Is Black Tartarian cherry self-fertile or self-sterile?

Black Tartarian Sweet Cherry is a self sterile cultivar. It is self-sterile and requires 1 compatible pollination partner flowering within Bloom Groups 1–3 to achieve a reliable commercial fruit set.

Can Black Tartarian act as a pollen donor for other cherries?

Yes. Black Tartarian Sweet Cherry produces viable, fertile pollen that readily cross-pollinates other compatible cherry varieties flowering across its bloom window.

Which bloom group does Black Tartarian cherry belong to?

Black Tartarian Sweet Cherry flowers in Bloom Group 2 (Early-Spring). It reliably cross-pollinates with compatible cultivars in its own group or immediately adjacent groups (±1 bloom group).

Curated Pomology Guide · Bloom Group 2

Black Tartarian Sweet Cherry
Pollination & Compatibility Guide

Black Tartarian cherry pollination guide: S-genotype (S1S2, Group I), compatible partners (Bing, Rainier, Lapins), bloom overlap, and heritage care.

Pomological Verdict & Botanical Profile

Black Tartarian is Self-Incompatible (Needs 1 Partner)

Viable Pollen Donor (Reciprocal Pollinizer)

Group I — mutually sterile with Knight's Early Black, Early Rivers, Bedford Prolific and Summit. Sold under several older names (Ronald's Large Black Heart, Circassian) — check nursery synonyms before assuming you have two cultivars. Bing and Rainier are both clean full-compatibility partners of overlapping bloom. Black Tartarian needs at least one compatible pollinizer from bloom group 1–3 to set a reliable crop.

S-Genotype / Genetics: S1S2 (Group I)
Required Companions: 1 Compatible Partner
Bloom Group: Group 2 (Early-Spring)
Harvest Timing: Early Season

Agronomic Profile: Susceptible to cracking.

Flowering Period & Overlap Window

Sweet and sour cherry flowering periods are classified into numbered bloom groups (1 through 5). Cross-pollination requires overlapping bloom timing between genetically compatible cultivars.

Flowering Overlap Range for Black Tartarian

Early Overlap

Group 1

Black Tartarian

Group 2

Late Overlap

Group 3

Any compatible cherry cultivar flowering within Group 1 to 3 provides matching blossom overlap.

Compatible Pollination Partners (12)

Test in Checker

Cultivar	Bloom Group	Overlap Type	Harvest	Primary Uses	Interactive Test
Black PearlGuide	Group 2	Full Overlap	Early	Fresh Eating	Test Cross
ChelanGuide	Group 2	Full Overlap	Early	Fresh Eating	Test Cross
BingGuide	Group 3	Full Overlap	Mid-Late	Fresh Eating, Canning	Test Cross
Emperor FrancisGuide	Group 3	Full Overlap	Mid	Canning, Fresh Eating	Test Cross
KristinGuide	Group 3	Full Overlap	Mid	Fresh Eating	Test Cross
RainierGuide	Group 3	Adjacent Overlap	Mid	Fresh Eating, Dessert	Test Cross
SchmidtGuide	Group 3	Adjacent Overlap	Mid	Fresh Eating	Test Cross
SelahGuide	Group 3	Full Overlap	Mid	Fresh Eating	Test Cross
StellaGuide	Group 3	Full Overlap	Mid	Fresh Eating, All-Purpose	Test Cross
SunburstGuide	Group 3	Full Overlap	Mid	Fresh Eating	Test Cross
UlsterGuide	Group 3	Full Overlap	Mid	Fresh Eating	Test Cross
VanGuide	Group 3	Adjacent Overlap	Mid	Fresh Eating, Canning	Test Cross

Incompatible Varieties & Exclusions (2)

These cherry varieties overlap in flowering time with Black Tartarian but cannot fertilise it due to shared S-allele genetic incompatibility groups.

Knight's Early BlackGuide

Knight's Early Black shares both S-alleles with Black Tartarian — they are mutually sterile, whatever their bloom overlap suggests.

Merton Glory

Merton Glory's S-genotype is not recorded. For this crop compatibility is computed from S-alleles, so it cannot be offered as a partner without one.

Black Tartarian Heritage Pollinizer & Orchard Care

Black Tartarian is a historic heritage sweet cherry introduced from the Caucasus and Circassia prior to 1794. Long celebrated for its tender, soft, intensely sweet, purplish-black flesh and rich heirloom dessert flavour, Black Tartarian remains an iconic garden tree and an invaluable commercial workhorse pollinizer across diverse temperate fruit growing regions worldwide.

Genetically, Black Tartarian belongs to Incompatibility Group I with the S1S2 genotype. It is self-sterile and mutually incompatible with other Group I cultivars including Knight's Early Black, Early Rivers, and Bedford Prolific. However, it produces heavy volumes of viable pollen that readily fertilise Group III (Bing, S3S4), Group IX (Rainier, S1S4), and Group XIII (Schmidt, S2S4).

Blossoming in early-to-mid spring (Bloom Group 2), Black Tartarian overlaps with both early and mid-season sweet cherries, making it one of the most effective companion trees for multi-variety orchards seeking robust pollination coverage, heavy bee foraging activity, and reliable annual fruit set across diverse orchard layouts.

Key Orchard Considerations for Black Tartarian

Pollen Production & Bee Attraction

Black Tartarian flowers with extreme profusion, producing abundant, high-viability pollen that draws heavy bee activity across the entire early-to-mid bloom period.

Soft Flesh & Local Market Handling

The tender, juicy flesh bruises easily during mechanical sorting and long-distance transport. Ideal for pick-your-own, local farm stands, and home culinary use.

Tree Longevity & Growth Habit

Trees are remarkably vigorous, healthy, and long-lived on Mazzard rootstocks, forming expansive, spreading canopies that require regular thinning to maintain lower spur light.