The Organic
Revival
Fruits · Tree

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.

Deccan plateau: interior Maharashtra, Telangana, north Karnataka

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Sweet cherry needs 1,200 to 1,500 hours of winter chilling. In India it is grown commercially only in the cold hills of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, at around 2,500 m, so winters here are too warm for it.Includes AI suggestions where no published guide covers a detail
Ripe red sweet cherries hanging on a cherry tree
Photo: Gerda Arendt · CC0
Not suited here

Not a crop for this region

Sweet cherry needs 1,200 to 1,500 hours of winter chilling. In India it is grown commercially only in the cold hills of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, at around 2,500 m, so winters here are too warm for it.3

Where it grows nearest

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
Deccan plateauinterior Maharashtra, Telangana, north KarnatakaNot suited hereSouth interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil NaduNot suited hereEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal AndhraNot suited here
Compare all 12 regions
Temperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, KulluCold desertLadakh, Lahaul and SpitiNot suited hereSub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, DehradunNot suited hereNorth-west plainsPunjab, Haryana, DelhiNot suited hereGangetic plainseastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal plainsNot suited hereNorth-east hills and valleysAssam, Meghalaya, SikkimNot suited hereArid westRajasthan, Kutch, north GujaratNot suited hereCentral plateauMadhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, VidarbhaNot suited hereSouth interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil NaduNot suited hereWest coastKerala, Goa, KonkanNot suited hereEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal AndhraNot suited here
Today
See the dates as a table
RegionSowNurseryTransplantHarvest
Deccan plateauNot suited here
Temperate HimalayaJanuary to MarchMay to June
Cold desertNot suited here
Sub-tropical foothillsNot suited here
North-west plainsNot suited here
Gangetic plainsNot suited here
North-east hills and valleysNot suited here
Arid westNot suited here
Central plateauNot suited here
South interiorNot suited here
West coastNot suited here
East coastNot 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 Deccan plateau, 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 Deccan plateau 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 Deccan plateau, 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.

  1. 1Package of practices for fruit crops 2020 (nursery raising)Directorate of Extension, SKUAST-JammuRead the source
  2. 2AESA 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

AI Farm Manager · In development

Plan this crop on your land

AI Farm Manager will turn guides like this one into a plan for your own plot. It doesn't make plans yet.

See how it will work