Hi guys.
I have looked in the forum search engine, and there are some members who have this variety of plum, but there is no open post, specific for this variety, and I consider that it is good enough variety of plum to dedicate a post to it and we can share comments and experiences about this variety.
It is very interesting to me to see the difference in the behavior of this variety between your country and mine.
The presentation
Starking Delicious Plum
We will start with a curious fact, since Starking Delicious is not its real name, is its comercial trademark.
Its real name is “Johnson”, but it was introduced by the Stark Bro’s nursery of Louisiana under the trade name of Starking Delicious, and it seems that it has the exclusivity of this variety of plum.
I’m trying to find out the origin of the Johnson plum, but I can’t find any references to it, so if any of you can provide some information, it will be very well received.
I’m going to comment a bit on my experience with this variety:
It is a tremendously productive variety, so it is recommended in years of heavy fruit load, to carry out a good thinning to obtain good sizes
The entry into production grafted on mirabolan is medium-slow, entering production around the 7th year
The size is quite homogeneous, obtaining fruits of the order of 100 to 120 grams
It has a very beautiful oval shape clearly differentiated into two lobes
-The external color is dark red in the most insolated part and may have a small shade of green in the less insolated part
Perfectly noticeable lenticels
It is of the clingstone plum type
The flesh of a bright red color
Very high brix degrees, but it has a certain acidity, which gives it interesting flavors, I highlight some notes of strawberry and red fruit flavor
I have a graft with 3 Starking Delicious hanging on right now, but not quite ripe yet. Last year was the first year sampling one, but I let it get overripe and too soft. It had a sweet, mild flavor but I didn’t like the texture due to it being overipe. I’ll try to guess the date better this year, maybe in a week. I did like the color of the flesh, deep red.
Mrs. Gibson, your last message is not very clear.
You requesting cuttings of this variety for grafting?
You live in France , so If you need scions for grafting this variety , you can send me a private message.
Yep, ztom. I absolutely agree with you.
You see how interesting it is to share information.
The same thing has happened to me with this variety of plum some year .
It has “that little flaw.”
So it is interesting to harvest this variety of plum with a fairly firm touch, otherwise the flesh tends to become a bit soft.
But of course, if it is harvested ahead of time to avoid this problem, this plum does not reach its maximum expression of sweetness and flavor.
You have to have good judgment as to when to harvest this variety at its optimum point.
Not mrsg47.
I had 3 adult trees of the Starking Delicious variety ( the photos of the repor, are of mi trees and my harvest) , and now I have 2, this is a very productive variety and with 1 or 2 trees the harvest is immense.
The third tree I have re-grafted from the new Italian variety “Pink Saturn 5”, which is a true plum wonder.
This variety:
Had a Starking Delicious drop today. You can see inside a bit of bug damage, but it didn’t extend very far or reach the pit. This is about the largest plum for my conditions, over 90 grams. Soft and melting, not mushy this time. Some people probably would really like this texture, I like plums a little firmer. Very juicy. Good flavor, but brix only 13. My Redhaven peaches have only been 11-13 this year as well, last year they were 15-16. Must not be as good conditions this year.
I grafted this one to a Nectarine and about the second year,there was a fair amount of fruit.They were good but not great.
The last two Springs though,it seems like Blossom Blight kills the flowers,even when spraying Captan,so maybe there is something else affecting them.
I got my first fruit on Starking Delicious this year. Just a few things to add to the observations of others.
It set about 20 fruit in it’s first fruiting year but I lost all but 2 to hail storms. Seems like it will be productive though.
I planted this tree in spring of 2019, I relocated it in fall of 2021 because I chose a bad location, and it fruited this year 2024 after 5 years in the ground. Seems to be a tough little tree. It was a pretty good size when I moved it.
I agree with other reviews online that it tends towards some twiggy growth. But it doesn’t seem fragile.
I’ve only harvested one fruit so far but the pit was quite small. It matches the other pictures here. Clingstone for sure.
I have a Shiro right next to the Starking that is more cold tender and I’ve never gotten fruit on, but the blooms do overlap well and I think Shiro is the primary pollinator for my Starking Delicious.
Final observation. Japanese beetles hit my plum trees pretty hard, but this one they have never bothered much in 5 years. They much prefer the Methley 20 feet away or the Euro plums.
