Thanks Ram. I don’t have space to plant all of them in the ground. With my Lattarula which ripens both breba and main crop one of the challenge is “decisive” pruning. I am thinking going for a variety which crops an early main crop that way it can be pruned all the way and harvest one big main crop. Thoughts which one of these main crop varieties are worth having in the ground.
I sure hope we don’t have any more freezing weather as all my pluots, plumcots, Japanese, and cherry plums are blooming now. Many of them were starting to come out of dormancy already when the cold snap hit in January. I hope they don’t end up being damaged by more cold as I’d sure like to actually get to sample some of my new varieties of plum.
With them coming out of dormancy so early I’m pretty sure there won’t be any bees about for pollination. I bought 20 mason bees yesterday and I hope they can assist with pollination.
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RDB is the earliest and most reliable main crop.
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Thanks, then it could be RDB, does it ripen in August?
Early September here in Seattle area. But has a long season
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I’ve seen lots of bee activity here in the last week on my bay tree, including native bees and honeybees, so I think they are waking up early too this year.
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Its snowing! today in Philomath, no bee activity so far.
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Nearly-melted snowflakes mixed with rain in Portland, elevation here is 245 feet.
Do late-winter chill hours still count? We have been in chill zone range ~20 hours per day for the past week and for days to come.
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If the trees are still dormant then yes. If the blossoms have opened then no. Snowed again today in Philomath.
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My average using Utah units for the week ending yesterday was 20.04 chill units per day, hard to get closer to exactly 20 than that! It was lower using the normal chill hours formula, though.
Yes, a pretty good estimate given my data is daily occasional glances at the weather station.
Pure snow for a while this morning SE PDX. Temperature shot out of chill zone for a few minutes, now back to 41. Averages for the date are 52/37. Precip YTD=15.57"
Hi Devyn,
I have had Ozark Premiere grafted and growing for about 4 years. It grows well here but I do not think it’s self fertile. It sets a lot a of blossoms which are apparently not getting pollinated, so I have been adding other Asians like Beauty and Methly, DappleDandy et Al near by to try to set fruit. Maybe this year it will get pollinated and set fruit.
Dennis
Kent Wa
have we met the 35-38"/year average quota yet?
The 1938-2023 annual average precip for KPDX is 36.90"
Precip for 2023 was 35.75" (97%)
Precip for current water year (1 Oct -to date) is ~ 32", this is significantly above average.
as we have 7 months to go.
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wow, so its just not me who was thinking we had so much rain even for Portland standards.
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Desert King seems to me the most reliable answer to that one.
John S
PDX OR
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Yes, the first tree for any PNW grower has to be desert king. Excellent quality and productivity. And very reliable year after year.
But it only produces a breba crop but that isn’t a big problem for most people.
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I get a fall crop too. It’s not as good as the summer crop, but you can eat them. Up until about 7 years ago, we never got a fall crop. Now we do every year here in Portland.
John S
PDX OR
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That looks like a fly, and I think pollinator.
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