To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] plums
Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2006 22:11:39 -0500
Regarding Thomas Olenio's recomendation of cherry plums; We picked a bunch
of these plums in 1980 in the High Plains of New Mexico, and they were
absolutely wonderful! I figured out that they were some of those cherry
plum crosses, but the books say they get too much brown rot if grown in the
east. So I have never tried them here, nor have I ever met anyone else
growing them. Basically, most of the plums I have seen do well in Tennessee
were seedlings of wild plums. I note that Japanese types are more resistant
to curculio if they can get through the frosts, which is a rare occurance.
I have picked from several blue Europeans and over in the Tennessee
Valley I knew of two places where there were yellow European plums. The
Europeans never seemed to have curculio damage and tended to crop pretty
regular. I got suckers of both types, but they just won't grow in our poor
acid clay. I started out with 5 trees and am down to 3. None have grown.
By contrast, I have another European sent to my by Michael Pavalek in
Mechanicsburg PA on peach rootstock (which I read this winter is an
impossible combination) and the tree nearest the garden has actually grown
some, not that it has actually bloomed yet in 5 years. Michael said that
everyone in his area grew the "German Prune" till black knot came through
and killed the lot. He found one tree that was resistant, and has a
seedling of it too. Peaches do better in our soil, but they have the worst
curculio problem. I have moved one of yellow plums next to the garden where
I hope it will take off. Donna