I’m back! I’ve tried to log in multiple times this morning, but the site would not let me.
Anyways, here’s a picture of a Candy Heart Pluerry fruit.
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Hello Everyone, what pollinators do you used for your Candy Heart Pluerry?
I used Burgundy,Nadia,Mariposa,Dapple Supreme,Santa Rosa,Elephant Heart and Emerald Beaut Plum in about that order of frequency. Brady
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I only hand pollinated up to the 6 foot level using some of the following: Burgundy, Nadia, Sweet Treat, and some Elephant Heart. The fruit at the higher level, up to 9 feet, were pollinated on their own. The tree is loaded, 65+ fruit after thinning.
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Those are beautiful~ And no bags!
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I did not have any bird/animal/pest problems last year with this type of fruit or plums in general There are so many of this type, if they take a few that is fine. They will be covered if a major problem develops. On the other hand covering cherries is a must or very little to no harvest is the result.
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those look a little like those Israeli hybrid pluots or one nice firm breast 
, can’t wait for my candy heart to do its thing next year (3rd leaf)
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They almost look beakish… .Superior plums can look a little like that.
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Great News, everyone!
Candy Heart Pluerry patent has been published. It’s patented as “Sweet Pixie 5.” I’m 100% certain that Candy Heart Pluerry is patented under this name because Craig, from DWN mentioned this on Dave Wilson Nursery Forums, “I am advised that the patent application for Candy Heart is under “Sweet Pixzee 5” (Sweet Pixie 5?).”
Candy Heart Pluerry is actually a plum x cherry x apricot hybrid.
Here’s the patent description:
“The new and distinct variety of interspecific tree was originated by us from crosses of Prunus salicina, Prunus avium and Prunus armeniaca in our experimental orchard located near Modesto, Calif. as a first generation cross between our proprietary non-patented interspecific seedling ‘301LP509’ and the apricot seedling ‘1A77’. The seed parent ‘301LP509’ is an open pollinated seedling selection from our proprietary non-patented interspecific seedling ‘178LM244’ which is a seedling from a first generation cross between our proprietary non-patented plum seedling ‘82EG198’ and the proprietary non-patented cherry seedling ‘104EB90’. The pollen parent ‘1A77’ originated from apricot seedling of unknown parentage. A large number of these first generation seedlings were budded onto older established trees of ‘Nemaguard’ Rootstock (non-patented) to enhance earlier fruit production. Under close and careful observation the present budded seedling exhibited desirable tree and fruit characteristics and was selected in 2009 for additional asexual propagation and commercialization.”
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In other words, if I read the patent correctly, Candy Heart parentage is [(( plum x cherry) x unknown pollen) x apricot))].
It’s seed parent is ( plum x cherry) x unknown pollen.
The pollen parent is an apricot seedling.
This makes it 50% apricot.
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It looks like it takes many many years to develop complex crosses, evaluate and select the best ones based on flavor in this case. This is a backyard variety, not commercial one. Then it took, from the above information, another eight years to propagate and distribute it to us. The one fruit that I harvested last season was top notch as far as flavor goes, one of the very best. I plan on going to go to Andy’s Orchard, in Morgan Hill CA, to do some fruit tasting. The first session is this coming Sunday, June 18th. Their goal is to grow the best tasting stone fruit in one of the best growing climates.
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August? Holy smokes. When does Flavor King ripen for you? The one reason i’ve been iffy on Candy Heart is ripening time. I might be too late here. Flavor King around here is very Late Aug to about Mid Sept…depending on the summer.
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Since Candy Heart has apricot in it’s parentage, shouldn’t be called Pluerrycot? And since it has more apricot in its parentage, shouldn’t be classified as an Interspecific Apricot?
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That’s the first thing I thought of when reading your patent description.
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Hi Rob,
I will harvest one early, Mid-July, to see if the taste is acceptable. I noticed that many vendors at farmers markets around here pick their fruit when they are still firm. For those of us with longer growing seasons, we can let them ripen properly on the tree. I do not have Flavor King, graft does not have fruit yet. My Satsuma plums area still green and are about one inch in diameter, they seem to be late season variety around here. Candy Heart Pluerry seems to be a mid season ripening variety. I will find out and pass on more information at the upcoming Andy’s Orchard events too.
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Ok…i have Satsuma too…still very green. Don’t recall when i picked them last year.
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I’d love to hear how the Andy’s Orchard events are. Thinking about the August one. It’s a 5.5 hour drive, but I’d imagine it’s very worth it.
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Hi Bob,
That sounds like one of the best sessions to go to, when all of the various pluots ripen. I will report on it here, first session, Sunday June 18th.
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Took these of my Candy Hearts yesterday. They are coloring up faster than my Sweet Treats. It’s second leaf and my first fruiting, so no experience for me so far with this tree. Does Candy Heart tend to color up early and ripen quite a bit later? Most of my trees are running 1-2 weeks ahead of the Dave Wilson Harvest Chart this year but this one looks like it may come 3-4 weeks early. So not too far out of range, but was just curious if anyone noted anything different last year. Thanks.
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