Hello everyone! I have a question about my plum trees. I am in Wisconsin. I moved to a new property 5 years ago, inheriting several fruit varieties - apples, plum, cherry, blueberry.
I believe my plums are Wisconsin Hardy, or American Plum. One of the trees is well-established, about 15-18 feet tall and has produced some plums every year. The one next to it is a cluster of small trees that came up around a dead main trunk (it is still there, about a foot tall, wrapped with the stuff you put on over the winter). It/they have produced more plums every year, about 5 gallons last fall (so many that most of the small trees were touching the ground).
One of the others looks like the fruit-producing cluster, but has never flowered over 4 years, and died off this past summer in the drought. The last one also looks like the fruit-producing cluster (same leaves, same large thorns, same lack of main trunk), but has not flowered a single time over the 5 years. The thickest …sprout…that came up is now about 10 feet tall.
My question is, will this last non-flowering cluster of trees eventually produce, or are the shoots that came up from the root stock just not going to produce? Also, if it won’t produce, do I need it for cross-pollination or since I have 2 trees that DO produce, am I good to rip it out and put something different in its place? (which actually brings up another question, if the heavily-producing cluster came up off the root stock, why is it so prolific?)
Thanks in advance.