American Plum cross pollinate with Ozark Premier and/or AU Rosa?

General Fruit Growing
#1

I can’t seem to find this information on the internet. Does anyone know or have a resource that might state it?
Thanks

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#2

This website had lots of really good info! :slight_smile:

http://uncommonfruit.cias.wisc.edu/japanese-american-hybrid-plums/

I don’t have any personal experience if the specific two that you mentioned will cross pollinate with american plums, but it appears that american plums and japanese plums can cross pollinate, and I think the toka (bubblegum) plum is one such hybrid.

I’m interested in breeding the two one day to see if the offspring will flower later and avoid our late frosts we have here. :slight_smile:

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#3

Maybe do a search of luther burbank or professor alderman of Minnesota. These two did alot research of plum pollination and bred many popular hybrids. I have atleast a dozen jap/american hybrids in my yard but im not sure of the parentage.

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#4

It looks like the two I mentioned are Japanese varieties (I didn’t even know that until now). Thanks for the resource Steve. Now I need to figure out, can all japanese varieties cross pollinate with American or just certain ones? I will look into those resources Caleb. Thanks.

#5

Those two plums are not pure Japanese, they are hybrids. They should both cross-pollinate with American plums. Generally most diploid (non-European) plums cross-pollinate pretty well, but there are a few exceptions. American plum is one of the better pollinators and is sometimes recommended as a pollinator for some of the more difficult to pollinate cold-hardy hybrid plums.

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#6

Thanks!

#7

I don’t know if it helps, but my mystery J plum does pollinate my hybrid Bruce plum. Bruce, however, doesn’t pollinate the J plum at all while blooming well together.

My American plum blooms much later than either of them. Weeks here!

I’d be happy to send anyone plants of that American, btw. It’s a really great plum for jam, etc, but the peels are just too astringent to eat them.

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#8

Thanks for the info. I have never tried one but I usually like sour. Can plants be sent now or only when they are in dormancy? This is our 1st year starting a orchard / food forest. The reason I am curious about the cross pollination is we planted the ozark premier and au rosa this year that we ordered off of peaceful heritage and it looks like the au rosa may not make it. We also want to start planting some native plants so the American would make sense.

#9

It depends on how hot USPS trucks get, I’d think. What state are you in?

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#10

I am in Missouri, but I just I found someone locally who has some. That would probably be the safer route than trying to ship. Thanks for the offer though!

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#11

Your help was greatly appreciated, BTW. Out of what you sent, I have managed not to kill 5 of them so far.

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#12

I’m so happy to hear it! Totally dormant is always best and we missed that by a bit. Let me know if you’d like more when it’s cold again :slight_smile:

You might try leaving a branch to taste, btw, if you make jam or sauce. They are extremely plummy and tasty. But the skin just doesn’t work, lol. I eat them fresh like a muscadine, tho, where you spit out the skin.

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#13

Ill see how these work out, but ill let you know.

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#14

Hi Scott,
This year my Ozark Premiere a 3 year old graft had a multitude of flowers nestled in among the top limbs of a cherry plum which also had many flowers during the same period so I had hoped to see some fruit setting occur, but not one fruit was set. In another location another Ozark Premiere 3 year old graft nettled in an American plum thicket and near a mature Stanley plum tree all flowering during the same period did not set any fruits. So from your comments, I would have expected at least one or two fruits out of more than 20 blossoms. So what could be the issue preventing pollination? Is it just too soon for these grafts to produce? In both cases the limbs are about 30” long.
Will it take some other Japanese variety to pollinate my Ozark Premieres?
Dennis
Kent, wa

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#15

I don’t know that plum but it could just take a while to fruit. American plum is supposed to be a good pollinator for those hybrids. If it keeps doing that for a few more years you can just graft a limb of something else. Note the Stanley is not going to help with pollination since it is a Euro of different ploidy.

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#16

And warm weather during blooming seems to promote pollination.

#17

Thanks Scott,
I’m aware Stanley would not help to cross pollinate Ozark Premiere. I mentioned it because its close existence may have drawn what few bees we had away from the Ozark Premiere. Standing close to the Ozark Premiere graft is a Shiro graft about 2’ lower which also has not produced any fruit. The Shiro graft is same age and flowers a lot as well. I have read that Shiro can pollinate it, but so far that has not worked! I will be grafting several other Japanese varieties this summer in near by trees that should help. I think the absence of bees was my primary issue this spring. I invested in mason bees but they arrived too late to be of benefit this spring, perhaps next spring they can contribute to spreading the pollen around.
Take care
Dennis