I have had to thin pretty heavily…I start with the doubles as soon as I can see them, then on to the rest once the reach a large pea size. Of course this is in Southern California, not sure if that makes a difference when it comes to drop.
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I thin 90% off Grenade. But then I start early. If one waits some and maybe a lot will drop by themselves.
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Problem is if you wait too long there is a lot of wasted energy that the tree has spent growing out all of the fruits you thin. I unfortunately don’t have that problem as my trees are young and frozen out this year.
The fruit are much more plentiful this year,could be about twenty.This Pluot may be one that works here in the PNW.
Now,if only they can stay on the tree until late September,without someone or something taking them,I will be happy.It gets kind of difficult trying to hold my breath that long. Brady
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You’ve got me a bit worried about my Flavor Grenade tree. It looks like none of your fruit is blushed at all. There was only 1 left on my tree, but it started to color up (and I remembered that FG doesn’t get much), so I figured it was ripe and picked it. It wasn’t really all that ripe, though it was up to 13 brix, so it was OK to eat, but a bit tart.
Any chance this is a Flavor Grenade, or was there a mix-up with the tree? Based on the brix, I think it must be a pluot. Even my ripe plums this year were only 12-13 brix. Though it is possible that under-thinning contributed to their reduced brix and that isn’t an issue on a tree with 1 piece of fruit.
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The skin is not as “speckled” as I would expect, although different climates …
I just love this cultivar.
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My FG seem not growing much at all. Can I ask how old is you tree?
Thank you Brady.
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I think yours is Flavor Grenade,Bob.I’m going to try and let them hang on to October if possible,at least a few.
Here is another shot,where a slight color is happening near the stem on one.
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Bob,
Your Flavor Granade looks like a pic on Dave Wilson’s site.
It says ripening time is late, Aug 30- Oct 2 for CA,. I wonder if it would it ripen in time in our zone.
I have a graft of it on my Shiro.
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If my Flavor Grenade, purchased from ACN ,is properly labeled then its ripening date falls withing that of CA- which is unusual, given that spring in NY arrives about a month later than in most of CA. They start to ripen about mid-Sept, which extends my J. plum season considerably. Pluots, for all practical purposes, are J. plums to me- can’t sense any cot characteristics at all. What makes them unique is very high sugar while still firm, allowing for the enjoyment of crisp plums and for commercial growers to ship sweet fruit that will last quite a while on store shelves.
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I also have a graftof Flavor King which, per Dave Wison ripens from Aug 11- Sept 2 in CA. My has 3 small very green fruit. At this rate, I don’t think mine could ripen until end of Sept.
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@BobVance, your fruit is Flavor Grenade, 100%. Regarding the ripening time, in my area some orchards start selling FG as early as second half of July (though fruit is still quite firm and underripe, similar to the one on your picture), and the main supply is in early-mid August. I personally prefer FG when the fruit are fully ripe, which means soft — for me the richness of flavor that the fruit develop at full ripeness is much more important than the crisp texture.
Based on what I see at local U-Pick orchards and farmer markets, the actual ripening date in CA is at least one month earlier (please see above). It seems like Dave Wilson’s estimate is quite off the mark in this case.
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I ate one Flavor Grenade yesterday. It was soft. It had small blemish and ripened prematurely. Tasted good enough although not super sweet. My FG crack very badly, I am not sure if they survive without rot.
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I may be one of the few but I actually like flavor grenade before it gets too ripe. When its too ripe it seems too sweet and loses some of its great texture. When it just gets ripe it has that terrific texture and a little tang to it.
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I have some cracking, but not on all fruit. Eastern sun is helpful- does your tree get early morning sun to dry the dew?
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FG ripens here in July and is a lot more elongated than the ones
in the pics. Extremely sweet and crunchy, and requires savoring every bite.
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Gee, that sounds like a lot of work. 
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It is!!
Yes, this one is in the full sun all day. I think it cracked when we had rains after 3-4 weeks of very dry and hot weather.
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There is a science to the timing that causes fruit to crack and it is a science I don’t yet understand. For plums it is usually later rain, but not FG which has some cracking this year from rain more than a month ago. Oullins, which is an early gage plum, is beautiful this year when more often than not it cracks on my tree, which gets some morning shade. Not like it’s been dry lately.
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