Thanks @DennisD yes I have heard even when self fertile another tree is good but the only other space in my yard is grass. I guess maybe I could put one in the lawn but don’t think my husband would like that plan! I was considering getting one and just leaving it in a pot but not sure how long they can stay in pots? Also this year my Santa Rosa literally on blossomed for about 1-2 weeks so I’m concerned it would be hard to get something to blossom at exactly the same time!
@Richard thank you so much you are being very helpful! Good to know re the compost. Why Sequoia bark specifically? And what do you mean you never ‘take’ within the tree ring? And can I assume you let the leaf fall accumulate to add more nutrients and to help keep the soil moist?
I’m also on the west coast in zone 10a, halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. I have had Santa Rosa plums in several places I have lived, mostly the weeping variety. My experience with them is that they fruit very young and so heavily you often have to thin the fruit. It almost makes me wonder if the graft died on your tree and you just have rootstock, or maybe it was mislabeled and is really a different variety that is not self-fertile?
Another possibility–this one is kind of a longshot, but it happened to a friend of mine–it could be the rootstock it is on is inappropriate for your area. My friend bought an apricot on St. Julien rootstock (which can also be used for plums). She has had the apricot for 10 years. It grows and blooms, but never sets fruit. The graft is a variety that usually does well in this area–it’s just the rootstock that is weird. The same variety on Citation is already fruiting in her yard, and she bought that one less than a year ago.
Santa Rosa is the Japanese plum that most people have around here, and it’s pretty much foolproof. I don’t spray mine, or really do anything to it other than prune and pick. The chickens in the back yard take care of fertilizing it, and it gets watered by the lawn sprinklers.
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Typo, should have been “rake”.
Yes, the slowly decomposing sequoia bark + leaf fall mediates moisture evaporation from the soil – a serious problem in our environment.
Note also that my irrigation is by 4 shrub “streamer” heads mounted inside the tree ring perimeter. The goal is to completely soak the basin each time they come on – about 8 minutes with my local 50 psi water pressure. During the summer months this is once a week. I did not operate them at all this year until last weekend.
The “Sequoia Forest Products” brand bark is the best quality for cost I’ve found in our region. It comes in 2 cu.ft. bags. I’ve never seen it at big box stores, maybe at Green Thumb or Walter Anderson Nurseries. The commercial supplier “Nutrien Ag” definitely has it.
Chances are Sally, you could find someone near you who could help you learn how to graft on several likely varieties. Space is limited in most members’ property which is often the incentive to start grafting. You can check the member map to see who your neighbors are and inquire about their grafting skills, or just learn by doing it yourself as I did a few years ago. I have a local grafting partner and we share our good ideas and teach each other what we learn. You have that opportunity on this forum, so just start! You will discover many options you have yet to consider, the door is open to you! Good luck
Dennis
Kent, wa
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@GiddyUp …well after setting 100 tiny plums yr 1 … we got a pretty hard frost and all turned dark and shriveled and fell off 
The leaves looked sad for a week or so but they recovered and it is looking great today.
I planted it with a pollinator Shiro… but my new shiro only had 1 blossom and it bloomed a few days after Au rosa quit blooming.
So I am pretty sure that my 1 yr AU rosa plum self pollinated and set 100 plums… all by itself… i was impressed with that.
I grafted a scion of AU producer on my AU rosa… so next spring there will be 3 in the mix producing pollen.
You might consider grafting on to your Rosa next spring a couple of good pollinators… to help increase your fruit set.
Good luck !
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Now maybe it’s because there are many backyard plums in western San Diego county, but I’ve never seen a Santa Rosa that needed a pollination partner.
I hope so Richard I am counting on them as pollinators for other Asians
Dennis
So I assume that the tree is otherwise growing well? Too well? (possibly too much N).
If so, you might want to spray MPK on it. About 1/2 teaspoon per gallon. Roughly 300 ppm if you have one of those meters. Maybe with a few drops of liquid detergent added for stickiness. I use Dr. Bronner’s ‘cause it’s organic. I did this every few weeks during growing season.
Monopotassiumphosphate is the active ingredient in Gatorade. It is highly soluble highly potent P and K. Reputed to help flowering. The dope growers use it a lot.
I thought it helped on my Mirabelle plum. No way to know for sure.
If you have lots of exuberant growth you want to cool it on the N and almost certainly the P (Phosphorus).
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A reasonable approach in your location but something I’d avoid on Prunus in the southwest.
Why the Southwest?
We primarily supply nutrients to the roots because evapotranspiration rates are high in our environment. Also, our environment is primarily alkaline due to water sources with pH around 8.1. An MPK solution in neutral, unbuffered water is about 10. Nonetheless, it is applied foliar by commercial growers of nuts (incl. Prunus almonds) later in the season along with Zinc chelate to improve crop quality and weight.
K through the soil works too. I’m a believer in real-chemical name ferts so potassium sulfate maybe?
I’m seeing MPK with a PH of about 6.8—pretty neutral.
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For years my Santa Rosa plum was hit or miss with fruit, although it produces a lot of flowers. In my yard, Santa Rosa plums are usually one of the first trees to bloom and I’m not sure if it’s because the tree is in a corner or what, but bees and other pollinators never seem to hang around it. I’ve taken to hand-pollinating the blooms over the course of a week or so and it has increased my yields tremendously to the point where I have to thin the young fruit out.
I used to have the same problem with my passion fruit, the bees were never attracted to it and seemed to prefer the nearby ice plant. Once most of the ice plant was cut back, the bees started to visit the passion fruit on a regular basis.
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I believe her nutrition is adequate. If I were prescribing a formulation sold to consumers it would be water-soluble 20-10-20 with a good mix of nitrogen forms and micronutrients.
If you are measuring the dry salt it should be 7.0, so perhaps it has taken on a bit of moisture. Here it is sold in liquid concentrate.
BTW, I remembered a little while ago that it is also applied foliar (via air craft) to strawberries for crop quality.
I had a lone Santa Rosa in my garden in the Bay Area, I’m not aware of any other plum nearby, I had loads of fruit every year. It’s a mature tree though.
Thanks @CA_Poppy. I’ve tried uploading a picture to show what the tree looks like - having issues but I’ll add it when I can figure out the problem but it looks just like pictures I see online of a Santa Rosa. I was wondering if maybe it’s the clay soil that the tree doesn’t like? (As many plants/trees don’t…)
@TNHunter thanks I’ll definitely try that if all else fails but it sounds a bit daunting for a rookie like me so I think I’ll try other things first!
@kokopelli5A thanks for the suggestion but I don’t think that’s it. I think the growth is quite normal/reasonable. I could always do a soil test though to check!