Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/64944
Doty said it gives packers a white-fleshed cherry to ship along with their early red varieties. B.J. Thurlby, president of the Washington State Fruit Commission, said one of the most important benefits is that it helps secure shelf space for blush cherries earlier in the season. "I really believe in the last two years we've had a smoother road to sell our Rainiers," he said. Demand for blush cherries has been strengthening, but it's helped to have the Early Robins so producers are not all of a sudden bringing in Rainiers in late June and asking retailers for more shelf space, he said. "If growers are really letting it hang and getting fruit size, it's really a nice cherry," he said. "We've had some great feedback." Thurlby thinks there's still room for growth in the blush cherry category. "The challenge is getting people to "That's why Early Robin is going to be so important to us as an industry, try it," he said. "At $4.99 a pound, which is the average retail price, it's a little bit of a scary proposition for someone who hasn't tried one." However, once people try them, many people prefer because it's seven days before Rainier." —Mark Hanrahan blushed cherries, and some prefer the milder flavor of Early Robin to the more acidic Rainier. However, Thurlby said growth of the blush cherry cat- egory is likely to lead to a decline in the premium they're currently commanding. The challenge will be to maintain prices at a level that compensates growers for the additional costs involved in growing and harvesting blushed varieties. "We haven't seen a lot of that yet," he added. "We're still seeing retails at close to $5 a pound, and it still seems to be moving the crop." Fruit set Hanrahan said the one problem he's encountered with Early Robin is poor fruit set. It blooms profusely, but a low percentage of the blooms set, he reports. "I don't know whether it's a question of getting the right pollinator for it. It's such an early bloomer that it doesn't match up with some of the later varieties." He noted, however, that when the crop is light, Early Robin tends to mature earlier and the fruit is larger. According to the patent application, Mark Hanrahan checks young Early Robin trees in his Buena, Washington, orchard, in early June. The variety has a tendency to set light crops. Early Robin trees have fewer flowers per bud and fewer buds per spur than Rainier. Doty said Early Robin tends to set a good crop of large fruit without the need for thinning. Also, because it doesn't overset, the fruit tends to ripen uniformly with good size and high sugar levels even in the interior of the tree. Brandon Lewis at Columbia Basin Nursery said that in some sites, Early Robin can be a very early cherry, maturing only slightly later than Chelan. "For the right growers at the right site doing the right things, it can be that early," he said. He has seen full crops of Early Robin, but has never seen it overset, and agrees it's important to have the right pollenizer. Rainier would work if the grower wanted an entire block of blush cherries, he said. Otherwise, Chelan and Bing would be suitable, as Early Robin blooms a little ahead of Bing. It might be advisable to have two or three pollenizers to be on the safe side, he added. Lewis said Early Robin is not for every grower, as it requires an early, frost-free site without wind to avoid scuffing. "And that makes it not conducive to growing just anywhere in the state, so that's going to limit it," he said. Early Robin cherries pictured in early June at a Yakima Valley orchard. • GOOD FRUIT GROWER MAY 15, 2012 35 photo courtesy of willow drive nursery photo courtesy of willow drive nursery photo by geraldine warner