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BlackPearl® Cherry on Mahaleb (Spring 2024)


An early sweet cherry with large, firm fruit. Also known as NY 8139.

This cherry tree is hardy, vigorous, and very productive. It is also canker resistant. Black Pearl® is not self-fertile and will require another early or midseason blooming sweet cherry tree as a pollenizer. We recommend either Sweetheart™ or Whitegold®, both of which are "universal pollenizers" with compatible bloom times. The fruit ripens early–about ten days before Bing–and has a very low incidence of cracking. The fruit flavor is outstanding. Black Pearl® is a delicious, sweet treat (about 20% sugar) that is also exceptionally firm and stores well. It is large and, as its name suggests, very dark in color.

The "Pearl Series" of cherries was developed at Cornell University under Bob Andersen and Susan Brown. This is the earliest ripening cherry of the series and it was bred with West Coast growers in mind.

Photo courtesy of Whiffletree Nursery, Ontario, CA.

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This cherry tree is hardy, vigorous, and very productive. It is also canker resistant. Black Pearl® is not self-fertile and will require another early or midseason blooming sweet cherry tree as a pollenizer. We recommend either Sweetheart™ or Whitegold®, both of which are "universal pollenizers" with compatible bloom times. The fruit ripens early–about ten days before Bing–and has a very low incidence of cracking. The fruit flavor is outstanding. Black Pearl® is a delicious, sweet treat (about 20% sugar) that is also exceptionally firm and stores well. It is large and, as its name suggests, very dark in color.

The "Pearl Series" of cherries was developed at Cornell University under Bob Andersen and Susan Brown. This is the earliest ripening cherry of the series and it was bred with West Coast growers in mind.

Photo courtesy of Whiffletree Nursery, Ontario, CA.


The Fruit

Fruit Type

Category: Cherry
Subcategory: Crack-Resistant, Sweet

Fruit Uses & Storage

Uses: fresh eating, jam, baking, canning, freezing, jelly
Storage duration: less than one month (approximate, depending on storage conditions)

Fruit Appearance

Skin color: red
Flesh color: red

Fruit Origins

Parentage: Vernon x a University of California breeding selection
Origin: Geneva, NY
Introduced in: 2008
Introduced by: NYSAES; Dr. Bob Andersen and Dr. Susan Brown

The Environment

Calendar & Geography

USDA zones: 5 - 8
Chill hours: Not yet determined
Ripening date: Jun 11 (approximate, in New York State) 9 days before Bing

Tree Height & Spacing

Rootstock: Mahaleb Rootstock
Rootstock size class: Half-Standard (60% of Standard)
Tree spacing: See details
Good for wildlife planting? N

Diseases & Pests

Bacterial Canker of Stone Fruit: Resistant

Pollination

Pollination Factors

Bloom group:
Is it self-fertile? N
Is it fertile? Y
Ploidy: Diploid
Rootstock size class: Half-Standard (60% of Standard)

Pollination Partners

Sweet cherries are not part of our search tool given various complexities. Please see our Pollenizer Search to run other queries and read how the application uses various factors. Also read more about fruit tree pollination.






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