Thank you for this. I sure wish I could track down some of these super old varieties from the early 19th Century, but McKibben comes the closest to having that sort of history intact. I just found Dr. Nabhan’s FB page and sent him info on what I’m doing and asked if he could offer any advice or leads to scion of some of these old varieties. Thanks and God bless.
Marcus
Excellent. So glad you’re tapping him for leads. Please let us know how it works out.
Great work. Looking forward to the updates.
Here are my first cultivated chickasaw/hybrid plums of the season. On the left is Robusto, on the right is Guthrie. Similar flavors, the Guthrie slightly sweeter and peachier. The Robusto probably would have benefitted from hanging on the tree a couple of more days, but nothing that color survives the birds/squirrels/possums for more than 24 hours.
Your Robusto looks completely different from mine. Mine looks a lot more like that Guthrie. Did you get the scion from me? God bless.
Marcus
Yes, I did get that scion from you. I wonder what explains the difference? They did have a lot of similarities-size (that’s a nickel, not a quarter by the way), interior color, and flavor. As you pointed out in Purchasing plum trees for the first time - #23 by coolmantoole the plum curculio didn’t bother it much, in fact not at all on this first small crop, which is a huge plus as the curcs really like both guthrie and odom. Next spring or perhaps this fall I’ll cut a scion and graft it to create another tree, using one of my local chickasaws as a rootstock.
The Guthrie plums are really ripening now. Brix 13 to 17. Productive, despite hard frosts during bloom. Some cracking due, I suspect, to the several days of heavy rain we had last week. Very juicy. Great flavor. Brown rot much better this year, only affecting some cracked or otherwise injured fruit, probably because I picked up every drop the day it dropped and I sprayed Captan twice early in the season. Tree extremely vigorous, having been “summer” pruned in early May and needing it again. No black knot or other diseases. Plum curculio a problem, but not as bad as on the peaches, even though I only used one Malathion spray on the plums., compared to two on the peaches. I tried with pretty good success to selectively thin the fruitlets affected. No black knot, again.
I really believe people anyone in this area who is interested in growing stone fruit should grow this tree. I will have plenty of scionwood/budwood if anyone’s interested.
Nice report. Late cold weather got all my Guthrie along with most all my other varieties.
Do you remember how cold it was? I think it was about 26 that mine survived, though the fruit set was a lot less than previous years, Did any of your plums actually set fruit? All of my plums set some.
I only had a few plums make it through the frost. Most of the ones I have were from late flowers. AU Cherry, Odom, Spring Satin, Fall Fiesta, and Splash. Splash and Fall Fiesta set the most but they each have less than ten each. There is only one Odom but it is getting much bigger than anticipated (golf ball size). These native plums seem to be more disease resistant than the others. I’m in the process of weeding out the ones that are getting Black Knot.
Great report on Guthrie. Can I repost the photo on the Plums for the Hot and Humid South FB Group I manage? Thanks.
Marcus
You are welcome to repost it, thanks for asking. I’ve got a lot of Odom sitting in the tree, I hope to start harvesting them in a couple of weeks.
I look forward to the pictures and the description. I know that you have in the past said that it is sweet but bland. I would be interested to hear how it compares with Robusto. God bless.
Where are you located? Could not find a location in your profile.
I’m in 7b, about 30 miles west of Atlanta.
So, what are the chances of getting decent Chickasaw plums if I grew a Guthrie with no sprays at all in 7B here in coastal Md? Is spraying essential? Would I need to grow a pollinator too? No plums around here.
For sure you would need a pollinator, preferably another true Chickasaw. Wild ones do the best job, but most improved Chickasaws that are not Guthrie and that bloom with Guthrie would work provided it’s not really a hybrid. I imagine that you will have a heck of a time with curculios if you don’t spray at all. The two plums that I know that curculios don’t like are Robusto and any strain of Munson Plum (Prunus munsonia). A Munson plum would never bloom with an Asian or Chickasaw plum, so you would need a second one for pollination. Their plums are cherry size. While Robusto and Guthrie bloom together, I can’t guarantee that they will be cross fertile. I know that Robusto does not seem to be cross fertile with Toole’s Heirloom which is an improved Chickasaw plum that is very similar to Guthrie. Robusto is a hybrid, and many hybrid plums are pollen sterile to other hybrids. It would not surprise me if many Improved Chickasaw plums around today turn out to really be hybrids. That’s why I say a wild type Chickasaw would be the most reliable pollinizer for any improved Chickasaws like Guthrie provided they bloom together. God bless.
Marcus
If you want to try one I originally ordered both Guthrie and Odom from Mail Order Natives in Florida, and was very pleased with the plants, price, and shipping. At the time they also had Odom but I don’t see it listed right now. They resume shipping in the fall, maybe they’ll have it back in stock. If you’d like to take a shot at grafting let me know. I can send you wood from Guthrie, Odom, Robusto, and my native Chickasaw which is small, sour, and yellow. All of these are right next to each other in my yard and I have no pollination issues. The issues I’ve had are plum curculio, a big problem, and brown rot, a small one. I think the brown rot is probably controllable with good cultural practices-removing drops, making sure fruit doesn’t touch, pruning the tree to an open center. The last is most difficult because the tree is so vigorous.
Will Odom and Guthrie pollinate each other or should I get a wild Chickasaw to improve pollination? I have 2 Guthrie and one Odom. This year only the Guthrie bloomed. I planted them last year and really didn’t expect either to bloom . Maybe next year.
You may get to be the person who answers that question for all of us. I don’t know of anyone who just has Guthrie and Odom. Maybe they will bloom together next year and we will find out. However, Odom has a reputation for taking longer to mature than Guthrie.
Marcus