I hope mine gets like that. I planted it from a pot in the late winter. It was pretty big for potted tree. Maybe 1" diamted at the bottom. It was totally covered in flowers. They all turned in to tiny plums and turned yellow and died I thought it was pollination issue. So now I bought a shiro and a satsuma.

Looks nice Ray! I wish my SR would set like that. Some years it does but this year I have about a tenth as many fruits on my tree. I have many pollinators so I think its just the spring weather.

Scott

Up here in 25 years Ive never seen SR set like that. Would the fruit be better if you thinned more or does it get full sugar with that much fruit? You have a different sun than I do, and I can't leave that much. I thin to about 8" with larger J. plums these days.

This year the set of SR was as light as I've ever seen it. It is strange because in my orchard I have a full set of Elephant Heart for the first time on a 12 year old tree but just a scattering of plums on SR. Earli Magic is a quite light also, which is probably related to SR. This is the first time EM hasn't needed thinning.

Looks good Ray, your tree is growing fast! I planted mine in 20012 from a pot and it still looks like a fern. The same with my Satsuma. I like how nice you have made the ground mulch around the trees. What do you mulch with?

Thanks guys for the comments. To try to answer your questions. i don't thin plums at all. It would be too big of a job. I have trouble enough thinning the peach trees, besides plums will naturally abort some of the fruit. Personally, I don't like the taste of SR, but all of my neighbors do. Since they all tell me how much they like the fruit, it must sweeten up, without thinning.
I mulch all of my trees with pine straw and replenish it every year. I have 6-8 foot wide rings around every tree and spray Round Up on any weeds that pop up.

One thing that I have learned from this forum is the magic that diluted urine has. I feed a diluted gallon of it every week, during the growing season, to all of my first year trees. They get no other food. A 30 inch whip planted in January will be 7-8 ft. tall and fully branched by the end of the first season. It works great on anything(blueberries, camelias etc.) and best of all it's free.

I have an Santa Rosa & an Au Rosa but that won't bear til next year.

What I wanted was the same type that was growing in all those yards in Switzerland and Germany but I don't know the type. Those are good for eating and baking. Anybody know?

"What I wanted was the same type that was growing in all those yards in Switzerland and Germany but I don't know the type. Those are good for eating and baking. Anybody know?"

A purple plum? There are many different European plum varieties, but one that is noted for cooking is called Fellenburg, I think. Also, if you download the Raintree catalog linked below, look up the Italian Prune, Ersinger, Prune D'Ente and Pozegaca plums for some that might be similar types, native to a variety of countries. Most of the regions of Europe have their own favorites.
* Note I linked the Raintree catalog only because I have seen those varieties there, not out of some commercial interest.

Here is a link that might be useful: Raintree catalog

If the plum is capable of getting higher sugar and would be improved by it, thinning is the ticket to the best plums you can grow. It isn't even just the sugar, but acids and everything that provides big flavor is pumped up when more leaves are working for each individual fruit.

How about you thin the fruit to 6-8" on a single scaffold next year as soon as you can see which fruit is set? Have one of these folks who are very impressed already sample thinned and unthinned fruit. If they vastly prefer the thinned, you can ask them to thin the whole tree the following year in exchange for a half a bushel.

Great idea Hman, but my neighbors aren't exactly connoisseurs of superb fruit. To them free plums are free plums.
I did eat one the SR's yesterday and I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised at how good it tasted. Usually SR turns my mouth inside out, but these are really good plums, so the sugar is definitely there without thinning.
I think it has more to do with the maturity of the tree. The more mature the tree, the better the fruit. I find that to be true with any type of fruit tree.
I almost removed the SR last year, because the fruit was so bad. But I kept it because of the superb fruit set that it gave my AU Rubrum. I just finished picking the Rubrum yesterday and I harvestted a total 128 lbs from that one tree. Now I'm glad that I kept it. It's a nice taste variation from the Rubrum, and an excellent pollinator.
I just planted a Black Ruby plum along with 3 pluots and a plumcot, and I expect the SR to do its magic on those trees in a couple of years.

Ray where in SC are you located and what and when do you spray? I had a SR plum but never got one single fruit before ambrosia beetles killed it. I have a 2 in 1 flavor queen and flavor supreme pluot that has given me one fruit in 4 years of blooming, I can't seem to get them pollinated. My leaves also get shot hole bad. I spray kocide in winter and captan and immunox in the summer. I have 3 apple trees that give me zero problems but I can't produce a plum to save my life.

At any rate, congratulations on the success of your orchard. That is amazing yield you are getting.

I'm in Columbia. I spray my plums once in January with Bonide All Seasons spray and once at shuck split with Ortho Flower Fruit & Vegetable Insect Killer. I do have to fight PC, but they only effect a small amount of the early fruit. I spray a little late, because I have so many bees pollinating everything, so I let them do their thing before I spray. The better, larger fruit is worm free.

