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Plums

• Message 1. 

  Posted by nannavonna (U14328969) on Friday, 27th August 2010

  Have taken all the plums of my victoria plum tree, Should i leave it
  alone now or cut back or? Been a good year for plums but would like to know what to do next

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• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by Papa Nopsis (U14479902) on Friday, 27th August 2010

  My plums are good but like the year before they have got a vast amount of worm/grub in it so I am not going to bother. They are small Victoria clone so not big and juicy but plums none th eless.
  
  Last year the crop was huge and grub free, so I made 10 gallons of plum wine. this year they will go back in to the soil after I have swept them up.
  
  Pity really. I wonder why there should be such a difference year by year, in the infestation of the crop?

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• Message 3

  , in reply to message 2.

  Posted by Papa Nopsis (U14479902) on Friday, 27th August 2010

  Cut back NOW nannavan. This is the time to do it, in summer when the pruning does not get in the way of picking or any other garden job.
  
  Cut for trusses and boughs, so that hey hang elegantly down with vast numbers of plums on them.
  
  The more the bough bends over the more plums you will get. It is something to do with the diagram of downward Forces on the tree; same with other fruit trees but not espalier as they are fan trained.(?)
  
  Winter pruning of apples though.
  

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• Message 4

  , in reply to message 3.

  Posted by Logissimo (U14020652) on Monday, 30th August 2010

  Agree on thepruning.
  
  Just an additional idea for you gardda, which you probably know already. I've been using pheromone traps for a year or two now.
  
  Although some plums were infested but they fell prematurely and he bulk of my crop of Victorias and Mirabelles are almost completely free of "worm", . The traps were completely covered in the adult (male) moths so there was no shortage of potential infestation and wild plums some distance from the traps were 100% infested.
  
  The traps are not cheap but the fruits are far more pleasant to eat.

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• Message 5

  , in reply to message 4.

  Posted by Papa Nopsis (U14479902) on Monday, 30th August 2010

  Logissimo,
  What do you do with the pheremone traps.
  
  One good year out of three is not really adequate for what is nonetheless a heavy fruiting tree, now all lying to rot on the ground nearly all with grub/worm in them.
  
  I may say that I AM going to take 3galls to complete the ferment, even with the grub present in the mash, but more than that I will not do.
  
  It makes me feel uneasy to think of doing so, although you may say that dicing an apple/plum and removing the grub, THEN eating it, is no different from extracting the juice and purifying the grub out of the drink by alcohol.
  
  What dya' think?!

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• Message 6

  , in reply to message 5.

  Posted by Logissimo (U14020652) on Monday, 30th August 2010

  You need a litle plastic house that hangs in the plum tree then buy a kit which includes a glue sheet which lies in the bottom of the house and a little phial which releases the pheromone over about 6 weeks from end April. You will need one trap for 2 or 3 trees. I think this pheromone works for the bugs which attack stone fruits in general.
  
  For Apples, Pears etc you can use the same little house but a different pheromone is needed for the Codling Moth which I think is closely related.
  
  Initially I bought the house but I now make my own.
  
  If you'd like I can take a photo and post it.
  
  Cheers, good luck with the schnapps!

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• Message 7

  , in reply to message 3.

  Posted by David K (U14115317) on Monday, 30th August 2010

  Cut back NOW nannavan 
  
  Oh pleeese, don't do that!
  Plums should only be pruned in June when they are growing strongly, this is to minimise the risk of them contracting silver leaf disease (I once pointed this out to Christine Walkden, when she was attacking Reg's plum tree).
  
  Try to make the pruning cuts as cleanly as possible, and avoid crushing the wood.
  Finally, seal with horticultural sealing compound to prevent disease entering through the open cut.
  

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