I wondered what yall here have experienced or read concerning hardy plums.
What varieties do yall favor?
And are my findings right?
I have read that Euro plums bloom significantly later than Asian or Hybrid, is this true?
I have read that most Euro plums are bad for lots of disease, black knot, brown rot, etc…
I have read that President, Bluebyrd, Kenmore(NY9), and Honeysweet are very disease resistant, have yall experienced this?
I planted President and Bluebyrd and am after Kenmore and Honeysweet Scion if i can find it…
I read that Damson is more resistant than some, is this true? I hope it is, i bought some on clearance and hope to graft Kenmore and Honeysweet to them…
Anyway, what are yalls thoughts of the above?
Any other disease resistant varieties?
Hello! I only have five plum trees for 10-15 years now, so take my experience for what it might be worth. To me, any fruit I grow is about taste, color and heritage. I have never been a Japanese plum lover. All of my plums are Euro. They take longer to bloom, need more care (so it seems, all of the diseases you mentioned affect all of my euro plums, you left out canker!). They are sprayed and pruned carefully. All that being said. I love the flavor of euro plums. The Italian and French plums are my favorites. The more unusual the better. My second spray of copper with a sticker will take place this February, my month for heavy pruning. I have the Italian prune plum, great for baking and drying. Mirabelles, one for eating fresh, two for baking and jam. A Reine Claude de Bavay, a green gage from France that has plums that are roundish oval, more round and packed with sugar. A pity to cook them. I eat them from the tree. All of the trees have had black knot, only the Italian prune/plum has had brown rot, all have had canker. I lost my first Bavay to Borers. That is the worst insect of all when it comes to planting a new whip or up to two year old tree. They are so vulnerable. If you do not want to spray, like I did not in the beginning, borers were my worst enemy. The rest came later, but they came! Every year they send up new shoots/branches that can be as long as five feet, or more. Pruning is essential. Fruiting is another issue with Euro plums. My first plum, took seven years to bloom and hold fruit. From then on, the tree has given me plums every year since. The amount of plums seems to be based on my pruning and spring frosts. Most frosts or late snows do not deter my plums. Hope this might help.
Glad you posted this request. I would in particularly be interested in plums that bloom later. All my plums and pluots bloomed within the same week last year and the cold weather reduced my crop considerably. Do any plums have a later bloom time?
I have read that Japanese plums are the earliest bloomers and that Europeans are the latest so much so that they can’t pollinate because of bloom time. And the hybrid plums and plouts i believe are Japanese based so i am suspicious of their bloom times even though many of them have better disease resistance they say…
In european plums, there is some bloom time variation, so i hope to get stuff on the later side of the european bloom time spectrum, late bloom is a must in kansas, but to me disease resistance is a big deal also. I think the 2 euros i have as well as the 2 i am after are in group 3 so on the later side of euro hopefully. I wish there were more with disease resistance, which there may be, i have read that Jefferson and Seneca may be partly resistant, they are in pollination group 2 and 3 respectively. Also Castleton and NY6 may be partly disease resistant and are bloom group 3. From what ive read. But they say Honeysweet is the best and is genetically engineered to have those disease resistances, it’s the one to get ahold of! But any euro bloom or disease resistance success experience would be great to hear about!!
I’ve read that Toka is very disease resistant it’s a cross between American and Japanese it has a bubble gum flavor which is unique.
I have never grown Japanese plums, only European.
I have Marjorie’s Seedling a Euro plum which is supposed to be quite a late bloomer (group 5), self-fertile productive and reliable, and disease resistance is said “excellent” especially to silver leaf and canker. I think it’s pretty hardy.
Hasn’t fruited for me yet, but it’s def the latest plum of mine to leaf out.
@mrsg47 I know you used to live in my neck of the woods and could provide some expert advice for me.
I bumped into this older thread, and I found it to be very helpful. I have a French Plum from Trees of Antiquity arriving in the Spring. I selected it mainly for its self-fertile capabilities, since I was planning to start with 1 plum variety. It will be part of my new mini orchard that I’m just starting. Eventually I will graft it with other cultivars.
I was wondering what the best possible spraying schedule would be, without any regard to expenses. Ideally I would love to use similar products for my apples (WineCrisp and Roxbury Russet), peaches (Redhaven and Snow Giant). The rest of the trees should be ok with no spray (mulberries x2, JT-02 persimmon and Hosui Asian Pear).
I appreciate any help you could provide.
Marco! Great to hear from you. At this point I suggest you as Mamuang. She lives closer to you and she grows plums; Euros and Japanese. She uses an excellent spray schedule.
My Euros were excellent in taste, but took way too long to bloom and hold fruit ( seven years - five years). They were all great for about five years, then the fungus took over. They were all riddled with Canker and Black Knot. I did get the Canker under control with Indar. Black knot took the joy out of growing plums. I loved my mirabelles and bavay’s best. So sweet and fragrant.
Mamuang might suggest Surround, which is an excellent product.
I was looking into Luna Sensation or Experience as a fungicide. According to data, Luna Sensation is one of the most effective:
I definitely need to connect with Tippy for a complete rundown for what to buy, when to apply it and anything else I should be doing going forward. I invited her to help me with a good plan for my planned mini-orchard: Final 2023 Zone 6B Mini-Orchard Plan in MA
@PaulinKansas6b ---- you asked this…
…
I have read that Euro plums bloom significantly later than Asian or Hybrid, is this true?
…
I tried Jplums many years ago and they bloomed way to early here (mid Feb) and we hardly ever got fruit from them because of that. They both died in year 12 and 13… several years ago and I never replaced them… because of the (hardly ever got fruit issue).
I read that Eu Plums bloom quite a bit later… and I bought two and planted them in the spring of 2018. As of last spring… they still have not bloomed or set fruit.
The main branches are loaded with what looks like little fruiting spurs, but so far nothing.
I will not plant EU Plums again… don’t like waiting that long for fruit. I expect we will sell our current home before I get any fruit from these… unless they possibly produce some this year.
Perhaps this will be the year ??? I have been thinking that for several years now.
My two Eu Plums are Rosy Gauge and Mt. Royal.
This spring I decided to add J Plums back again and give them another try.
I planted AU Rosa and Shiro (at our future new home location).
These are not reported to be late bloomers… but Shiro is reported to have quite frost hardy blossoms… known to fruit even though you have late frost. I think it was Scott that reported that his fruited some after 16 degrees during their bloom last year.
I hope that works for me… we do often have warm ups late March…followed by a mid to upper 20 something degree frost in early April.
PS… while looking for details on Plum bloom times I found this chart from a local (In the State of TN) Nursery.
Scott saw this chart and commented that it confirmed what he thought… that most J Plums bloom about the same time. In their chart Gold Plum is reported to be a +5 of Santa Rosa (their base for the chart).
AU Rosa blooms same time as Santa Rosa and 2 days after Shiro. Should pollinate well.
That is if our dang late frost don’t wipe them out.
TNHunter