Flavor Grenade Pluot

[Richard]

Here’s my Flavor Grenade Pluot on Citation rootstock from DWN, seemingly rejoicing after last week’s rainfall.

[thecityman]

Nice tree. Doesn’t look like you dug one of those neat little pits for that tree like you did many of your others?

[Richard]

@thecityman

Doesn’t look like you dug one of those neat little pits for that tree like you did many of your others?

Actually I did. It’s somewhat hard to discern in the late afternoon light and weeds growing in the mulch.

[bleedingdirt]

What happened to the putting green plan?

[Richard]

@bleedingdirt

What happened to the putting green plan?

I’ll start pouring for it in May

[Richard]

I’m a clean, not so lean pruning machine

[Richard]

@gsims1997

I’m surprised your Flavor Grenade isn’t already awake – It’s only 200 CH. USPP12097 says bloom time Feb 20-27, and I’d imagine slightly earlier for you. I just put one in at the beginning of the month (feb) and it bloomed a week after I stuck it in in the ground.

@bobinoc

My FG is in a more shady spot in the winter and has been later to wake up than my other trees. Not surprisingly, it’s been somewhat of a runt compared to others. We’ll see how it grows this year to decide whether to move it. New trees often bloom early for me as well, as they already got more chill in their growing location than they get in a full season here.

Mine’s in full sun and the bud swell has barely started.

[Richard]

Finally!

[Richard]

[Richard]

This tree has well over a hundred fruit sets this year. A major thinning will ensue in a week or two!

[applebacon]

You’ll have to excuse my ignorance @Richard i cant groq this stuff here. I get a plumcot is a plum/apricot what is a pluot, plum/?. I see you west/southern folks posting them alot but i havent googled it to see.

[Richard]

Pluot is a patented term for interspecific Plum X Apricot.

[applebacon]

Oh ok, thanks!

[Richard]

First ripe fruit of the season

[Goyo]

Great Fruit. For some reason the birds leave it alone. Retains a good crunch when ripe. Flesh is sweet. Hangs on the tree a long time. Sets huge crop. Steer clear if you dont want to thin.

[Richard]

Before and after pruning. I only removed tall and errant whips. Resulting height is about 6.5 feet.

[brownmola]

Crazy, I have a similar sized Flavor Grenade tree and I get a maximum of like 5 fruit a year off of it.

[Richard]

@brownmola

Crazy, I have a similar sized Flavor Grenade tree and I get a maximum of like 5 fruit a year off of it.

In my environment it bears interstem and on fruit spurs. I am following R.S. Martin’s guide for Apricot but heeding the advice for non-top bearers. See the 3 photographed pages at the end of this post:

Katy Apricot in Vista CA

This tree is still in training . Here’s this year’s pruning routine. Before: [Apricot before pruning] During: [Apricot during pruning] After: [Apricot after pruning] Martin’s guide for Apricot: [How to prune Apricot p1] [How to prune Apricot p2] [How to prune Apricot p3]

[subdood_ky_z6b]

Wow, that’s quite a difference. How many fruit do you typically get before and after thinning?

[Richard]

@subdood_ky_z6b

How many fruit do you typically get before and after thinning?

This tree has only been in the ground 4 years and I’ve yet to thin fruit. Last season I harvested less than 2 dozen fruits.