Giorgia

Giorgia originates from Italy, where it was developed at the renowned fruit-growing institute in Verona, Istituto Sperimentale per la Frutticoltura, through planned crossing of ISF 123 and Coba. Due to its exceptionally early ripening, large fruit size, premium flesh firmness, and high market profitability, it is one of the most sought-after and popular early commercial sweet cherry varieties on the European market and in our region, ideal for opening the season of large firm-fleshed sweet cherries.

It is a fully cross-pollinated variety. Since it carries the genotype S₁S₄ and belongs to the IX sterility group, it cannot set fruit with its own pollen, so the presence of compatible pollinator varieties flowering at the same time is essential in the orchard. It is distinctly genetically incompatible with the famous Italian variety Ferrovia, as they share the same sterility group and the same alleles, making mutual pollination in the field impossible and resulting in a complete lack of crop. Since it flowers early to medium-early, its best, biologically synchronized, and field-proven pollinators are Burlat, Van, Lapins, and the self-fertile Stella. It is characterized by very abundant flowering and is an excellent pollinator for other early varieties.

The tree is medium to highly vigorous, with strong scaffold branches that form a recognizable, attractive, semi-spreading, and broad-pyramidal canopy, allowing excellent ventilation and sun exposure of the fruit inside the crown. It enters full bearing extremely early, often producing its first commercial fruit as early as the second or third year after planting. Once it starts bearing, with suitable pollinators, it produces regular, stable, and extremely abundant yields every year. Due to its tendency toward overcropping, mandatory and regular winter and summer, or green, pruning is required so that the crop does not become undersized and the fruit retains maximum size.

It belongs to the group of early sweet cherry varieties. In our region and under continental climatic conditions, it reaches harvest maturity in early June, usually between June 1 and 8, in the first week of the sweet cherry season, only 5 to 7 days after the early Burlat variety.

Harvesting takes place at the end of May and during the first week of June. The fruit ripens fairly uniformly on the tree and is characterized by a recognizable, medium-long, and thick green stem that enables fast, easy, and efficient hand picking without damaging the flesh. The fruit can remain on the branch for a long time after full maturity without a sudden loss of firmness or quality.

It is characterized by exceptionally good storage ability for an early variety. In fresh condition, it can be successfully kept in cold storage for 7–14 days. Due to its very firm and compact fruit flesh and elastic skin, it tolerates picking, sorting, packing, and transport to distant markets perfectly, without the risk of crushing or loss of gloss. It is primarily intended for the first, premium fresh table consumption on domestic and demanding foreign markets, where, due to its early ripening and large size, it achieves an exceptionally high price.

The fruit is large to very large for the early season, with an average weight of 9–10 g and a caliber diameter exceeding 28 mm. It is uniform on the tree and attractive in its large heart-shaped form. The skin is medium-thick, firm, smooth, and distinctly glossy, with a beautiful intense red to glossy dark red color at full maturity, never becoming coal-black. The flesh is dark red, very firm, compact, and crisp, typical of a true early firm-fleshed sweet cherry, and exceptionally juicy. The taste is outstanding, rich, and dessert-like, characterized by high sugar content perfectly balanced with mild and pleasant refreshing acidity, along with a rich varietal aroma. The stone is small to medium-sized.

It is moderately resistant to diseases. It shows excellent resistance of the wood and flower buds to low winter frosts during full dormancy. On the other hand, it is susceptible to fruit cracking caused by heavy and sudden summer rains during the ripening period, which is why in humid and rainy June conditions it requires intensive preventive chemical protection against Monilinia and fruit rot, Monilinia laxa, as well as mandatory protection from birds, which are strongly attracted by the early red crop.

The root system is strong, deep, and branched. It uses moisture and nutrients from deeper soil layers very well, but it absolutely does not tolerate heavy, clayey, compacted, or waterlogged soils with a high groundwater level, where lack of oxygen quickly causes root asphyxia, or suffocation, and decline of the entire tree. It requires deep, permeable, light, and fertile soils on well-ventilated sites.

Our sweet cherry fruit trees are produced on highly compatible, certified rootstocks: mahaleb cherry, Prunus mahaleb, and wild sweet cherry for classic and long-lived orchards on drier soils. In addition to vigorous rootstocks, we also produce fruit trees on modern low- to medium-vigor vegetative rootstocks Gisela 5 and Gisela 6, which are the globally mandatory standard for this variety, as they ideally control its great natural vigor, drastically accelerate entry into full bearing, as early as the second year, and enable the establishment of intensive, high-density, and highly profitable commercial orchards.