As grafting season approaches here in Canada, I’m hoping to identify this plum rootstock with the idea of know what can be grafted to it.
Hopefully the thorns give some indication of what this might be
This stock was a sucker dug up last season from a euro plum of unknown variety.
Caleb,
I would say it’s most likely P americanna, since it came as a root sucker to presumably a mother plant that was also likely P americanna, and it’s character with thornes seems to fit the description. It can serve as a multi variety rootstock for any type of plum or plum hybrid you may wish to grow. It will also proliferate by suckering so if you plant in the ground in several years it will produce its own thicket of new plants if you allow for that.
Dennis
Kent, wa
Thanks Dennis, I had a thought it could be p. Americana given the suckering under the mother tree it came from. There is a few other p. Americana trees on my that serve as pollinators on the property which don’t seem to have thorns like these.
I’ve never seen a myrobalan tree…wondering that’s another possibility.
Hi Caleb,
It’s a possibility but even so it’s likely you can graft onto it any plum or plum hybrid of your choice. I have several types of native cherry plums here that I use as interstems for other plum varieties and to convert my sweet cherry trees over to plum trees. The two I have that serve that purpose are a green leaf cherry plum and and a red leaf cherry plum. I also have a red leaf flowering cherry to which I have grafted several Asian plums, so they are very versatile.
Dennis
Sounds like either way there is some options here, I’ll graft to and see what happens!
When do you have the best results with cleft grafts on cherries and plums?
I usually start cherry grafting just before buds swell and plums slightly later. The optimum callousing temps for plums are around 61f and when nighttime temps hold well above freezing.
Dennis
The Santa Rosa also had similar “thorns” and I just found sources saying it has P. americana heritage. I was always wondering about those plum thorns. Interesting.
