The hybrids developed by the University of Saskatchewan are relatively insect and disease free, especially compared to the sour cherries that are grown in Ontario or Michigan. The cherry fruit fly is probably the worst insect for sour cherries. There will be some brown rot on the fruit but it won't be a major problem unless high amounts of precipitation is received followed by high heats during the ripening stage. Even at the University of Saskatchewan where there are thousands of cherry trees, they only have to spray once or twice a year. Dwarf sour cherries seem not to be affected by bacterial leaf spot which is the main disease for normal sour cherries. The main pests in cherries seem to be rabbits and deer, mainly on young plants. The best ways to control deer and rabbits are fences or dogs. A couple of busy dogs could probably keep the deer away if the orchard is relatively close to the house. If mulches are used within the rows and ground covers used in between the rows, weeds shouldn’t be much of a problem.
 

Cherry Fruit Fly

 Provided by: University of Michigan Entomology
-The cherry fruit fly adult will either feed on fruit or lay its eggs in the fruit causing damage either way.

-The larvae within the cherry will also feed on the fruit.

-The natural hosts for the cherry fruit fly is the chokecherry.

-The prairies have a unfavourable environment for the cherry fruit fly to thrive because of our extended dry, hot periods in late summer. They perfer and even distribution of heat and precipitation. The northern prairies have this as a major advantage because we only have to spray once or twice if at all.
 

Brown Fruit Rot

      Picture Provided by: Agriculture and Agri-food Canada
-Brown fruit rot can be a detremental disease to a cherry orchard on years where there is alot of precipitation and high temperatures.

-Brown rot starts as a small spot of brown and rapidly spreads infecting the whole fruit and the producing grey spores.

-Fruit is especially succeptible to brown fruit rot just after a lot of rain when the fruit cracks.

-Brown fruit rot can rapidly spread through a harvested crop in storage if the fruit is not kept cool and all the diseased fruit sorted out.

-A good way to control brown fruit rot is to remove mummied fruit when pruning the tree in early spring. This removes the spores that is going to infect the current years fruit.
 

Other Pests

-Deer, birds and rabbits are probably going to be the biggest pests of dwarf sour cherries on the prairies.

-The cherry trees are especially vulnerable at a young age.

-Not much can be done to protect from birds but they can only eat so many cherries.

-A few things that can be done like scare cannons, scarecrows, etc. A large orchard should not have any problems with birds eating cherries.

-Rabbits will eat the bark off of the bases or the tree and damage or kill the tree.

• This can be prevented by protecting the trees using tree guards that protect the trunks of the tree.

• A deer fence in one option. I has to be at least 8 feet tall. Using the fence is quite expensive and probably won't be very economical for a smaller grower.

• Other ways can be used to prevent deer from coming into the orchard. The orchard could be planted close to the house and probably the best way to get rid of these pests are to get a pair of energetic dogs that will chase away deer, rabbits and birds.

*For more information on insect and disease control in Canada, Agriculture Canada has a good information site on chemical control, cultural control and information on other insects and diseases of cherries and other fruit crops. The University of Kentucky's Entomology Department and University of Michigan both have a detailed desciption of the cherry fruit fly.