Thats funny, mine never crack that way, they always split at the bottoms only.
So far this year only limited cracking on them.
The crows got most of my Euros in the back orchard. I got one ripe Bavay Gage… it was excellent.
I think I bought the same one! This is for Tony. It really looks like a sunset too. My was really good. Sweet in the center, cling and a little ‘zest’ in the skin.
Scott,
I grafted French Improved on two different tree. The one that was under Kootanay cover for almost 4 months suffered serious cracking. It made sense since under the cover, the fruit was protected from heavy rain for a long time (the material was tight for air). When I uncovered it at the end of July, the fruit have been suddenly exposed to harsh element. They exploded.
The French Improved on the tree that was never covered have some cracking but not as severe.
This is @BobVance BobVance’s Not-Valor Euro plum. Usually, it is one of my favorite, sweet and aromatic, but this year frequent rain has made it larger in size but less sweet.
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Beautiful color!
Agree. Euro plums have a variety of colors. A multi grafted Euro plum tree is very pretty to look at when fruit are ripening.
I have Coe’s Golden Drop starts to turn color.
And Pearl turning orange.
More importantly, they taste very good to excellent, more complex and tastier than Japanese plums in my opinion.
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Wow, those are almost like almonds.
Which ones that are like almonds?
I don’t grow almond so I am not sure what plums you compare them to.
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The splits are so bad, they look more like almonds, on which the whole fruit flesh splits off, as opposed to peaches that are meant to keep the skin on the outside and the flesh on the inside.
Sorry, I wasn’t very clear.
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I was surprised that no one posted about their favorite plums in 2022. My reason for skipping 2022 because all of my Euro became biennial. I had only a couple of J plums in 2022 but they were not my favorite.
This year, my Euro have come back in full force. All set fruit very well even on small grafts. I have tried to thin them out as much as I could but I don’t think I have done enough. I sure hope they don’t go biennial again next year.
Re. Cracking. It has rain since the end of June and quite often, sometimes, 3 times a week. There might be only once or twice that we had no rain for 5 days. I started to see cracking on some plums, particularly, French Improved.
Mirabelles are ripening soon. My fear is that they may crack because we still have more rain coming.
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Last year I got no European plums too. And they got hit hard with aphids. This year almost no Japanese plums, but decent set of Green Gage and Mirabelles. Also decent set of Splash Pluot.
We are in drought here. Our summers are normally dry, but this one is exceptionally so.
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What kind of mirabelle is yours?
My Parfume de Septembre (a tree) and mirabelle de Nancy (two grafts) are a big hit among friends and neighbors.
I have a good set of French Improved. I hope I can taste Bavay this year as the graft finally set more than a few plums.
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Cannot wait to see your Bavays. Mine were so good. I have just ordered a Reine Claude Doree I love to cook with them. No sugar needed! The heat really affected my Mirabelle de Nancy this year. Some just shriveled and dried on the tree. The rest are delicious. It is also the worst tree with gummosis. Next year I will have my first Alsace de Lorraine. (It is a common plum here, but very worth growing for flavor). I wish I could grow Damson. Too hot here. Your mirabelles are always sensational!!!
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Their smiling!
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My greengages set very heavy this year. I should have thinned more. It’s been dry all summer and then right as the greengages started to ripen we had several days of rain/tornado warnings/hail. Lots cracked and dropped. Averaged only 18 brix. Still tasted ok but not great. The rest of the week seems fairly dry. About 1/2 the crop is still on the tree. If these can get around 22 brix at least, they should be good.
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My mirabelles look like they are starting to ripen. I don’t remember them being this early, but I could be wrong. I think they are Nancy.
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Nice. My Mirabelle will ripen around the 3rd week of August on.
We have rain again today and for the next 3 days. Not sure how many more plums will crack.
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I’ve got Mirabelle de Metz and Geneva Mirabelle I’m pretty sure. Both grafted to my supposed Green Gage.
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I honestly can’t tell de Nancy and de Septembre apart. They also taste alike, sugar balls.
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