I grafted Empress to my Indian Free peach last year. I figured the peach and plum would ripen at approximately the same time. The branch produced 6 or 7 plums this year. They seem exceptionally large for a euro plum:
Brix was 25 on one, 27 on the other. I need some of my other varieties to start bearing so I can compare. I don’t know if I am going to enjoy plums as much as I do peaches and apricots.
By the way, two Indian Free peaches fell off the tree along with these two plums. 14 and 17 brix. Very tasty. I see why people like this peach.
If you thin them you should always get very large ones where you are with similar brix. Nothing but sun during the growing season, you dog! I’ve never had a prune plum higher that 24 here in NY, and that’s is not the common number- 21 is average, I suppose. However, Tippy seems to consistently get the high brix not far from me and I haven’t a clue why. I grow them at so many sites in and near S.NY. but brix seems to stay below a quarter of a century consistently, but as long as they reach about 22 that is more than adequate.
Great looking fruit! But you don’t seem so much empressed by the taste as you are by the size … What other plums/pluots do you grow so that you compare them to?
This year my Flavor King were sensational, my GeoPride were excellent (the one that I tested it’s brix was 28!), but can’t compete with FK and my Flavor Grenade were very good too.
Alan,
My E plum trees are in full sun. Maybe, that helps. This year, nothing hit 30 brix yet. I don’t think anything will. My Coe’s Golden Drop and Vision have not ripened yet.
My one and only Empress split several weeks ago after a period of frequent rain, also, my Empress ripens earlier than this in my zone 6a.
Talking about large size fruit. Vision plums are as large as Empress. So far, a couple of almost ripe ones I tried tasted good. Hopefully they will ripen by this weekend.
Oh no, not another mis-identified variety? Please tell me you mean it ripens around Mid-Sept and not early Oct.
Here’s the thing, if it doesn’t rain, prune plums can remain on the tree until they become prunes with the brix rising all the while. Years ago we had a very dry Sept and Oct, and the Longjohn plums leftg on the tree long enough to begin to shrivel were extraordinary. They’ve never been nearly as good again.
@alan
Guess what? this Vision blue plum had brix at 30. It surprised me because 1) it was not fully ripe 2), it has a good amount of tartness in the flesh, not the skin.
Most of my E plums, even not fully ripe, taste sweet with little to no tartness to be detected.
Yes, we are fortunate to have very dry summers. The days are extremely long. The only thing I would change if I could would be to make summer a month or two longer. Late fruit like this can be pretty iffy. Last year we got snow in September (sick and wrong!)
Ahmad, to be honest, I am a peach enthusiast. The only reason I have any plums at all is because I read this site close to daily and everyone raves about Flavor King and my wife wants some pluots. So… I figured I need a pollinator - or several which turned into Flavor Supreme, Splash, Geo Pride, Dapply Dandy, and Flavor King…
Then there is a lot of positive reviews of Gages… And some really high brix prunes… People really speak highly of Purple Heart…
You can see where this is going…
I added Methley, Obilnaja, Satsuma, Black Splendor, Early Transparent, Castleton, Kirk’s Blue, Rose Marie, Friar, Luisa, Valor, Mt Royal, Pearl, Reine de Mirabelle, General Hand, Coes Goldendrop, Petite D’Agen, Vision, and Empress.
The worst part is, I don’t think I’m done yet… Hopefully I will really like a couple of these.
They are all grafted to my established peach trees.
The only two that have fruited are Empress and Pearl (29 brix). I thought Pearl was better than Empress, but this is the first year.
Alan, probably not a mislabel? I bet that I am really that far behind Tippy and you. I grafted Empress to an Indian Free peach, figuring they would ripen at about the same time, in early to mid October, and they have. Spring comes rather late here.
How loaded are your trees that are producing this incredible fruit? Are fruit being measured on branches weighted down with crop? I’d love to see a photo of one of your trees loaded with fruit so maybe I could figure out where all that sugar is coming from.
Maybe, as you suggest, it is your greater isolation from moist coastal air. Certainly deficit irrigation increases brix as you and all of us who follow FN well know.
Full sun, light soil, less rain during ripening all play their parts. I don’t even know what specific temps allow leaves to produce the most sugar from species to species. That might make morning and afternoon sun especially important for brix production on hot days, especially for cooler weather fruit like E. plums and apples.
Most of my E plums are from scionwwod grafted on one of my 3 plum trees. Empress is a tiny graft on a lower branch, very bad location. The graft did not grow much.
Vision is grafted on a better location on a tree. This year (3rd year grafted), it set a good amount of plums. So did others but most were gone by now.
I guess besides planting in a sunny area, another advantage is having plenty of cross pollination partners. I have 10 + varieties on 3 trees planted next to each other. My soil is poor, trucked in from somewhere to build this subdivision.
I am in Worcester County, high elevation and about 80 miles from the closest coast. I don’t consider we are anywhere near a coastal area.
Yes, I do … and it’s not only you! I put a list of all the plums that people raved about here, and they are close to 40! If I add nectarines, peaches, apricots, pears and persimmons the list exceeds 120!! I probably need a couple of acres lot to plant these. And I am not going to go close to apples, otherwise I’ll need another acre just for them…
, so here is a tennis ball for a more relatable reference:
… What other plums/pluots do you grow so that you compare them to?
… and it’s not only you! I put a list of all the plums that people raved about here, and they are close to 40! If I add nectarines, peaches, apricots, pears and persimmons the list exceeds 120!! I probably need a couple of acres lot to plant these. And I am not going to go close to apples, otherwise I’ll need another acre just for them…