Stella

Stella originates from Canada, where it was developed at the renowned Summerland Research Station in British Columbia through planned crossing of Lambert and John Innes Seedling 2420, and was released into wide commercial production in 1968. In the history of world pomology, it is written in gold letters as the first commercial self-fertile sweet cherry variety in the world. Due to its high and stable productivity, excellent fruit size, and historic role as the best universal pollinator, it has for decades been one of the most sought-after, most widespread, and most reliable varieties in modern fruit growing worldwide and in our region.

It is a fully self-fertile variety. Since it carries the specific genotype S₃S₄’, it is characterized by an exceptionally high level of self-pollination and abundant flowering, so it reliably, regularly, and very abundantly bears in pure single-variety orchards without any need for other accompanying pollinator varieties on the plot. Due to its abundant flowering and extremely high-quality pollen with excellent germination capacity, compatible with almost all known cultivars, Stella is regarded as the best universal pollinator in the world for all cross-pollinated sweet cherry varieties, such as Burlat, Bing, Sam, and Hedelfingen, that flower at the same time. It flowers medium-early.

The tree is naturally medium to vigorous, with strong scaffold branches that form a well-branched, moderately dense, spacious, and broad-pyramidal canopy with excellent, wide branch angles. It enters full bearing very early, often producing its first commercial fruit as early as the second or third year after planting. Once it starts bearing, it produces regular, stable, and exceptionally abundant yields every year. Due to its pronounced tendency toward overcropping, mandatory strong and regular winter and summer pruning is required in order to thin the fruiting elements, especially May bouquets, and maintain maximum fruit size.

It belongs to the group of medium-late sweet cherry varieties. In our region and under continental climatic conditions, it reaches harvest maturity in mid-June, usually between June 12 and 20, in the fourth and fifth weeks of the sweet cherry season, around ten days after the early Burlat variety.

Harvesting takes place in mid-June. The fruit ripens fairly uniformly on the tree and is characterized by a long, green, and firm stem, which significantly facilitates, speeds up, and reduces the cost of hand picking without the risk of damaging or tearing the flesh around the calyx end.

It is characterized by moderately good storage ability. In fresh condition, it can be successfully kept in cold storage for 7–14 days. Due to its firm and compact fruit flesh, it tolerates picking, handling, packing, and transport well, while retaining the freshness of the skin. It is primarily intended for quality fresh table consumption on domestic and regional markets, and due to its high sugar content, it is also highly sought-after and valued in the industry for producing premium compotes, preserves, fruit syrups, and candied fruit.

The fruit is large, with an average weight of 8.5–9.5 g, uniform on the tree, and recognizable by its elongated-heart-shaped to slightly oval form with a long stem. The skin is medium-thick, smooth, and distinctly glossy, with an attractive intense dark red to deep burgundy color at full maturity. The flesh is dark red, firm, compact, juicy, and crisp, typical of a firm-fleshed sweet cherry, and very fleshy. The taste is outstanding, refreshing, and full, characterized by high sugar content, fine refreshing acidity, and a rich varietal aroma. The stone is medium-sized and separates easily from the flesh.

It is moderately resistant to diseases. It shows outstanding natural resistance of the wood and flower buds to harsh winter frosts during full dormancy. On the other hand, its greatest cultivation drawback in the field is the increased susceptibility of the fruit to cracking caused by heavy and sudden June rains during the ripening period, which is why in humid conditions it requires strict and regular preventive chemical protection against Monilinia and fruit rot, Monilinia laxa, as well as mandatory protection from birds, which are attracted by the glossy crop.

The root system is strong, deep, and branched. It uses moisture and nutrients from deeper layers very well and tolerates dry periods successfully in mature years, but it absolutely does not tolerate heavy, clayey, compacted, or waterlogged soils with a high groundwater level, where excess moisture 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. 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 natural vigor, drastically accelerate entry into full bearing, as early as the second year, and enable the establishment of intensive orchards in the form of dense trellis systems.