Growing cherry
Prunus avium · also called gilasSweet cherry is a temperate tree fruit of the cold Himalayan hills, grown mostly in the Kashmir valley. It needs long, cold winters and is one of the first fruits picked each summer.
Cold desert: Ladakh, Lahaul and Spiti
Not a crop for this region
Winters in the cold desert are very long and dry and the frost-free season is short, so sweet cherry is not an established crop here.
Where it grows nearest
Temperate Himalaya: Kashmir valley, Shimla, Kullu, Uttarakhand hills
See the Temperate Himalaya guide
Across India
When to sow it
Twelve growing regions, January to December. Your region comes first.
Not suited here
- Transplant
- Harvest
- Today
- Not suited here
Compare all 12 regionsShow fewer regions
See the dates as a table
| Region | Sow | Nursery | Transplant | Harvest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold desert | Not suited here | |||
| Temperate Himalaya | January to March | May to June | ||
| Sub-tropical foothills | Not suited here | |||
| North-west plains | Not suited here | |||
| Gangetic plains | Not suited here | |||
| North-east hills and valleys | Not suited here | |||
| Arid west | Not suited here | |||
| Central plateau | Not suited here | |||
| Deccan plateau | Not suited here | |||
| South interior | Not suited here | |||
| West coast | Not suited here | |||
| East coast | Not suited here | |||
What it needs
Soil, sun and warmth
Soil pH3,2
6 to 7.5
Deep sandy loam rich in organic matter; loam and clay loam also suit. The soil must drain well, since cherry roots and collars rot in wet, waterlogged ground.
Sunlight3Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.
Full sun. Lay the orchard out so the trees face the sun.
TemperatureNo published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
Grows best at 15 to 25 °C
Takes hard frost.
Monthly temperatures for the Cold desert aren't in the library yet.
Good neighbours2
Grows well with
Keep it away from
Seed and the season's end
Saving seed1Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.
Cherry does not come true from seed, so seed is saved only to raise rootstock seedlings. Take it from fully ripe fruit of healthy, vigorous, high-yielding trees.
Cleaning the seed
Wash the seed clean in water and dry it in the shade.
Keep dry seed in airtight containers in a cool, dry place; cherry seed keeps for 1 to 3 years. It needs moist chilling (stratification) before it will germinate.
After the last pickingNo published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
Rake up fallen leaves and fruit after leaf fall and compost them in a pit away from the trees. Burn wood cut out for borers, silver leaf or canker rather than leaving it near the orchard.
Rotation
When an old orchard is removed, grow a few seasons of legumes, fodder or vegetables before planting stone fruit again, and do not set new trees back into the old pits.
Sources
Where this comes from
Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Reviewed by our team on 13 November 2026.
These published guides are the sources. Where none of them covers a detail for this region, the page shows an AI suggestion and labels it.
- Package of practices for fruit crops 2020 (nursery raising)Directorate of Extension, SKUAST-JammuRead the source
- AESA based IPM package: cherryDirectorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage, Faridabad, and National Institute of Plant Health Management, Hyderabad (Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare)Read the source
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