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canadianplant

when does toka plum start to produce?

canadianplant
10 years ago

I purchased a toka plum in 2012. I trimmed it down by almost half when planted, then removed a smaller bit last pruning season. There are no other japanese plums in the neighborhood, but there are a few ornamental plums and two nanking cherries across the street.

Im just wondering when i can expect it to produce. Im sure the pruning i did set it back a season or two, and the fact that there arent any proper pollinators around doesnt help either. Right now I am trying to find the native plum (prunus nigra) to help with pollination and fruit set.

Comments (5)

  • swampsnaggs
    10 years ago

    This will be the third leaf of the toka plum on my property. I got a few samples of toka plums from the tree last fall but not a big crop yet. The tree has a strong growth habit on my property which required summer pruning to keep the tree from blowing over in the wind. It seems like plum trees take a little longer to bear than peach trees.

  • canadianplant
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Mine will be in third leaf as well. I did see some small fruit last year but the tree had some aphids, im sure that didnt help it too much.

    You have any japanese hybrids for pollination swamp?

  • swampsnaggs
    10 years ago

    I have a methley, santa rosa, shiro, simka, waneta, and cocheco, and now ember and grenville and kaga. You may have native plums in your area but it is good to have a pollinator closer to your toka, which is a very good pollinator for other hybrids. I don't know if the ornamental plums will pollinate toka, nor do I have any idea which hybrid plum caused pollination of which but native plums are supposed to be the best pollinator. I got interested in plums when I found that I could manage their problems much easier than cherries of any kind.

  • JesseSt
    10 years ago

    I got a few plums on my Toka last year which was it's fourth in the ground. Vigorous grower! Nearby are Santa Rosa and Burbank, which seemed to have overlapping bloomtimes. Prunus Americana is recommended as a pollinator for hybrid Jap/Amer plums. Easy enough to graft a scion or two into your tree.

  • canadianplant
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I agree that the native prunus nigra is the best pollinator for any japanese hybrids. The university of saskatchewan did quite extensive testing to figure this out... They deduced that while the hybrids my pollinate and help fruit set, they also fail compared to P nigra.

    The good thing is I am at or close to the most northern population of P nigra. I have talked to a few people and they have seen them, but of course cannot recal where lol. Only one person said that she knows where they are and of course the area has slipped my mind. I wouldnt mind grafting a branch or two, but I am more interested in grafting one or two euro plums on it that are generally self fertile just so I have something to harvest.

    The best part is that P nigra is said to be somewhat shade tolerant, which means placement of it is much easier, even better seeing as i would most likely collect scion and seed from here, I know its full blown hardy. On the other hand, like jesse has said, one or two branches would be more then enough to help assist pollination....

    I guess this would depend on finding said trees lol. They are hard to find for sale. The only place I see is a mom and pop nursery from quebec, and they are usually sold out it seems.

    I do know that me pruning like I did will definitely affect when it will set fruit. I do also know that having additional pollen, P nigra or another japanese hybrid will help anyways. Im just playing with ideas in my head

    Thanks for the input so far

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