I realize everyone has their opinions. So I’m just throwing this out there to see what people think.
I have limited space in the backyard, and am planting 1 tree.
Here are my two contenders. I bought them both, need to return 1.
Contender 1: Sweetheart Cherry (this is a relatively new variety, fruits early it says, small tree, fruits shaped like hearts?)
Contender 2: Stanley Plum
Okay a couple things. First I don’t like sickly sweet fruit. I prefer sour or tart.
Secondly: I tried peach trees in the backyard, and had to get rid of them. Why? Opossums, squirrels ate everthing.
Honestly in 3 years, I never saw a peach!!! I would wait and the trees would be raided every time right before they got ripe.
One died, and they needed cross pollination… so I just gave up.
Third: I have a sour cherry tree already, and I like it a lot. Not only the tart taste, but the birds and squirrels actually leave it alone- and I get fruit! Which is phenomenal.
Now a couple other things for background. The Stanley tree is huge- about 7 feet tall, tall and narrow, relatively small root bucket.
The Sweetheart cherry has good form, vase shape, but is about 4 feet tall.
They’re both the same price.
Again I have another cherry tree, so I may get more cherries, but the Stanley says its self-fertile. Also it seems just kinda interesting, idk. But how reliable are these trees? I’m seeing some people say plums go years without fruiting. Others say they do great.
Which one should I keep?
Which one will I regret planting? LOL
Thanks for feedback.
Neither of those will be sour unless you eat them green. Squirrels will likely take all the plums just like the peaches. Birds will eat the cherries and cherries are difficult to grow.
Perhaps you should reshape your question more along the lines of what should I grow?
Nope. I want to decide which is the better choice!
So you think the cherry tree will be more difficult than the plum tree?
I’m not saying I require sour, I just don’t like super sweet fruit. I believe both of these are not.
Have you had experiences with either variety.
I have sweetheart and had stanley. The stanley tasted ok with fairly thick skin. The sweetheart has some sour in the skin with sweet guts. It does produce fairly quick, but I wouldn’t count on it being a small tree. Both are pretty reliable producers.
@Robert Yeah its a little vague as far as the size with the Sweetheart Cherry, but some places online are saying 7-10 feet. I consider that a dwarf. But then other places are saying larger. I can prune them to keep them from growing too much out of control.
Would you say the Stanley would be reliable if it was all by itself, self-fertile? Or is that having two or more, because I’ll only have one. What did the Stanley plums taste like. Bland?
They look interesting at least.
What happened to your plum tree?
@fruitnut I’m not sure what was going on really.
I never saw what was taking the peaches. But they would disappear right before they were ripe.
I mean, IDK… whatever animal was doing it could be gone now. That was over a year ago.
Its just a concern, I don’t know if it makes everything futile.
Whatever it was never took the cherries on my existing cherry tree.
That’s far from true. Dwarf cherry will get to 20 or more feet. Like you said though, you can prune it to whatever size you want. I wasn’t real impressed with the taste of Stanley, but that doesn’t mean you won’t like it.
To be honest, I haven’t had trouble with either. However, I do know people generally have a harder time keeping cherries alive, especially beginners. Cherries really complain about having soggy toes, more so than plums.
A genuine answer to your question would likely consider other factors. I went based on the information available. I take instructions very literally.
Time to fruit depends on what rootstock was used. In general Euro plums are not usually quick fruiters though. Rootstock will determine the cherry as well.
@maracuja I guess maybe I’m leaning toward the Stanley because I’ve never had a plum tree and its just something new.
@robert the peach trees I planted fruited the year I put them in, and were smaller than this plum. I got them at WalMart.
IDK I guess what I’m wondering is if plums have a reputation for being finicky, skipping years especially if its a single self-pollinating tree or do they consistently fruit once they start
Plums don’t require sprays. At least not here in Washington state.
If you don’t spray cherries though… you can get giant maggots in them this is how i found out that I’m allergic to maggots. Took me almost a decade to get over the fact that i ate an entire bowl full of maggots and wondered why i was dying that day…
I’ve rarely seen a Plum with a bug in it and I’ve picked a lot of wild plums. I did however, see one with a hairline bug that set me off for a few years as well but it didn’t affect me as much as the maggots in the cherries. You really have to keep on top of the cherry sprays or bag the whole tree somehow.
You can eat unripe plums but you can’t really do that with cherries as well.
There’s a market for unripe plums so if you want to thin out your tree and make some money doing so while not wasting food, a lot of southeast Asians like myself will buy them from you.
Peaches are quick fruiting trees. Each fruit type takes a different amount of time to get to a bearing age. Using dwarfing rootstock shortens that time. Some fruits on more standard rootstocks can take upwards of 10 years.
My stanley was a reliable fruiting tree. Hard to say how long it will take to fruit, but should do well after it gets going.
@Melon when Robert mentioned that ‘thick skin’ that was the first thing that came to my mind with the plum. It would keep out bugs.
I know what you’re saying. I have a mulberry tree that produces tons of mulberries every year, but they always have worms! Little white ones. They come out when you put them in a glass of water (which you’re supposed to do before eating) I was told its very common with mulberries because the fruit has very thin skin.
So I just leave the mulberries for the birds, and hope that distracts them heh.
Yeah I appreciate the replies. I really think I’m going to go with the Stanley Plum. Plus the mention of the soggy sweet insides of the Sweetheart Cherry yeechhh LOL
Brown rot will eventually find all of your stone fruits which will have to be sprayed for. Especially if you are on the east coast. You usually get a year or two before it finds your trees, then it’s spray time or you will get nothing.
@robert is brown rot what happened to your Stanley. I keep hearing the past tense lol
I’m not on east coast, in the Midwest. Our summers are humid but by August September things get pretty hot and dry. I will be more likely to be hauling buckets to the trees to keep them alive this summer then than worrying about soggy toes
Brown rot is a fungus that destroys all stone fruits right before they ripen. It’s worst on the east coast where I am and may not be quite so bad where you are. You would have to talk to someone near you. I highly doubt you will be able to grow stone fruit without spraying though.
I got rid of the Stanley because it just didn’t taste that great to me. Like all stone fruit it did have to be sprayed for brown rot though.
this is how i found out that I’m allergic to maggots. Took me almost a decade to get over the fact that i ate an entire bowl full of maggots and wondered why i was dying that day…