Michigan cherries advice from MSU

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Weather and climate
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Hourly and daily weather data
MSU hosts Enviro-weather, an Internet resource with weather data for pest management and other plant production practices. The data is drawn from weather stations in many of Michigan's cherry growing regions. Pick the station nearest you to get daily or hourly information such as air and soil temperatures, leaf wetness, precipitation, wind speed and growing degree day accumulations. There are models for disease development and planning insect management. The data from these stations help with decision making -- keep in mind the most accurate measurements are those taken at the site of your orchard.

Examples of what you find at Enviro-weather

Models for predicting cherry leaf spot.
Models for timing management of plum curculio.
Overnight temperatures to check for frost last night and in tonight's forecast.

Enviro-weather's weather stations This is a partial listing of stations in major cherry growing regions.
Bainbridge Bear Lake Belding Benton Harbor/SWMREC Benzonia Clarksville Commerce Township East Leland Eastport	Elk Rapids Fennville Fremont Grand Junction Hart Hartford Hudsonville Keeler (S. Hartford) Kewadin	Lawrence/Teapot Dome Lawton Ludington Northport Old Mission Scottdale South Haven Sparta Traverse City/NWMHRS Watervliet West Olive
Pick station from map at Enviro-weather or select station from a list of all stations.

Weather equipment and use of degree days
Some considerations:

About purchasing your own weather equipment.
How to use growing degree days for pest management.

Freezes/Cold hardiness
Assessing the impact of freeze and other cold hardiness issues:

Critical spring temperatures for cherry bud development stages.
Dormancy and cold hardiness in fruit crops.
What does a warm winter mean for fruit plants - reflection from spring 2007.
Diseases, such as cherry leaf spot, that defoliate the tree reduce cold hardiness.

Climate
How do this year's temperatures and precipitation compare to last year's? This and other climate information available at the Pileus Project web site. Some of the topics and tools at Pileus Project:

How has climate affected tart cherry tree phenology and yield in the past? Use a tool to compare historic data to future projections.
How does weather affect tart cherry production within the growing season?
How do past and future climate trends affect the cost of producing tart cherries? Use a tool to calculate annualized net returns based on your cost of production.

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Funding support: Project GREEEN, the Michigan Cherry Committee and the MSU IPM Program and special project support from NC-IPM Center.

08/26/10 Web developed by: J.N. Landis