Sour cherry vs Sweet cherry

Sour cherry and Sweet cherry are both good choices if you want your own fruit. The data below shows where they differ: size, pollination, harvest, hardiness, care and price.

Sour cherry

Prunus cerasus 4 m × 3.5 m after 10 years

Sour cherry is a smaller and less demanding fruit tree than sweet cherry: it flowers later, so spring frost takes the crop less often, and it copes…

Fruit

Full sun

Part shade

from about CZK 250

Sweet cherry

Prunus avium 4.5 m × 3.5 m after 10 years

Sweet cherry is covered in white blossom in spring and gives the first fresh fruit of summer from late May to July. It is sold grafted and the…

Fruit

Full sun

from about CZK 250

Key differences

Sweet cherry grows faster than Sour cherry.
Sour cherry needs less care than Sweet cherry.
Sour cherry is self-fertile and fruits on its own, Sweet cherry needs a pollinator: another variety flowering at the same time must grow nearby.
Sour cherry is harvested in June–July, Sweet cherry in May–July (an estimate: sources differ).

Which one to choose?

Sour cherry is the better choice if you have little time for care or there is room for only one plant.

Sweet cherry is the better choice if you want quick results.

Watch out for

Sour cherry

In Central Europe the key problem of sour cherry is Monilia blossom and shoot blight: in a cool, rainy flowering period the blossoms turn brown, the twigs die back within days, and without control the crown becomes bare in a few years. Cut diseased parts back to healthy wood and spray susceptible varieties at flowering, or choose a more resistant variety. Cherry leaf spot (Blumeriella) can defoliate the tree by midsummer and weaken it. Cherry fruit fly (the European species and the later-flying eastern one) also infests sour cherries, and birds take part of the crop. It struggles on waterlogged, heavy and strongly acidic soils.

Sweet cherry

In Central Europe the main nuisance is cherry fruit fly: the European species has been joined by the later-flying eastern cherry fruit fly, and the maggots spoil the fruit of mid-season and late varieties, while early varieties mostly escape. In wet springs Monilia kills blossoms and shoots and rots the ripening fruit; cherry leaf spot, bacterial canker and gumming also occur. Rain before harvest splits the fruit, and starlings and blackbirds can strip a tree in days, with large trees almost impossible to net. Because it flowers early, spring frost often takes the crop, and the tree does not tolerate waterlogged soil. Prune in summer after harvest, as winter wounds are easily infected.

The data side by side

Feature	Sour cherry	Sweet cherry
Group	Fruit	Fruit
Size after 10 years	4 m × 3.5 m (uncertain)	4.5 m × 3.5 m (uncertain)
Ultimate size	3–8 m × 3–6 m (uncertain)	3–8 m × 2.5–5.5 m (uncertain)
Growth rate	Medium	Fast
Light	Full sun, Part shade	Full sun
Soil	Average garden soil, Sandy, Calcareous	Average garden soil, Sandy, Calcareous
Hardiness	down to -34 °C (USDA 4, RHS H7)	down to -29 °C (USDA 4, RHS H7)
Heat tolerance	Medium (uncertain)	Medium (uncertain)
Foliage	Deciduous	Deciduous
Flowering	April–May, white (uncertain)	April–May, white (uncertain)
Harvest	June–July	May–July (uncertain)
Self-fertile	yes	no, needs a pollinator
Water need	Medium	Medium
Drought tolerance	Medium	Medium
Maintenance	Medium	High
Planting distance	500 cm	500 cm
For dogs	Toxic	Toxic
For cats	Toxic	Toxic
For children	Mildly toxic (uncertain)	Mildly toxic (uncertain)
Typical price	approx. CZK 250	approx. CZK 300

Prices are rounded, indicative values. Toxicity data is for information only. If your pet or child has eaten a plant, contact a vet or a doctor. Data updated: October 17, 2026

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