Hi there, Does anyone know what causes this?:: baby plum stems turn yellow then fall off
My plum tree has flowered and started baby plums. At first, they look nice and green and seem to grow a little, but then. all of the stems turns from green to yellow, and they all fall off. This is the third year in a row, that no plums have grown… I am not sure what kind of plum- probably methley or santa rosa.
Do you think they are getting pollinated? I think they do that if there is no pollinating a be available.
Maybe that is it. Would it still make the little plums if not pollinated?
Yes I believe they do.
thanks Jim, I’ll give it a few more years to let the new plums I just bought catch up then, maybe in a few, one will produce.
I had the same issue with my supposedly self-pollinated sour cherry - full bloom, berries formed, then 90% falls off. It got much better when I got a second cherry tree of a different type.
Methley is self pollinating and does a very good job at it. Many years ago I had one and it was the only plum around. Maybe it is a Santa Rosa. It looks like a pollination problem.
Deb,
That’s a typical sign of a lack of pollination issue.
What are other Japanese plum varieties you have? You want to make sure they are suitable cross pollination partners.
Even self pollinating variety benefits from cross pollination.
I have Methley and although it is self pollinating it has been slow to fruit. Assuming that cold weather is not the problem I also think it is a pollintion issue. I have added so many different grafts Methley only makes up a small part of the tree. After four years this is the first season to have one plum that could fully develope. Cold weather appears to my number one problem.
It is too bad that Euro plums do poorly in the south. Because they bloom here about a week later than J’s they are more rarely hurt by late, hard frost. For a J, Methely seems relatively reliable here, just not as reliable as some E’s. It is by far the greatest sponge for black-knot I’ve ever grown so I’ve stopped offering it from my nursery- there are other just as reliable J. plums.
Do plumcots and pluots leaf out later than most of the J plums? My Spring Satin has not, but this is a new addition. Most of my plums have fruitlets at this point. It will be interesting to see how it performs in zone 8.
Either a pollination or a freeze issue.
Mine is pretty much on the same flowering / leaf schedule as my other plums. Never had any fruit from it as the flowers get frozen back every year.
It sucks for many of you, too bad! An issue worth working on in hybrids. Here today is the 2nd day of the year it hit 50F. And when i say hit 50, it’s exactly 50 out right now. So now we will be at the 50’s for a couple weeks. My trees look normal and will bloom at normal time here, which is May 1st. Buds are just starting to swell.
So all are hardy to take very cold temps, that will change, but it’s rare to get any sub zero days now. All fruit buds look great.
I’m really lucky here to have so many good years. About 1 out of 10 we have problems. So far it’s not this year. They could take the cold right now anyway. It was just 18F 2 days ago. Even my figs didn’t care though, they are so hardened off. All were outside for it. If I don’t put them out now, they grow too early. The garage is perfect for them. Many other plants start growing early but the figs do not, either do the pomegranates. .