Although SR is supposed to be self fruitful, it really needs another pollinator. Since you're in SC, you might want to try AU Rubrum. It's a great tasting plum, great pollinator and heavy producer. It's the only one of the AU plums that I would recommend, and I've tried most of them. I would try another SR along with Rubrum, as I have. They will pollinate each other and the pluots. You can buy them both @ Cumberland Valley Nurseries for around $7/tree.

Thanks for the info sounds like you spray a lot less than me maybe I will cut back next year. I live near Santee and have a 1 year old AU Roadside and 3 month old Rubrum that I hope do well. I am curious to see how your pluots do.

"One thing that I have learned from this forum is the magic that diluted urine has. I feed a diluted gallon of it every week, during the growing season, to all of my first year trees. They get no other food"

I have my first two plum trees - this is their second season! By "urine" do you mean...people urine? Just wondering - I've heard all sorts of uses for animal urine...but little use for "people urine". Just wanted to make sure you weren't making a joke before ....trying it:)

Stunning success!

I've grown Roaside and took it out. It's a heavy bloomer, and while it's supposed to be self fruitful, set very little fruit for me. I even had it planted next to Methley, which bloomed at the same time and is supposed to be a good pollinator. After 5 years, I removed both trees. Maybe you'll have better success than I did. But if it were me, I'd replace the Roadside with SR.

Yes, I mean human urine. I know it's comical and some people may find it unappealing, but trust me, it works.

Yes miracle grow from your very own magic wand. A sin to waste. Been using the golden formula since the early '70's. I use a gas can for storage between usage and actually stockpile it in jugs during the cold months.

I've read where it starts to break down after 24 hours and therefore you couldn't store it.

I've read it but don't believe it. I know that anaerobic composting spares the N and it is more or less the same deal, without anything to compost. The N would have to convert to NO2 and return to the atmosphere but I figure when I opened the jug there would be some kind of noticeable gas.

I guess I should look it up because I have only the very slightest idea of what I'm talking about. At any rate, the potassium must stick around and that is one nutrient that fruit always takes from the soil. Piss is loaded with it.

After a few minutes search the research I find seems to indicate there is no loss of N during storage in tightly closed containers and, in fact, it is recommended that it be stored for at least a month when used in commercial food production to assure sterility.

Here is a link that might be useful: facts for whiz kids

I use it fresh,in the back yard when no one is looking,usually by a Mulberry.I figure it can't do much harm to one of those.
Harvestman,just don't forget and pour it in your chainsaw's fuel tank.Brady

Well, I have been known to poor oil there- can't be worse than that.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4701584_use-urine-fertilizer.html

This has been updated and now reads that you can store it, Before it said that it breaks down after 24 hrs. It also used to say to dilute it on a 10 to 1 basis, now it says 3 to 1. I think 3 to 1 would be too strong to feed a whole gallon to one plant. I use mine fresh every day and see no sense to store it. Besides I don't produce enough of the stuff to keep up with the demand. Who feeds their plants, when they're dormant?

I use diluted urine as well, fresh (within 12 hours). Dilute it 10-20 to 1 with water. It is a weak fertilizer that way so I do it frequently to the same plants, like 2-3 times a week (I make urine everyday!)

I makes a lot of sense. You can either take your urine (fertilizer), mix it with fresh water, and flush it down a toilet, or take that same mix and feed your plants.

Ray, what varieties of pluots did you get?

I planted Flavor Rich, Flavor Queen, and Flavor Grenade. I also planted Spring Satin plumcot. I don't like tart fruit, and have made some bad decisions in buying varieties that were advertised as being sweet, but weren't. I've learned to do a LOT of research, before I invest in a tree. Based on that, these were the varieties that met my criteria. The one that excites me the most is Flavor Rich. I had to buy it on Citation root stock, which is not drought tolerant, But I was able to run a water hose directly to that tree, so all I have to do is turn on the spigot, whenever there's a drought, like we have now. I plan to eventually graft it onto Santa Rosa, so I won't have to worry about that, plus I should get some really good yields from that variety.

I have a 2 in 1 Flavor Queen, Flavor Supreme pluot that has only given me one FQ fruit in 4 years. Pollination is my problem as the bees don't like the pluots. My anna apple that blooms at the same time is covered in honey bees and bumble bees but none on the pluot. There are small insects that fly around the FQ half of the tree but not really doing anything. Nothing goes to the FS side. I will be more aggressive with hand pollination next year and if still nothing it will be removed.

I'm not a fan of 2&1 trees, although I'm an advocate for partially top grafting a mature tree. You're not getting any fruit set because a 2&1 tree, especially as small as yours, rarely is able to sufficiently pollinate itself.. You need another pollinator such as SR. It isn't so much the bees.They are not the problem; it's the 2&1 tree itself.
If you have the room, I'd buy a separate FQ and FS and a SR, and within 4 years, you should have more fruit than you can eat. But the SR is the key.