Introduction
If you are cherry grower or cherry orchard owner, you need face to many problems in the growing, especially in the several weeks before the cherries are ripe.
Now, cherry cover is a new solution for you to choose. I hope this blog could help you find the way to solve your problems in growing.
what is the cherry cover
Cherry cover, is also called cherry panel, cherry rain cover. it is one kind of tarpaulin, which is made of HDPE. It is installed on the top of the cherry trees to provide a dry condition for the cherries during the rainy season.
It is made of HDPE fabric which will be laminated with a LDPE film on both side, so that it could be waterproof. It will be cut by piece, the shape is usually rectangle, the weight is usually 130-180g, the normal width is 1.8-2.4m, the normal length is 10-15m. All of them could be customized, it is depend on the size of your trees and the distance of rows of your orchard.
Types of cherry cover
The edge of cherry cover is connected with the steel wire of the structures, so that the edge need withstand the impact during bad weather, such as strong wind. To meet different conditions, there are several different types of cherry covers in the market. The main difference is the treatment of the edge.
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Functions of cherry covers
Installing the cherry cover for your orchard is a big investment. Before the decision, I think you should consider everything. One important thing is: why do you need the cherry cover?
Now I list some main functions for cherries for your reference.
Reduce splitting
When the cherries are close to ripening, the season is Spring. In many areas, it is also the rainy season. A moderate amount of rain is good for cherries, but too much rain can cause a lot of problems.
One problem is that it will make the cherries splitting. The cherry trees absorb the excess water, but they don’t have time to evaporate it. The cherries will grow very fast, but the skin can’t keep up with the growth of the fruit. The result is that the skin will be thinner and thinner, and split in the end.
The cracked cherries could not be sold in the market. it will be a big lost for the owner of cherry orchard. So they want to find a solution to solve this problem.
The cherry cover could install on the top of the cherry tree, it could provide a dry condition for the whole tree. So the soil, leaves, trees, cherris are all dry during the rainy season.
Increase the quality of cherries
The firmness, sugar content and flavor are all the very important quality indicators. The better quality cherries will be more popular in the market.
But in the rainy season, if the cherries absorb too much water, the sugar content will be reduced, the flavor will also be very bland.
The cherry cover will provide a stable dry situation for the cherries even in any other bad weather. So the microclimates under the cherry cover will be stable, it is also important to the firmness of the cherries.
Preserving Harvest Timing
The harvest season is very important to the owner of orchard. The earlier harvest time could help you win the oppotunity in the market. But the rain will delay the harvest time.
The cherry cover could help you in the several weeks before the cherries is ripe. it could provide a dry condition to grow, also could provide a suitable condition for you to pick and handle the cherries at their peak ripeness.
Reduce the desease
The wet condition will cause many desease both to the trees and cherries. And the cracked cherries will make the condition worse and worse.
The dry condition provided by cherry cover will solve all the potential problems. it could provide the protection for a whole season. So you don’t worry about the problem by the rain.
Other things you need consider
Now, you are clear the benefits provide by the cherry cover. You need consider some other things.
What is the cost
This is probably your biggest concern. there are 2 parts: the structure and the cherry covers.
The structure includes the wire, pole and accessories. The normal cost of all the material per one hectare would be about 6,000-8,000 usd, which exludes the cost of installation. The cost would be a little different in the different market.
The normal cost of cherry cover per hectare would be about 6,000-10,000 usd. If the cherry cover need withstand strong wind, the cost would be a little higher. If the wind is not strong, the cost would be lower.
How long could be used
The cost is not cheap, so you also want to know the service time of the cherry cover.
In normal, it could be used for several season. When the rain season is coming, you should install them in your orchard in advance. When the rain season is over, you should open them and roll it up to one side.
Next season, you could spread them up piece by piece again. You could do that season by season. In normal, the service time of cherry cover could last 3-5 seasons.
Where to buy
There are many manufacurers of cherry cover in the world. How to choose the most suitable one, it is difficult for you to identify.
I have some suggestions, you could ask for the sample to check, and place a trial order to have a test. meanwhile, you can use the small quantity cherry cover in your orchard to test the effect. If the effect is good, you could buy more in the next season.
To increase the service time and meet the requirements to windstand the strong wind, we choose the 100% virgin material and best sewing process to increase the strength of the cherry cover.
Compared to the strength of 7-30kg, our strength of cherry cover with webbing could be 45-60kg or more.
Other suggestions
Besides the cherry cover, you also could do some other things to protect your cherry from the bad weather.
Improve the drainage
You should also improve the darinage between the rows of cherry trees. If the drainage is not good, it will cause waterlogging in your orchard. All the soil will be wet, it also could not provide dry condition for the cherry trees.
Windbreak net
If the wind is very strong in your orchard, you should build some windbreak netting wall to reduce the wind speed, which could protect your orchard from the damage of wind. Otherwise, the strong wind might cause damages to the cherry cover, struture and cherry trees.
Building the windbreak netting wall is another investment for you. But if you build the windbreak netting wall, the requirement of the cherry cover and structure will be also lower, so it could reduce the cost of cherry cover and strutures.
If you want a completed solution, we can have a further talk.
