I need suggestions for disease resistant stone fruit varieties. Any type is okay and if you could also link a source that would be much appreciated.
The only one I’ve grown that was worth the space it occupied was Chickasaw plum.
Do you remember what varieties of plum you have grown before? Just so I can stay away from them.
I have a Bruce plum that does exceptionally well for eastern Kentucky. I believe it is a Chickasaw and Japanese plum cross.
Green Gage (was not as labeled… produced a few purple fruits after many years)
Also, early on, before I knew any better, I purchased some of the AU plum selections (Roadside, Homesite, Rosa) from TyTy… as far as I can tell they were just nondescript ungrafted plum seedlings that never bore fruit for me - pretty much on par for TyTy, except that they were alive.
Had a couple of OIKOS seedling beach plums, one of which fruited well, the other did not…however, the fruits were tiny with a very thin rim of pulp surrounding the pit. Had a row of row-run P.americana that I bought for use as rootstocks… they were singularly unproductive here.
Apricots & pluots break dormancy far too early here and always got nuked by normal (not late) frosts/freezes. Peaches were a waste… if you’re not gonna spray for PC or brown rot, don’t bother… even in years when I got a halfway decent crop, no one here would bother to pick them.
I’m a 'plant ‘em and see what produces’ type… I do no sprays, no fertilizer, minimal to no pruning. If you want to put in a modicum of work/care, you may get much more production than me… but I care little for stonefruits or apples, so I was disinclined to invest much in them from the outset.
Chickasaws can get black knot, but its not been a major problem for me. PC hits them, but other than a single little drop of clear goo there’s no real fruit damage, rarely encounter brown rot on them, but some years there is some.
Are you going to have at least a minimal spray schedule? Or are you going no spray. If no spray then I have to agree that Peaches are just a big waste of time in our climates.
I don’t have experience with chickasaw plum but I have seen several people advocate for it in a humid minimal spray setting. I think @coolmantoole grows several heirloom varieties of it in humid Georgia. His youtube channel has some good vids on wild plums. https://youtu.be/UVm5L5Qdv2o?si=ZusLlBdBZM0KqHkR
He also has a very informative thread here on them that has lots on interesting history. Enjoy.