Hi @Vincent_8B ! I don’t know how to message you directly - it would be helpful if you could message me directly with contact info to connect 
1 Like
I have a question for those growing plum/cot/pluot in the PNW. I have a supposed Satsuma plum that had fruit on it for the first time this year. I was surprised it had any fruit showing as it came into bloom a week or more before all my other plum trees and it had nothing else [n bloom to pollinate it. I have many varieties of J plums, hybrid plums, plumcots, and pluots, and Satsuma bloomed before all of the others.
Unfortunately, it dropped all its fruit after producing a small number of fruitlets, so I have no fruit pictures for comparison. I grafted scion from this Satsuma tree to others last year. This spring several grafts were showing signs of black knot so I removed them. I have also had to remove a secondary branch from the original Satsuma tree. Now a main scaffold on the open center Satsuma tree is infected with black knot as well. Is this normal for Satsuma to bloom the earliest of all others plums, and to be so susceptible to black knot?
Of my 10 Euro plums only Mirabelle had 1 branch infected with black knot, and all my other J plums, hybrids, plumcots, pluots and cherries were black knot free. I’ve not read much on the forum about Satsuma being so bad for black knot susceptibility.
I’m now beginning to wonder if I instead got a mislabeled Methley plum instead of Satsuma. I already cut down and dug out the roots from an older Methley tree because of its never ending disease issues. I sure hope I haven’t got another Methley on my hands. I thought Satsuma was supposed to be a premiere variety, as it seems very highly regarded and recommended on the forum.
Is my Satsuma simply cursed, or does it sound like I’ve gthisotten some other dud of a variety?
My first couple Howard Miracle Plum in Seattle areas.
They’re very juicy, semi clingstone, soft texture, pineapple grapefruit tropical flavor.
7 Likes
I love Howard Miracle. I just ate another one today. It tastes like a nectarine and it looks like one too. My neighbor gave me some peaches and the Howard Miracles I grow are way better than her peaches. Normally I like peaches a lot more than plums but they’re harder to grow here in the PNWet.
John S
PDX OR
5 Likes
I think you recommended me to grow Howard Miracle plum last year. I did and had a couple fruits for now John. Thank you for recommendation. Vincent
3 Likes
Does it bloom at the same time as Toka or any other hybrids?
1 Like
I’m hoping to taste my first Howard miracle plum any day now. I only bought and planted it last spring, so I’m ecstatic to have it producing so soon. I’m tempted to pick my solitary plum now before some critter gets it, but I’m trying to hold off until its fully ripe. I hope its even half as good as everyone makes it out to be. 
1 Like
Yes it’s blooms the same with all others Japanese plum. I don’t have toka now but I remember about the same time in Spring.
1 Like
make sure it has some give, it isn’t good crunchy.
2 Likes
I have Toka! Any chance you wanna trade cuttings in the winter or whenever is the best time to cut things?
1 Like
I had Toka long time ago. Seems like no fruit sets in my area then I removed it. My tree is very tiny not good enough for cut scions. I am so sorry for that. A lot of us here might available for scions trading.
1 Like
I’m up to 20 varieties of Japanese plums and pluots down in the Eugene area. Most are pretty small trees, but bloomed well this year and had perfect pollination weather. Here’s the report so far as far as pollination goes.
Earliest bloomers (mids -1 week, approx March 18th for first bloom):
Flavor Supreme: earliest, poor set
Santa Rosa: decent set
Burgundy: No set, but very small tree long bloom period
Laroda: No set, decent sized tree, one more year of experiment
Mids (approx March 24th)
Geo Pride: very good set, self thinning now
Howard Miracle: good set
El Dorado: Great set 2 years in a row, seems very reliable even with poor weather
Candy Heart: Poor set
Satsuma: lower than expected set, not as reliable as reported
Flavor King: good set
Lates (mid +1 week, approx March 30th):
Sugar Twist: very good set
Flavor Grenade: heavy set, will need lots of thinning
Laetitia: South African variety, good set, latest bloomer along with Onilnaya
Obilnaya: very small tree, almost every flower set
Burmosa: No set
Emerald Beaut: low set
Red Heart: low set, but supposed to be great pollenizer, might need Elephant Heart
No blooms: Splash, Inca, Burbank
So far Geo Pride, Flavor Grenade, Obilnaya, El Dorado, Laetitia, Howard Miracle, Sugar Twist I can recommend highly. However, I have a ton of pollenizers so performance may vary. I’ll be expanding to about a quarter acre of these next year and will keep updating. El Dorado is one I haven’t seen much about, but the size, flavor, appearance and performance are great here. Not too much stock can be put in the good performances this year though since the weather was perfect, but the poor performances I doubt will improve in subsequent years. Flavor king improved dramatically this year from 0 set last year, to rather good this year. The weather was better, but also a lot more Red Heart blooms.
5 Likes