I think the seven gallon will be fine for awhile and yes,it’s okay to repot.What’s going to be the media mix? Brady
@Bradybb thanks! I am going to use Foxfarm K-9 cube. I had some earlier this wk but used it to pot up all the bare-roots I got earlier this wk. I was going to do the 511 mix but have to go to several places to get everything. Using the medium as is but going to drill a few extra holes in the fiskar pots I have. I find that the fiskar pots dont drain very well.
Mine had flower buds also but I cut them off when I cut the scaffolds back. Hopefully I can get good growth this year and allow a couple of fruit next year.
what will be the pollinator for your Nadia? Are you hacking them back to promote growth? Does it work. Do you have a picture of it b4 it was hacked?
Well we all hack them back, well at least most of us to develop proper scaffolds for an open vase shape that is perfect for plum trees. Or peach, nectarine, or pluot. Heading future scaffolds will thicken them up. Plus I myself want a small tree. I don’t want the scaffolds to start branching far out from the trunk. I want to keep it somewhat small.
I have a Santa Rosa plum, and a Satsuma. Next year I plan to graft Shiro and other plums unto the Satsuma. Santa Rosa will pollinate Nadia. Probably Satsuma too. The plum parent to Nadia (Black Amber) is pollinated by Santa Rosa. Friar will also pollinate it
As you know, I am growing mine in a container and there it will remain, I thought to keep it small, one just prune back and maybe root prune every few yrs? So did you just cut back or you also remove some of the branches and can U tell us more about “this hacking” I have to count how many branches I have and maybe you can suggest if I shd hack any back I do have a santa rosa that I bought on clearance from Wallys for $10 last yr. It has a lot of canker on the branches which I cut out and then used rubberised sealant on. Lots of blossoms but not sure if I will get any fruits. I want to have a go at chip/bud grafting later this summer on apples. I have quite a few I can try, As for plums I dont think I have any viable scions.thanks
If I had yours Roundface,I’d pick about four branches that are the farthest apart from each other and pointing in different directions and cut the others off.Pick the ones to save,that have an angle of 45 to 60 degrees if possible.Then cut about a third off of what’s on there and make the end cut of each,just above an outward facing bud.This shortening will help the roots develop better and the top will have a good form to build on. Brady
thanks! I think I know what you mean. I will have a go tomorrow after I re-pot. I think the weather will be nice tomorrow, Wish me luck. I will try to take a before and after picture. Is this done only on plums?
I do it with most stone fruit. Brady
I have I have 10 or 12 Japanese plums so pollinization should be covered. I did prune it back to four leaders and cut them back to try to try to direct the growth on the remaining scaffolds out instead of up.
I do too, except cherries, why this was a good question. Is this a cherry or is it a plum? Since the rootstock is a plum rootstock, I decided to prune like a plum. Cherries can be pruned many different ways. Also one can choose between 3-5 scaffolds. 4 is ideal, but sometimes you don’t have 4 good ones, or five are spaced well.
I also sometimes wait to choose final scaffolds as I may want to see how things develop before I make a choice. For cherries, i myself like the KGB pruning method.
Another question is cherries often produce too many buds near the end of branches, not enough leaf for good cherries there. If on a dwarfing rootstock. Fruit can become small if left… So heading cuts on all branches is a good idea for cherries. 1/3 as mentioned is good. Here though St Julain is not a dwarfing rootstock, so we shouldn’t see this trait on this hybrid.
I took a different approach with my Nadia. Instead of pruning anything off it, I’ve tied it down to train it into the form I want. I’ve done this before, but never with such a well-branched tree.
I was actually about to cut out 2 of the 3 central leaders. But, I tried bending it and even such big branches proved flexible.
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That looks great Bob. I wonder how much more growth you will get by saving all of those limbs. Mine didn’t have much in the way of roots so I’m not sure if it could have supported that many limbs. Keep me updated I will be curious as to how much growth it puts out.
With so many limbs are not some going to shade others? Looks more like a cherry than plum!
I tried to arrange the branches so that none are directly over another, though it is hard to see in the pic. It must look like it took a long time, but it was only half an hour or so. I made sure to make open loops around the branches so that they aren’t girdled when they grow.
I have high hopes for the tree, so it is time well spent. I’ve put it in a prime position- near dawn to dusk sun (maybe losing a half hour at sunrise and 15 minutes at sunset- the pic was actually taken one minute after official sunset) and at the end of the row, next to the driveway so that it can expand in 3 directions without running into another tree, yet close to half a dozen pollenizers.
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Awesome, I’m still waiting for mine. I have a good spot too. It’s the last spot I have! Off subject, but just an update, all the currants took, some looked like the buds died, but they sprouted new canes. All super small, and fragile right now, but alive!
I have a little concern about a pollenizer, I have Satsuma and Santa Rosa, they are new though, and it may be a few years before they flower. I do have a mature 4 in 1 pluot about 70 feet away. I’ll use that pollen by hand for next year, if I need it. Also a White Gold Cherry, I should mark and bag that and grow it out if it takes! I have bags I use for peppers and tomatoes to ensure pure seed.
I think that is what I will do to mine for now. I could not decide which branches to crop because they are not well positioned. Your Nadia have heck of a lot of branches!!!
8 on mine, 3 strong ones are very close to each other in the center, which is why I have a hard time trying to decide which to crop.
I probably will just keep 4 scaffolds myself, have to have a tree first! Still waiting. On my more mature trees the scaffolds expand like crazy, growing in every possible direction, so 4 seems like a lot to me.
Mine came in last week and I set it up as a fan (espalier).
Here’s crossing my fingers.
Mike
Yeah- I count 13 good sized branches. If I didn’t bend most of them down I think it would get way to vigorous. Trained this way, I’m hoping that the horizontal (in some cases pendant) branches will spur up and the leader will continue to grow upwards. Hopefully I won’t get a ton of water-sprouts from the lower branches.