North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[David Ulmer <davidu9999@covad.net>]

Diane,

 

I live in Sebastopol, CA.  Also a cool, dry summer, wet winter area.  I'm about 10 miles from the Pacific coast as the crow flies.  This is a good area for plums and prunes used to be commercially grown just to the east in heavier soil.  I also have sandy loam.

 

My 5 to 6 year experience with pluots is as follows:

 

Flavor Supreme - Super flavor, blooms very early, crops erratically  if at all, only one moderate crop in 6 years.  Had 12 fruit this year on a large, vigorous tree.  Last fruit picked a few days ago.

 

Flavor Queen - Very good flavor.  Blooms midseason, ripens midseason or about with Mariposa or Starking Delicious.  Has been a reliable producer the last 3 years.  Should be ripe in a week or so.

 

Flavor King - Excellent flavor and my all around favorite.  A long bloom season.  Often has an occasional bloom open before any other plum in the orchard but is usually still blooming with Elephant Heart which is one of my latest bloomers.  Also ripens late season.  My trees are not vigorous.

 

Dapple Dandy or Dinosaur Egg - Blooms early and has been hit or miss. This year is the third cropping year.  Good crop last year and 2 fruit this year.  Wonderful flavor, maybe the best of my pluots.

 

I have not tried Flavorella plumcot but I have heard good reports from others in California, not along the coast.  Don't know anyone who has tried it around here.

 

I have 25+ Asian and 16 European plum varieties in addition to the Pluots.  Also 20 apricots in the ground and another 12 grafted this year.

 

I'm still trying to find an apricot that will fruit here.  My total crop this year was 9 fruit on Derby Royal.  Last year 12 on Tomcot and 5 on Peche de Nancy.

 

David