How to Plant, Grow, and Care for ‘Black Tartarian’ Cherry Trees

This variety is one of the first cherries to flower and then fruit, and it is one of the easiest to grow in a home garden. ‘Black Tartarian’ grows big and strong and produces abundant fruit with a lovely sweet taste during cherry season.

It’s also a beautiful ornamental tree that features a neat pyramid shape with dark green leaves that turn vibrant red and orange in the fall. This tree requires another to pollinate, so prepare for an abundant cherry season. Here, I’ll share what you need to know to grow a healthy and high-yielding ‘Black Tartarian’ cherry tree.

What Is It?

Prunus avium ‘Black Tartarian’ is an heirloom cultivar from Russia that came to England in the 1700s. It was originally called ‘Ronald’s Large Black Heart’ after Hugh Ronalds, who was instrumental in bringing the tree to England. In the 1800s, it came to America, where it became a popular commercial choice for its vigorous growth and abundant yields of dark red to black cherries.

Native Area

This heirloom cherry originates from Circassia, a region named Caucasus after the mountain range of the same name. This region is now part of Russia.

Prunus avium, also known as wild cherry, sweet cherry, or bird cherry, originated in Europe, Asia, and North Africa and became naturalized in North America. These are the varieties we know as sweet cherries, as opposed to the sour cherry varieties, Prunus cerasus.

Characteristics

‘Black Tartarian’ is an excellent pollinator variety for other cherries, but it also needs pollinating itself to produce fruit. The best trees to plant with this variety include ‘Bing’, ‘Lapins’, ‘Van’ or ’Stella’, ‘Coral’, ‘Napolean’, and ‘Rainer’.

This popular variety has dark green leaves that turn red and orange in the fall, fragrant white flowers in the spring, and beautiful dark fruits in clusters in the summer.

Planting

Get the planting right, and you will be halfway to a bumper harvest of juicy cherries in the summer. Plant in autumn to settle the trees in the ground over winter and spring into bloom, or plant in spring for harvesting the next season.

Make sure you have enough space for a ‘Black Tartarian’ and another variety of cherry tree for pollination. This is a large tree that needs at least 30 feet to grow to maturity. Before you begin, make sure there are no other plants or structures that will impede its growth. Also, ensure it’s in the full sun most of the day. The sun needs to get into the tree for it to set fruit.

Dig a hole at least twice the width and at the same depth as the root ball. Add the tree and make sure it’s straight before backfilling. Plant the tree so the graft union is two to three inches above the soil. As you add the soil, tamp down to remove any air pockets. This prevents any infections from getting to the roots.

Make a basin around the tree to help direct water to the roots and give the tree a good watering. Add a layer of mulch to the whole area, at least three inches away from the trunk.

Transplanting

If you have chosen a good position, there is no reason to move it. But if you have to move it, make sure to move it in warmer weather. Dig widely around the roots to avoid damaging them as much as possible.

Prepare the new hole with added compost before moving the tree. Once you plant it and water it in well, prune the tree back. This will direct energy to the roots, which will stabilize and get the tree ready for the next season.

Growing from Seed

It is possible to grow a cherry tree from seed, but it will take several years to bear fruit. The best way to get cherries into the garden is to buy already established trees from a reputable nursery or buy them online.

How to Grow

Take note of this cherry’s basic requirements for the best chance of a bumper harvest. Once you have given it what it needs, it will be a low-maintenance, drought-tolerant, and hardy tree in the garden that will provide a lovely crop of cherries in the summertime.

Light

Grow ‘Black Tartarian’ in a full sun position with at least 6-8 hours of sun daily. Less sun will stunt the development of those delicious cherries.

Water

To establish the trees, they must be watered well every week, which works out to 12-15 gallons per week from May until September. The amount of water depends on your region’s rainfall, but more will be required in hot and dry times.

After the first one to two years, these trees will be drought-tolerant and able to survive with just rainfall. ‘Black Tartarian’ are considered average water users.

Soil

‘Black Tartarian’ prefers loamy soils but will tolerate a range of soils as long as they are well-draining. A compost mulch will add nutrients to the soil and support a healthy soil texture.

Temperature

To set fruit, these cherry trees need at least 700-800 chill hours at a temperature of 45°F (7°C) or below. They will do best at temperatures between 65-80°F (18-29°C), will cope with the occasional hot temperature up to 95°F (35°C), and are hardy down to 15°F (-9°C).

Humidity

Any of the sweet cherry varieties like this one do not do well in high humidity. Highly humid conditions can lead to fungal diseases that cause severe problems.

Fertilizing

Fertilize annually for the best growth and performance. This should be done in early spring, just before new growth appears. Use a balanced fertilizer like 10:10:10 and apply it around the root zone, keeping it at least six inches away from the trunk.

