Posted by Bob Hobden on July 12, 2010, 11:41 am
"David WE Roberts" wrote ...
> "Another John"
>>
>> A few days ago I posted a question about what to do about our 3-year old
>> plum tree. No replies that I've seen, so maybe there's no comment to be
>> made ... but on the off-chance...
>>
>> Plum tree is 3 years old. About 4 plums last year. NO plums this year
>> -- but a huge amount of bushy growth in all directions.
>>
>> Question: should I be pruning it furiously right now, while the bushy
>> growth is rampant?
>>
>> [I can't remember what variety it is, but I'd guess that it's a
>> Victoria, since we're not fruit growers as such, and we'd just have gone
>> for the bog-standard favourite.]
> Is there any particular reason why you want to prune it?
> IIRC in the early years you can do minor stuff to shape the tree, but
> major pruning of plums is not a regular thing (unlike, for instace,
> apples).
> Plums are a bit fickle until they get established and a cold start to the
> year can also cause problems with setting fruit.
> Was there plenty of blossom?
On thinking about it we had a late and hard frost around here and that would
have had a serious effect on all early flowering fruit.
--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK
Posted by Another John on July 12, 2010, 4:41 pm
Thanks to all for the answers: seems like the hard winter has been the
problem. (We're in the North East of England here.) We didn't get much
blossom (didn't expect much, as it's still a young tree) but we had
expected a _few_ plums.
I know now that I need to prune it quick while it's still summer, but
only to the extent of shaping it.
And thanks to the great videos at
http://www.articlesbase.com/videos/5min/166434895 (thanks Steve The
FruitGrower) I know how to prune it.
---
By the way: there's a plum tree next door-but-one to us - grows out of a
crack in the ground between the house and the street; it's probably 15
years old now, and has had nothing whatever but _neglect_: it grows
ever heavier crops, year after year after year: tons of beautiful plums.
All the neighbours help themselves, the owners never being around, or
caring, to harvest them. My wife was hoping to emulate this specimen
with our own.
Also by the way: Yes, I know that Google is my Friend, but it's
newsgroups like this where one can get directly to the best advice, and
usually from people speaking from experience.
Cheers all
John
Posted by nmm1 on July 12, 2010, 4:48 pm
In article
>Thanks to all for the answers: seems like the hard winter has been the
>problem. (We're in the North East of England here.) We didn't get much
>blossom (didn't expect much, as it's still a young tree) but we had
>expected a _few_ plums.
No, that's misleading. It's the TIMING of the temperature changes
that is the issue. I have a potentially huge crop, but there were
no frosts after it broke bud, and it was warm and dry while it was
flowering.
They can also crop in alternative years, if they feel like it.
>I know now that I need to prune it quick while it's still summer, but
>only to the extent of shaping it.
Yes.
Regards,
Nick Maclaren.
Posted by harry on July 12, 2010, 3:47 pm
> Howdy
> A few days ago I posted a question about what to do about our 3-year old
> plum tree. No replies that I've seen, so maybe there's no comment to be
> made ... but on the off-chance...
> Plum tree is 3 years old. About 4 plums last year. NO plums this year
> -- but a huge amount of bushy growth in all directions.
> Question: should I be pruning it furiously right now, while the bushy
> growth is rampant?
> [I can't remember what variety it is, but I'd guess that it's a
> Victoria, since we're not fruit growers as such, and we'd just have gone
> for the bog-standard favourite.]
> Cheers
> John
Same problem with my plums, damsons, apricots and apples.
Pears, walnuts OK.
Massive crop of peaches and cherries,
All due to a cold spell we had in the Spring I think.
The other thing is bienniallism. A lot of plums & damsons, you get a
heavy crop on alternate years and very little the other years. Dunno
why.
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>>
>> A few days ago I posted a question about what to do about our 3-year old
>> plum tree. No replies that I've seen, so maybe there's no comment to be
>> made ... but on the off-chance...
>>
>> Plum tree is 3 years old. About 4 plums last year. NO plums this year
>> -- but a huge amount of bushy growth in all directions.
>>
>> Question: should I be pruning it furiously right now, while the bushy
>> growth is rampant?
>>
>> [I can't remember what variety it is, but I'd guess that it's a
>> Victoria, since we're not fruit growers as such, and we'd just have gone
>> for the bog-standard favourite.]
> Is there any particular reason why you want to prune it?
> IIRC in the early years you can do minor stuff to shape the tree, but
> major pruning of plums is not a regular thing (unlike, for instace,
> apples).
> Plums are a bit fickle until they get established and a cold start to the
> year can also cause problems with setting fruit.
> Was there plenty of blossom?