweet Sixteen, Tetovsky, Valentine, Viking, Vista Bella, Wellington, Whitney, Winekist, Yellow Jay, and Yellow Sweet.

Apple varieties which are hardy enough for Alaska, but require too long of a growing season:

(These may be possible in unheated greenhouses to lengthen the ripening time allowed.)

Haralred, Haralson, Honey Crisp, Noran, Wealthy, and Wolf River

 

 

Sources:

http://www.apfga.org/resources/research/

http://www.uaf.edu/ces/districts/tanana/mg/manual/chapters/12-Home-Orchards.pdf

http://www.uaf.edu/ces/ah/fruit-tree-trials/

http://www.oakcreekorchard.com/id82.html

http://www.uaf.edu/ces/publications-db/catalog/anr/HGA-00030.pdf

http://www.ptialaska.net/~pbabcock/patch/September.html#RTFToC4

http://www.alaskamastergardeners.org/pdf/2011/AMGAfeb11.pdf

Growing Bell Peppers: Secrets to a Plentiful Harvest

The trick to getting bigger bell peppers and more of them is the same as it is with any plant: the healthier the plant, the healthier the harvest. Learning the ideal conditions for growing bell peppers is the very first step in improving your pepper crop.

What bell peppers like:

-Warm temperature and soil. Studies have shown increasing the soil temperature bell peppers are planted in will increase their yield and the overall health of the plant. In areas where temperatures are not already high, outdoor bell peppers may need an in-ground heater to produce large fruit.growing bell peppers

-High humidity. Bell peppers love humidity. Hot and dry conditions can not only decrease pepper size, but may even kill the plant. You can increase humidity by misting and planting humidity increasing companion plants as well as ground covers to help the soil stay moist.

-Well-drained soil. While bell peppers do enjoy humidity, they don’t enjoy being over watered. They are also prone to root rot. Be sure your soil drains well (clay is not recommended) or if you are container gardening provide ample drainage.

-Space to stretch. Peppers will grow in close quarters with other plants, but overcrowding can lead to smaller peppers. Make sure any companion plants don’t prevent sunlight from your peppers and that there is enough room for roots. Peppers also don’t like to be alone as they can be fragile to the elements. Around a foot between each plant is considered ideal to block wind, but give each plant its space.

-Slightly Alkaline pH. pH can have a dramatic affect on fruit size and number. Bell peppers dislike acidic soil preferring a pH of around 6-7.

How to maintain bell pepper plants for optimal health:

-Prevent Pests. Any type of pest or disease in plants will affect health and in turn yield and pepper size. Check your plants regularly for infections. As bell peppers are food plants, organic pest control is recommended. Several companion plants will deter most pests such as marigolds.

-Pinch early flowers. Sometimes bell peppers will attempt to make peppers before maturity. If you catch your bell peppers trying to jump the gun, pinch the flowers before fruitation and your later harvests will be healthier.

-Fertilize only when first planting and after harvesting. Fertilizing between harvests will promote foliage growth rather than fruit production taking valuable energy from the pepper making task.

If you are interested in growing bell peppers, you may also enjoy:

Companion Plants for Bell Peppers

Storing Peppers