Overview

Cultivate your own delightful fruit with the royal crimson cherry tree, a highly anticipated and exceptional variety. This is a live, grafted plant, approximately 3 feet tall, shipped ready to thrive in a 3-gallon pot. The ‘Royal Crimson’ is celebrated for its consistent production of large, succulent, crimson-red sweet cherries. Developed by Zaiger Genetics, this variety is a fantastic choice for home gardeners seeking a reliable fruit tree. Its low chill requirement makes it suitable for regions where other cherry varieties might struggle, offering a rewarding harvest of tasty fruit.

The sweet cherry live plant, ‘Royal Crimson’, is also an excellent pollenizer for other popular low-chill varieties like Minnie Royal and Royal Lee. This adds to its versatility and value in any orchard or home garden. Expect an early to mid-May harvest, bringing fresh, juicy cherries directly from your garden to your table. The tree is grafted, ensuring desirable characteristics and earlier fruit production compared to trees grown from seed. This particular variety is gaining popularity among fruit tree enthusiasts for its robust nature and delicious yield.

Key Benefits

The ‘Royal Crimson’ cherry tree offers numerous advantages for the home gardener, promising a bountiful and enjoyable experience:

• Prolific Fruit Production: Enjoy a consistent and abundant yield of large, flavorful crimson-red cherries year after year. This royal crimson cherry tree is known for its reliable fruiting habits.
• Low Chill Requirement: With an estimated chill requirement of 200-300 hours, this variety is perfect for climates that don’t experience prolonged cold winters, expanding where sweet cherries can be grown successfully.
• Early Harvest: The fruit ripens early to mid-May, allowing you to savor fresh cherries before many other varieties are ready.
• Excellent Pollenizer: Not only does it produce delicious fruit, but this low chill cherry tree also serves as an effective pollenizer for Minnie Royal and Royal Lee cherry varieties, enhancing fruit set for those trees.
• Grafted for Vigor: As a grafted cherry plant, it combines the desirable fruit qualities of the ‘Royal Crimson’ with a strong, disease-resistant rootstock, promoting healthy growth and earlier fruiting.
• Delicious Sweet Flavor: The crimson-red fruit is noted for its sweet and juicy taste, perfect for fresh eating, baking, or preserving.
• Garden Appeal: Beyond its fruit, the cherry tree adds ornamental value to your landscape with its spring blossoms and attractive foliage.

Plant Care & Growing Tips

To ensure your royal crimson cherry tree thrives, provide it with proper care. This tree prefers a location with full sun, meaning at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight per day. Adequate sunlight is crucial for fruit development and overall tree health. When planting, ensure the graft union remains above the soil line. Dig a hole twice as wide as the root ball and just as deep, backfilling with well-draining soil.

Watering is essential, especially during the first few years after planting and during dry spells. Keep the soil consistently moist but not waterlogged. Deep watering encourages strong root development. Cherries prefer well-draining, slightly acidic to neutral soil (pH 6.0-7.0). Amend heavy clay soils with organic matter to improve drainage. This sweet cherry live plant is estimated to be hardy in USDA zones 7-10, though its low chill requirement makes it adaptable to warmer regions within these zones. Protect young trees from extreme winter temperatures if you are at the colder end of its hardiness range.

Fertilize your young cherry tree in early spring with a balanced fruit tree fertilizer, following package instructions. Avoid fertilizing late in the season, as this can stimulate new growth that is vulnerable to winter damage. Pruning should be done in late winter to early spring to remove dead or diseased branches, improve air circulation, and shape the tree. This helps maintain a strong structure and promotes better fruit production. Keep an eye out for common pests and diseases, addressing them promptly to maintain the health of your grafted cherry plant. Regular monitoring is key to a successful harvest.

Size & Details

The royal crimson cherry tree you will receive is a live, grafted plant that stands approximately 3 feet tall. It is shipped securely in a 3-gallon nursery pot, providing a robust root system for successful transplanting into your garden or a larger container. This variety is known for its moderate growth rate, eventually reaching a mature height of 10-15 feet with a similar spread, depending on pruning and growing conditions. The tree will begin producing fruit within a few years of planting, offering an early taste of its delicious crimson-red cherries. The ‘Royal Crimson’ is a valuable addition for anyone looking for a reliable fruit tree for sale with a low chill requirement.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Q: How big does this royal crimson cherry tree get? A: This particular live plant is approximately 3 feet tall when shipped in a 3-gallon pot. At maturity, a ‘Royal Crimson’ cherry tree can reach 10-15 feet tall and wide, depending on growing conditions and pruning practices.
• Q: What size pot does it come in? A: The sweet cherry live plant is shipped in a 3-gallon nursery pot, which is an ideal size for establishing a healthy root system before planting in the ground or a larger container.
• Q: Is this an indoor or outdoor plant? A: The ‘Royal Crimson’ cherry tree is an outdoor plant, best suited for planting directly in the ground in a sunny location where it can receive adequate sunlight for fruit production.
• Q: How much sunlight does it need? A: This tree requires full sun, meaning at least 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight per day, to produce the best fruit yields and maintain overall health.
• Q: Is this low chill cherry tree easy to care for? A: With proper planting and consistent care, including adequate watering and annual pruning, the ‘Royal Crimson’ is a relatively easy-to-care-for fruit tree, suitable for gardeners of various experience levels.
• Q: What condition will it arrive in? A: Your grafted cherry plant will arrive as a healthy, live tree in its 3-gallon pot, carefully packaged to ensure its safety during transit.
• Q: When is the best time to plant this fruit tree? A: The best time to plant your ‘Royal Crimson’ cherry tree is typically in early spring or fall, allowing it to establish its root system before extreme summer or winter temperatures.
• Q: Will it survive winter in my zone? A: The ‘Royal Crimson’ cherry tree is hardy in USDA zones 7-10. If you are in a colder zone, you may need to provide winter protection for young trees. This fruit tree for sale is specifically bred for lower chill areas.
• Q: Does this cherry tree need another tree to produce fruit? A: The ‘Royal Crimson’ is considered self-fruitful, meaning it can produce fruit on its own. However, it also acts as an excellent pollenizer for other low-chill cherry varieties like Minnie Royal and Royal Lee.
• Q: What is the estimated chill requirement for this variety? A: The ‘Royal Crimson’ cherry tree has an estimated chill requirement of 200-300 hours, making it an ideal choice for regions with mild winters.