[Rich72]

Morning all. I have been looking at fruit trees in our local tesco. I would love to grow a cherry tree on my allotment but the ones in tesco don't say how tall they will grow. Does anyone know tall these trees grow and if I keep 'trimmed' will it still produce fruit?

[New shoot]

It will probably be on a Colt rootstock as this is a semi-vigorous one.  Cheap fruit trees tend to be on the larger rootstocks as the really dwarfing ones mean the crop is slower to get to saleable size.

With Colt you are looking at a 20 foot tree if left unpruned, but you should be able to get fruit if you keep it smaller.  Colt is usually used for fan-trained trees because it supplies lots of growth, so you can make the fan quicker.  Fan trained trees get heavily pruned and still produce a good crop 

[sunshineband]

My cherry tree is on a Colt rootstock and I have had it three years. You can see in the photo that it had grown huge even after two years.

This summer I heavily pruned it to a two tier tree in a sort of double goblet, that is just over 2.5m tall, and there are masses of flower buds to come.

It gets fed around this time each year with Blood fish & bone and sulphate of potash, and I shall certainly be maintaining it at this size as I can net it over long canes to keep the birds off 

I hope that helps you decide what to buy

[Rich72]

Thanks sunshineband. Nice picture too. If I buried it in a tub would it remain small or will it die? I have a very large tub but the bottom is broken

[sunshineband]

Cherries like to spread their roots sideways rather. Imho on a Colt rootstock it would fare better in the grond