I am considering adding a few new plums and wondering what experience people have with these…are they worthwhile ?..(anything as good or better than a Sapalta chum is worthwhile in my opinion …if it produces decently and has few structural or disease problems…so that’s a fairly low bar…having said that…I am looking for the best plums and already have lots of hybrids.and Euros…but zone 5b a bit iffy for straight Japanese varieties… these are some I don’t have yet…Ivanovka, Hanska and Cocheco. Anyone growing these ?
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I have cocheco. It is a purple leafed plum tree with purple fruits. The past two years of heavy rains have exposed its black knot susceptibility. It has never anchored well but that could be the ground it is in. I really like the fruit. The purple leaves can hide the fruit from the birds somewhat, making them difficult for people to see too. It is mostly a regular cropper for me. It has an upright growth habit that is somewhat columnar on my ground. Leafminers love the leaves so it will require some kind of protectant just like any other plum but more so.
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Thank you swamps !
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I have some Hanska grafts, but no fruit yet. One less common hybrid I got to try this year was Kahinta. The tree was loaded and the fruits were large for a hybrid. I’ve read up on them and apparently they are a heavy and consistant producer. They had a less intense flavor than Toka and Superior, more like an average decent super market plum but softer in texture. Some might like that better. I prefer the spicy flavor of Toka but these are decent. They also have a nice light purple color.
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Thank you…good to know…I just planted a Kahinta this spring !..along with a South Dakota…Superior and Purple Heart…and a European called Yakima.
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I did have a Hanska, but it succumbed to Black Knot pretty quickly.
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Hanska is super vigorous and the small amount of plums I’ve had were, well small. It’s a tiny plum but the flavor is nice.
I’d love to get more of the fruits but I need the pollinators to catch up. It’s outpacing them by a long way.
Here’s another good historical document about Hanska and some other hybrids out of the same breeding program.
https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1107&context=agexperimentsta_bulletins
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Interesting that this beyond cold hardy plum…
is marketed to the south. Its sold by nurseries in FL and TX.
Not marketed or sold to northerners or cold climate folks that i can see.
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I got mine because of a mistake. I saw it at Home Depot and I had never heard of it. They only had one tree. I asked the garden center guy about it and he said it got put on their truck by mistake. I bought it knowing it could either be a mislabel or something interesting. Turned out to be something interesting.
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Lowes says they have 100 of them ready to ship now… also sold at Rural King…
So i reckon we might be able to say that it would probably grow all over the US.
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