Toka Plum taste like bubblegum? NO

General Fruit Growing
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Never has and never will, at least in my back yard. :laughing:

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Sometimes I get a hint of bubblegum. Regardless it’s a great tasting plum IMO.

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Is it already juicy or mealy? That was my initial response then i left it on the tree and now my picky wife likes it. It should be juicy and sweet. There is a hint of bubble gum.

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I just made a Toka post as well. Ours definitely have that hint of bubble gum flavor this year. If you pick them too soon that flavor isnt as pronounced. They will ripen more once picked, but I think nature does a better job if left on the tree. Depends on if you have to worry about animals getting them or bug issues.

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I planted a Toka this year. But the word bubblegum makes me sick - what a disgusting horrible synthetic toxin to compare to a fruit! Had I seen that term beforehand it’d probably have scared me off entirely. Is there a ‘pepsi cola apple’, or perhaps a ‘microwave popcorn strawberry’ too?

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I wouldn’t worry too much about it. “Bubblegum” flavor means a mixed tropical fruit flavor, often with banana and strawberry in the mix. When the flavor note shows up in natural fruits, wines, beers, etc, it’s a nice subtle touch, rather than the in your face flavor sucker punch you get from artificial flavor blends.

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I’ve had my Toka tree now for at least 10+ years and I’ve tasted a little bit different taste every year. This year is probably one of the largest crop of plums I’ve had and the birds have left lots to choose from.

Maybe I should not expect double bubble gum and think more like juicy fruit. :joy:

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Yes between the birds, squirrels and other pest it’s a task to end up with any getting as ripe as they have. This has been a good year.

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You might like names like Flavor Grenade or Dandy Dapple! :crazy_face:

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Banana and strawberry might be close. I can say, “The Taste is Going to Move You”

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How many toka plums is everyone getting? My toka is aTerrible producer. Grows only a handful of plums each year not enough to bother to put a net over so squirrels and birds get them most. The tree flowers profusely and it’s right next to the Methley plum tree that also has seven different kinds of plums that flower right next to it so pollination should not be an issue. I am putting the tree on notice.

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When I had a plum tree with 17 varieties in it, one of them was Toka. It flowered profusely among other plum and pluot varieties. Toka set very few fruit. It happened like that 2 years in a row.

I removed the tree so the Toka wentwith it. I still don’t know why it did not set well. I know other people have Toka setting well. I figured with 17 varieties, it should have set more than a few plums but it did not. I have no interest in growing it again.

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Thanks for the input. I grafted satsuma and larado to it, so I don’t want to cut it down. I was thinking about adding the earliest plum I can find. Need more fruit early, less now.

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I have Toka grafted and the graft has grown tremendously. Due to late frost I have never had any fruit. Empress seems to be my most successful cultivar.

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I had a Satsuma tree next to it. Some of the varieties that I remember were Shiro, Beauty, Lavina, Laroda, Nadia, Flavor Grenade, Flavor King, Flavor Grenade, etc.

If you want something unique, graft a Lavina.

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I would say for the amount of blooms Toka produces you would think it would break branches every year. Beautiful bloomer for sure. I would say it is average when it comes to setting fruit though.

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I grafted it last year on a peach and grew and flowered a lot. Got about 50 fruits.

The best ones are the soft and juicy one. I can definitely taste the bubble gum.

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Depends on the year. This year in my Ohio area was really good for everything but peaches. Frost hit right at the wrong time for them.

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