That’s interesting, my two year old grafts have fruited but not on thorns like those. Let’s ask @Vincent_8B. Does your mature Sweet Treat exhibit thorns on main branches?
Dennis
Kent, wa
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Those are modified stems. Otherwise, I’ve no experience with the tree.
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If these are fruiting spurs (sure look like spurs to me) Do not remove them. If you clip the spurs all wood from that point will not bear fruit if you prune the spur off. At least that is what I have heard. All my plum trees have spurs. It’s usually where a cluster of plums will grow. I would definitely thin fruit in these areas. Spurs help me to prune. Usually they develop on two year wood. And any two year wood without spurs can be removed without lowering yield. I prune my trees to remain small so cutting back far at times lets me renew wood. The spurs help guide me on what wood to leave and what to remove.
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Apricots are notorious for producing fruiting spurs that can impel you.
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Some prunus rootstock has thorns also, I know one of my rootstock will produce thorns I think it’s wild plum but I don’t remember. But those don’t look like the thorns I’ve seen appear on mine those I agree look like spurs
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If those spurs quit growing, they quit fruiting. They die when they quit growing. At that point cut them off.
I’d rather see a vegetative bud at the apex. Hopefully they grew this year and have flower buds. I don’t see many flower buds on the spurs, but maybe there are some.
Here are some stone fruits on K1, a very dwarf rootstock that really spurred up for me I think in the second leaf.
Training high density trellised pluot and apricot, my plan - General Fruit Growing - Growing Fruit
Look at the spurs on those plants in the top picture…!!
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Wow! A great candidate for espalier or even columnar pruning
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I think this is important. The OP’s spurs to me aren’t normal fruiting spurs. Those are more like short limbs. Most fruiting spurs aren’t as beefy as those. They’re more fragile with more fruiting buds.
I’ve seen the OP’s type on my trees, mostly apricot I think, but not often.
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Well no matter what they are we answered the OP question.
Yes it’s normal.
I have seen definitions of fruiting spurs to be short shoots. The terminology makes it confusing.
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I typically see these thorn like branches form when new growth is so vigorous that secondary branches form during the same growing season as the primary branches they sprout from. Because they start later in the season with engergy split between more growing points they end the season at more of a thorn size.
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Ok, this opinion is based on personal observations in my orchard (with other plums and pluots); these are fruiting spurs that for some reason (lack of nutrients, high disease pressure, insufficient growth time after they formed, etc.) didn’t fully develop and they transform to thorn like structures. Most of them will probably die over the winter. Try to figure out what stresses your tree had this year and fix them in the next growing season, so that you don’t end up with the same.
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@DennisD
Hi Dennis. My Sweet treat Pluerry seems not much thorns on them. Today pictures below.(12.20.23)
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Thanks @Vincent_8B for sharing your tree’s picture. When I compare the two it’s difficult to see similar characteristics. I would expect the bark color and the branching distribution to be very similar. We know that Vincent has the true Sweet Treat variety because I have seen his tree have and taken scions from it and got the correct fruit from my scions. You might want to do a couple of things to verify what you have if you still are in doubt:
- Compare your foliage next spring to a known source and
- Check with your vendor to inquire if they sent you an improperly tagged tree.
Good luck,
Dennis
Kent, wa
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@DennisD
Below the pictures one of my seedling cherry plum, (from Very cherry plum seed) has a lot of thorns.
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Wow,
Indeed it does! Can you recall if those thorns that appear to have bud have produced fruit? The character of this tree seems very close to what Nick’s tree looks like.
Dennis
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Vincent,
Has your Verry Cherry seedling produced fruit yet?
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@Bradybb My cherry plum seedling had not ever developed fruit yet. Every year after bloom time a few weeks its fruitlets started dropping all.
@DennisD i don’t know because my tree never fruit yet. But all thorns had bloom so I think they could carry fruits as a small branches of the tree.
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That’s encouraging! It will be interesting to see how it produces. Did you plant a seed from store bought fruit?
Dennis
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Hi Nicholas,
This morning the weather cleared here so I could get a good pic of my three year old Sweet Treat graft. It actually resembles your pic and has similar growth habits, so I was mistaken about those thorn looking stub branches. Perhaps yours is what you think it is after all. Once it fruits it should be easy to confirm, just thought you might want to know I was wrong about my comments. Here is my Sweet Treat graft I got from Vincent. Once it leafs out in Spring I can send you a foliage comparison shot. Take care and Merry Christmas
Dennis
Kent, wa
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