North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Lon J. Rombough" <lonrom@hevanet.com>]

The trick, according to Floyd Zaiger, is to grow the parent trees in a greenhouse where you can maintain constant temperatures.  When a plum is pollinated with an apricot (or vice versa)  the pollen tube grows more slowly in the style of the other species.  Outdoors, cool nights could make the flower abort before the egg is fertilized.  In constant 60 + F night temps and 70 to 75 day temperatures, the pollen tube can grow fast enough to fertilize the egg in time.  So if you want to cross different species, start some in big pots and bring them into a greenhouse for the cross.
-Lon Rombough
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Grapes, writing, consulting, my book, The Grape Grower, at http://www.bunchgrapes.com  Winner of the Garden Writers Association "Best Talent in Writing" award for 2003. 
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On Aug 29, 2009, at 7:44 PM, Steve wrote:



Lon J. Rombough wrote:
> .........................
> ................................
> And while I'm at it, does anyone know of work to breed hardy plumcots? 
> Most plumcots and their descendants seem to be from California work, but 
> there's no reason there couldn't be crosses between much hardier plums 
> and apricots. Perhaps at some northern breeding program.
> -Lon Rombough

I've wondered that myself. I've wondered if it would be possible to 
cross some of my hardy American Hybrid plums with the best of my 
Manchurian apricots.
American hybrid plums are notorious for not accepting pollen from each 
other and only get pollinized by Prunus americana and a few other plums.
My apricots set no fruit most years so doing the cross in that direction 
wouldn't be easy either. I'm certainly not going to try.
A zone or 2 warmer would be a better place to try. Japanese plums and 
some of the hardier "real" apricots. It WOULD be interesting.

Steve in the Adirondacks (zone 3 or 4, depending on natures whim.)
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