Effects of Season and Crop Load on Maturity Characteristics of ‘Bing’ Cherry1

As ‘Bing’ cherries ( Prunus avium L.) matured, the quality characteristics changed rapidly but not consistently from year to year over 9 years. Color increased rapidly and at similar rates in all years. Soluble solids increased rapidly during years when the crop was light, but slowly when the crop was heavy. When crops were light, the fruit was full sized before color reached fresh market standards and there was no further growth as the fruit continued to mature. With heavy crops the fruit increased in size until they began to shrivel. Early in maturation the fruits were very firm, but they softened rapidly during the early fresh market stage, then more slowly.