North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["MARIE ASHTON" <bwoodtx@verizon.net>]

Bill,

 

You asked  - "This year, the second year from planting, one of the trees - the "Flavor
Grenade" - started blooming April 4, just in time for a cold snap. The
low temperature that night (the official low at the airport, so it might
have been warmer in my yard) was 23 degrees F, but it didn't seem to
hurt anything. The tree was a mass of blossoms, and it set on a ton of
fruit (I've had to thin them heavily). Oddly enough, the other two trees
didn't start blooming until 11 days later, and I was worried that this
one wouldn't get pollinated. But the blossoms lasted for quite awhile,
and I DID see lots of honey bees around them this year. (I've also got
Japanese-American plums on the other side of the yard. Perhaps they can
pollinate pluots? Does anyone know?)

 

Here is the entry from my book Plums of North America -

"

FLAVOR GRENADE (Pluot®) – Skin: Yellow with red blush, Flesh: Yellow, Ripe: Late, Taste: Good, C/F: Semi-freestone, Fruit Size: Large, Shipping: Good, Tree Size: Large.

           Developed by Zaiger’s Genetics, Modesto, California and introduced in 2001. P.P. 12097, September 18, 2001. A cross of Zaiger’s 7HC244 (Mariposa x plumcot [Red Beaut x plumcot] and Flavor Queen plum.

           The fruit average about 2 ½ inches in diameter being slightly elongated in shape. The average fruit weight is 120 grams. The skin is yellow with a red blush; glabrous. The yellow flesh is very firm, crisp and very sweet, attaining 22 brix. Semi-freestone. Ripens the first week of August in California about 15 days after Flavor Queen. The large tree is vigorous, upright growing and a heavy producer. Self-infertile, needs a pollinator. Blooms in early mid-bloom season. Chilling requirement of 600 hours."

 

As you can see it is self-infertile (this information comes from the breeder Zaiger Genetics) so it must have been pollinated by your Japanese-American plums as most Plumcots (Pluots) can be pollinated by Japanese plums.

 

Regards,

Richard Ashton

Oak Creek Orchard

www.oakcreekorchard.com

bwoodtx@verizon.net