Maintenance

Once established, ‘Black Tartarian’ trees are low maintenance. It will just take an annual feeding and pruning to keep it in tip-top shape.

Pruning

Pruning a cherry tree is done to keep the tree compact, remove any damaged, diseased, or crossing branches, and get light into the center of the tree so that fruit can form. It is a simple process, and it can be done by looking at all the possible angles at which sunlight falls through the tree. For lots of fruit, each branch that has the potential to flower needs the maximum amount of sunlight daily.

Clearing out the center of the tree to form a vase shape is sometimes the best way to achieve this goal. Use a sharp pair of pruners, loppers, or tree saws and cut the branches at an angle. Make sure to clean the tools well before moving to another tree to prevent the spread of potential diseases and viruses.

Harvesting

In early summer, you will see the beginning of red cherries turning darker and becoming ready for picking. Cherries will not ripen off the tree so it’s important to ensure they are fully ripe before harvesting.

A taste test is often the best way to make sure, and it is fun, too. Twist the stems, and if they come off easily, they are ready.

Common Problems

If all the basic requirements for growing this cherry variety are met, it’s unlikely to suffer any problems. Most pests and diseases occur when a tree is stressed because of limited water, overwatering, over-fertilizing, or poor air circulation from not pruning. For the sake of completeness, we have mentioned some potential pests and diseases that may occur for this variety of cherry trees. The only other problem may be to fight off the birds and other animals from eating the ripened fruit. Bird netting will help solve that problem.

Pests

Look out for pests like cherry aphids, cherry fruit flies, leaf-mining moths, winter moth caterpillars, and borers.

Cherry Aphids

Cherry aphids are easy to see as they are black and attach themselves to the underside of leaves. They will suck the sap from the leaves and cause them to die off quite quickly. If they are not destroyed, it can also encourage black sooty mold.

Beneficial insect predators are helpful in controlling aphids, and a jet of water may dislodge them. Only use insecticides as a last resort on anything edible.

Cherry Fruit Flies

Cherry fruit flies attack ripening fruit and can infect your whole harvest. The larvae burrow into the fruit, causing huge damage and making it inedible. Action must be taken at the first indication of a fruit fly infestation. Chemical control is required in most cases, and follow-ups are essential as the eggs hatch in stages.

Two types of borer are known to attack cherry trees, the peach tree borer and shothole borer. These pests eat wood, which affects the tree’s trunk and branches, which can be seen by the holes they punch into the wood. Sometimes, a sticky substance is released. They tunnel through the trunk, upsetting the natural flow of water and nutrients throughout the tree and ultimately causing it to die.

It is a difficult pest to control, so the best management solution is to take care of water and nutrients to avoid such pests taking hold. Sometimes, a preventative spray can be used, but it must be applied at the right time to be helpful. It’s best to consult an expert in severe cases.

Moths

Various moths lay their eggs on cherry trees, and their larvae can cause issues. However, if you catch them early, you can stop any damage that can occur. Leaf miners leave trails through leaf tissue. When you see trails through leaves, remove them and throw them away. Do not compost them, as this will exacerbate the problem.

Winter moths cause problems with fruit development, as larvae hatch from the inner bark of the tree, and climb to feed on buds just as they open. To prevent these, use horticultural oil in late winter or early spring as temperatures remain above 45°F (7°C). This smothers them. Bt and spinosad can be used at bud break to treat any visible caterpillars. However, this can affect pollinators as well. The best treatment is prevention through removal of fallen leaves where moths overwinter.

Diseases

Certain diseases to look out for are cherry leaf spot, brown rot, and bacterial canker that tend to attack cherry trees.

Cherry Leaf Spot

Cherry leaf spot can be seen in the purple spots on the leaves’ upper side. As the infected leaves fall off, they carry the fungus with them and will survive a winter in the pile. The fallen leaves then infect other trees.

As a preventative measure, ensure the tree has proper air circulation and enough sunlight. The fallen leaves must be collected and burnt, and the tree must be treated with a suitable fungicide.

Brown Rot

Brown rot is a condition that results from continued heavy rainfall during spring, high humidity, and high temperatures. This fungal infection attacks the buds of the flowers and then moves onto the leaves and twigs next to them. A suitable fungicide is recommended for the treatment of this disease.

Bacterial Canker

Bacterial canker is a disease that often affects cherry trees in particular. It affects the branches, buds, leaves, and fruit by forming dark areas at the base of buds with a sticky substance. This disease is more active in spring and fall. Leaves and buds wilt and die.

Treatment should include an appropriate copper-based product. Preventative measures included making sure damaged tree limbs are removed and that the tree is not waterlogged in soils with poor drainage.

Frequently Asked Questions