Moose,
You may want to rethink grafting WP in your zone. Its flower buds are not cold hardy. I saw it in one of the extension service literature and experienced it myself. The apples are good but don’t think it’s for your zone.
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Steve, I think your apple grafting plan is worth a try. I’ve seen quite a benefit to grafting onto limbs of hardy frame trees, and heard this mentioned several times from other sources. Could be a future possibility with your Adirondack Gold too, if it ever disappoints you flavor wise.
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they are both young trees but after a few seasons of growth i will definitely do some grafting. i just grafted 3 pear varieties to a very vigorous mountain ash growing in my yard. it is a volunteer that sprouted on a old spruce stump 6-7 yrs, ago . its already 12ft tall! be great to get pears from it. plan to put on a few more varieties after these grafts establish.
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Part of our Toka plum, otherwise referred to as one of the Lying Freeloaders. It and its Pipestone partner keep failing to produce fruit but they do look pretty.
(They are likely getting taken out this year or next)
(They are likely getting taken out this year or next)
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I’ve heard they need a wild plum to pollenize them. You might try that before taking out the trees. Or even set a bouquet of wild plum branches near them while blooming. I have had the same problem, so am waiting for my wild plums planted two years ago to start blooming. Maybe next year.
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What about buying this american plum seedling from Fedco.
It probably will solve your issue. Both of your Toka and Pipstone are hybrid plums. This seedling is supposed to help with pollination.
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They have both set fruit, especially the pipestone, but neither has managed to carry more than a handful to ripeness so far.
They are unfortunately in a spot where we are planning a new build and they are too big to move easily so their number is up!
That looks interesting, (as is the whole site!) but shipping plant material over the border can get a bit iffy. They have to come out for space reasons but it’s something to consider if we can keep the one other hybrid I have have. That one has only been in 2 years and may have to go too but I’m hoping to keep it at least.
Yes, unfortunately, most don’t have a Master Plan before they start planting or landscaping or whatever.
What does the leaf structure look like? Perhaps they are mislabeled and are actualy the same plum? In any case they must have excellent root structure for that level of blooms. I would graft over several branches and buy a 3rd plum tree.
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They are very different in their growth patterns and clearly different. The one on the left, supposed to the pipestone, sets fruits more often, but they fall off. What we have gotten, less than a dozen from both, were very tasty.
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when do they fall off pea sized or grape sized?
Finally, my Colette is starting to bloom! So with a 9 year old pear on standard rootstock, do I let this tree set as much fruit as it wants, or do I limit it’s first year production (assuming I get fruit). I know I may need to thin for fruit size, but do these slow to produce pears need to be limited on first year production?
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My Anoka apple has a peck of large marble sized fruits on the ground…it always has lots of drops…doing it’s own thinning, but it still usually doesn’t size up much larger than a golf ball…
But, a month from now, ripe little guys will be falling. Too sour to eat, too small to make pies, and I never get around to making jelly in June.
The Toka tends to lose at peasized or smaller. The pipestone has them fall all the way through the sizes.
I am convinced it’s a pollination issue. I suggest you look into grafting a few hybrids plums to your trees. That should solve the issue.
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I would suggest you graft or plant a Superior plum, another hybrid for cross pollination. Several members here like the taste of Superior
http://uncommonfruit.cias.wisc.edu/japanese-american-hybrid-plums/
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I’ve got Superior right next to my Toka, love the flavor of both and get a full fruit set every year.
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