John KempfRegenerative Agriculture Entrepreneur

Post-harvest nutrition at Orchard View Cherries

10 Aug 2026 · 1 min

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1:03

In this concise presentation, the speaker emphasizes the importance of continuing to supply cherry trees with nutrients after the harvest season. Citing John Kempf’s concept of “critical points of influence,” the speaker explains that once cherries are harvested, the buds for the next year’s crop are already forming and building reserves. Therefore, growers must not abandon the orchard after harvest but should provide a targeted post‑harvest nutrition program to support reserve building before dormancy. The speaker also highlights the very short bloom‑to‑harvest window for cherries—often only about 60 days—making the post‑harvest period a crucial window to extend the time available for delivering nutrients and improving the next season’s yield.

Chapters

Something that I've really learned to focus on is giving the tree what it needs so that it has the resources it can call upon to provide for its own needs over time. Especially John Kempf talks about critical points of influence. So believe it or not, after, after the cherries have been harvested in the season, you have the buds for next year's crop are right there. They're developing in the orchard. And they're building their reserves. So it's important to understand that and not harvest the season's crop and walk away from your orchard. You have to continue to give the trees what they need because this is an opportunity for us before dormancy. In the spring, especially with cherries, it's a short period of time between bloom and when you actually are harvesting. Sometimes between bloom and when you're picking can be only about 60 days. And so that's not a very big window of opportunity. Post-harvest program can be very important to provide you with more time to provide nutrition to the crop.