Pluots and plum crosses in the Willamette Valley: more info needed
Some successes, but more frustrations are experienced by gardeners in our region with this stone fruit.
Cliff notes:
-Not many gardeners are growing pluots in our area… lots of frustration, a few successes.
-The variety Splash seems to reliably set for a few of us here, and a handful of favorable reports for Flavor Grenade
-Be sure to familiarize yourself with the issue of bacterial canker on stone fruit in order to protect your tree when the disease does pop up. Bacterial canker is likely to infect the trunk of your tree at some point, making your tree short-lived.
-These are definitely not the tree to rely on for fruit production, but rather, a very tasty surprise treat when they do fruit!
Have you ever had a pluot? If you have, chances are you’ve had the same experience I did - absolutely amazing flavor. Super sweet and tart, kind of like really good citrus or nectarine, but a flavor all on it’s own. Occasionally they are only so-so - I’m not sure if that is a variety thing or a growing issue. Often the varieties aren’t labeled - so it isn’t easy to know which varieties are the good ones.
About 5 years ago, I purchased a 4x1 pluot tree to try out the various flavors. Unfortunately the Flavor Grenade scion died off. Geo Pride and Emerald drop flower profusely, but rarely set fruit. When they do, the fruit is outstanding. Last year I got one fruit from each scion. They are so good that I would keep them solely for the single fruit they produce, but, I wouldn’t rely on them for fruit production.
Splash is the other scion on that tree, and for the last 3 years has been setting fruit consistently. This is a bit surprising considering last year there were several late spring frosts that damaged a lot of developing fruit. I like the fruit a lot, not quite as much as I like the other two varieties, but it is really very good.
My tree does fairly well in the bare minimum of full sun, located not far from a stream. As such, it doesn’t get much supplemental water and does just fine.
I’m interested in finding out how other growers in our region are faring with this fruit - considering whether I should add more trees at some point.
Pest and disease issues:
So far, I have not personally experienced any pest or disease issues on this tree. I have not heard other growers having pest/disease issues either.
However, stone fruits are incredibly prone to bacterial canker in particular in our region. It is worth looking into how to try to protect your tree against this issue as it can infect and kill off your entire tree. Don’t prune during wet, cool weather (summer prune only), protect the trunk against sunscald, and prune out any infections to prevent spreading (if possible).
There are also preventative spray schedules, which I have yet to use. I’m not crazy about the idea of introducing fungicides and bactericides on my property, especially since I grow mushrooms and do harvest the occasional morel throughout my garden. We shall see how I fare without using preventative sprays, I will report back.
What do other gardeners have to say on the topic? I took another poll across all of the gardening forums that I could find in the Willamette Valley. Here is what gardeners have to say about pluot and plum crosses:
DB of GOM has a plumcot tree. Super delicious fruit, but sporadic and unreliable.
SB had the same 4x1 that I do. The Emerald Drop and Geo Pride did not fruit for him. Splash has been pretty consistent, and now he has 3 stand alone Splash trees. Flavor Grenade does OK, and he uses one tree as a pollenizer for Splash. He gets fruit from it sometimes.
EA of HWOTGPA said she had 3-4 pluot trees. They bloomed every year but had no pest or disease problems. At 10 years, they yielded maybe 5 fruits per tree. She does not recall variety but purchased from Trees of Antiquity. She’s at 330 feet elevation, windbreaks all around, slight southern slope, 3/4 day sun.
JE of OCG had a huge pluot tree that blew over in a wind storm. She said the fruit was delicious.
LSF of SOGG has a small pluot tree. She thinks deer may have gotten to the developing fruits last year.
MK from GIO says she has Summer Delight Aprium on Citation, and this is the first year it has put on buds. She was given a Flavor Grenade from a grower who used the tree for grafting, and that grower said Flavor Grenade always puts out a ton of fruit for him near Scappoose.
Other Queries:
I asked the Home Orchard Education Center if they have any general feedback on growing pluots, best varieties, etc. They have little knowledge on the topic, and said that like with many plums they tend to bloom too early to be reliable producers in this region.
I asked my Clackamas County extension office for feedback on this topic via email. I have not heard back.
Nursery feedback: per usual, a disclaimer. This is definite conflict of interest area in that the nurseries want to make a sale from the conversation. Take this info with a grain of salt.
Dave Wilson Nursery: is a major supplier from California to nurseries throughout the country. I sent them an email asking if they have specific feedback from growers in our area of the Willamette Valley.
One Green World: simply listed some in-stock plums that they feel perform well in the region. Stanley, Italian, and Plum Parfait available for purchase today. I sent an email back clarifying that they know other gardeners in *our area* who have done well with Plum Parfait. Response: Thank you for following up. The Plum Parfait is not noted to be one of our tried and true PNW fruit trees but should do fine in our region. The other two cultivars have been tested, tried and true in many trials. We hope this helps. Side note: incidentally, I happened to stop by OGW on the same day to pick up a Brooks plum tree, which they had plenty of in stock. If they were going to offer info about other plum trees in general that were in stock I’m surprised they didn’t mention this one, considering how well it is known to do in our region.
Raintree: said pluots don’t do that well as far north as they are located, so they don’t have much personal experience — but Flavor Grenade seems to be the best for them. She encouraged me to reach out to the extension office and try to find local growers who have more experience than they do in the valley. It is worth noting that Raintree has given me consistently solid and honest advice.
Any feedback on growing Pluots in Willamette Valley or nearby areas is definitely appreciated!
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My pluot experience was sad. I had a 3-in-1 grafted tree. Graft 1 failed the first year. Graft 2 the second year. And the whole tree died the third year.
Re: plums in general. I have three Japanese plums - Shiro, Elephant Heart, Santa Rosa. Adding mason bees to my orchard has improved the fruit set on these early bloomers. I should have a bumper crop this year - peak bloom at the same time as a stretch of warm weather to wake up the bees. Even if it rains now, the mason bees will continue foraging and pollinating.
I've also noticed that European plums in general tend to do better as they bloom later. My Japanese plums are in full bloom right now, while my Blue Damson has barely had any bud swell. That would explain why Brooks (a European variety) does well here... and why pluots don't, as they're usually hybrids of Japanese plums.