I have also had mixed results. Two years ago they all rotted, and last year I didn't get any but don't recall why (I think it was the brown rot shoot blight from the year before which kept the tree from setting any flower buds for the following year). I have gotten a couple fruits in further back years and they were excellent. It is highly prone to bacterial spot. I pruned it a lot more open and it is now doing a lot better. It currently has a wonderful set of very nice-looking fruit so I am hoping this is the year I get some good ones. It has also set well other years so for me it is very good for a pluot in that category. The diseases have been the biggest problem.

Scott

I'm starting first harvest of Dapple Dandy in Texas. I tried it in California and wasn't impressed. So far I'm not impressed here either. It is productive but the eating quality is nothing special. I think it is the first pluot that set good crops so has been grown and sold commercially. Maybe it is good under some conditions but I haven't found them yet.

I grew Flavor Heart here in Texas several years. Couldn't get eating quality out of it either.

I'll give a better report on pluot later. But my best so far from earliest to latest have been Flavor Supreme, Emerald Drop, Geo Pride, Flavor Queen, Splash, Flavor Grenade, Flavor King, Flavor Finale, and Flavor Treat. That stretches from May thru October in my greenhouse. All these were head and shoulders above Beauty and Superior plum this year.

I've just started to taste the Burgundy plum and so far pretty good.

I've tried 20-30 other pluot that I didn't like.

There are serious vinophiles and there are people who enjoy a good glass of wine. I ate what I considered perfect fruit yesterday in the form of Santa Rosa plums off my tree. Yeah, it probably makes it a little more special for me that no one else I know can eat such good plums unless I'm offering and if I could grow 10 different varieties of pluots the Santa Rosas might not taste as good.

It is funny how quickly we get used to what we have and that what seems like a mediocre peach to me will put a visitor to my orchard into a fit of ecstacy.

I don't think I want to make a visit to your greenhouse, fruitnut. My standards are already way too high. Always enjoy reading about your fruit experiences though.

I planted my first pluot this year just to give it a try. I managed some several years ago that barely bore anything so I never bothered planting them here. Forget which one I have (it does have a label) but I'll let you know if I ever harvest any fruit from it.

I tried a Flavor King Pluot at our Home Orchard Society's arboretum/orchard. It was the best fruit I've ever tasted in my life. That year was a particularly excellent year weather-wise for stone fruit in northwestern Oregon.
I got my own FK tree and the vigor was terrible. I gave up on it. Without spraying around here you have to have something more vigorous to outgrow the diseases. And my Flavor Grenade does just that. It's currently setting quite a load of fruit as it does each year. They're not as good as the Flavor Kings I remember but they are easily better than any of my asian or euro plum.

I just had some 24.5 brix Flavor King for lunch. I think that is near the upper limit for sugar accumulation that is possible in most fruit unless you dehydrate them. In addition to the flavor and sweetness the skin was crunchy and tart. This year they have been excellent while still very firm. In fact they've fallen off the tree with no damage because they were so firm.

Have to agree, this is near King stature for a fruit.

tc: The FK is my least vigorous pluot/plum. It should be put on a vigorous rootstock. I've got access to Viking, a very vigorous stonefruit rootstock. So I'm going to try that. But it isn't just the lack of vigor. As with most stonefruit the spurs and lower wood lose their leaves after a few years. So the only wood with leaves keeps getting higher in the tree. And when you cut way back to get renewal, there may not be any buds that push.

After 6 crops I'm about to need new trees. Can't go over 8.5 ft tall in the greenhouse so will start replanting the best stuff on new trees.

Flavor Grenade isn't a lot more vigorous. But that may be partly due to the very heavy crop load I leave on mine. It does set a lot more than FK. But FK sets enough and often gets a big blocky 2.5 inches, a very big plum. The best fruits are often the smaller stuff near 2 inches.

My Flavor King is still very young and has set fruit for the first time this year. Likewise for Dapple Dandy. DD are starting to come in now whereas FK are a ways off. I tasted a FK the other day and it still needs more time. DD are tasty enough for me right now, and they seem impervious to sunscald. Some of the fruit on this young tree is getting full afternoon sun and look pretty bleached out. The taste is still very good, and are surprisingly juicy. The reason I decided to plant DD was due to its superior holding ability -- it's good to have something holding on the tree in the dog days of summer.

Do they grow Flavor King commercially or is it just a backyard fruit? I see pluots in the store, but whenever i buy them its like chewing on rubber.

Harvestman, I don't think plums get any better than Santa Rosa. Maybe just as good but no better. So don't feel too bad.

Fruitnut, I also limit my trees to 8'. I was having the same problem of the fruit going higher and higher on some varieties and it caused me to change the way I prune those trees -- I sometimes remove a whole high "treelet" on a scaffold and let new shoots start from a much lower spot. On the apples peaches and persimmons its not a problem because the loaded fruit bends the limbs down so much, but on the plums apricots and pears some renewal pruning is needed. It is still an evolving skill for me, sometimes I get it right and sometimes not. My FK is now far too tall, and the minute after the harvest is in its going to get butchered way down.

tc, I decided to try a flavor grenade after hearing good things here from you and others on its ability to set well.

Scott

Scott:

I usually cut down and open up my stone fruit right after harvest. This amounts to taking out a major limb or two as low as possible. Usually I get at least one shoot to push down low but not always. Perhaps I should do this sooner, like staring at year three rather than 4-5. But it sounds to me that we are on the same track.

Flavor Grenade must be self fruitful. It's the heaviest setting pluot I've got. Sets just like some of the self fruitful plums. The fruit can also get very big. So what looks like a good thinning job turns into a tree busting fruit load by mid summer. If I didn't tie my branches to the rafters the tree would be flat on the ground. Despite tying up I always have broken spurs and small limbs.

Frank:

The pluots I've seen in the store have been like Dapple Dandy. It was and maybe still is sold under the name Dinasous Eggs and as the name implies is a dappled red/pink/gray/yellow. It isn't nearly as attractive as Flavor King inside or out. The bigger markets must sell some Flavor King and Flavor Grenade. I'm selling some now for a dollar a piece to the few willing to pay for quality. Most still want to pay grocery store prices for world class fruit.

I think "dinosaur egg" usually refers to Flavor Supreme. They are excellent eating off the tree. Supermarkets are another story.

I have one of these and it just set it's first crop (4 fruit) after being in the ground 3 years. They were worth it, though. My experience with this particular variety (this is the second tree I've owned) is they take a long time to start producing.

Can anyone suggest a good pluot for me? I need a polinater for my Geo-Pride and wanted something like Flavor Grenade, Flavor King or Flavor Supreme. Taste and fruit set are what I'm looking for. After reading this thread, I'm now leaning towards Flavor Grenade.

justjohn:

Flavor Supreme would be your worst choice. The bees don't want to visit it so it sets poorly and would be a terrible pollinator. Bay Laurel Nursery lists it as a suggested pollinator variety for Geo Pride but I would strongly disagree.

The bees like both Flavor Grenade and Flavor King but I think Grenade would be a better pollinator and it sets a bigger crop. One negative is that Geo Pride and Flavor Grenade or King all mature in about the same time frame.

There are other pluot but none that would spread the season, be readily available, and be a good pollinator. Your other choice would be a plum like Santa Rosa. Bay Laurel also list Dapple Dandy pluot and Burgandy plum. But Grenade and King are better eating.

Thanks Fruitnut, I have 2 Santa Rosa and 1 Dapple Dandy in close proximity. So I guess I'm fine there. I just wanted something next to the Geo-Pride to be sure it gets taken care of. Had some room in that row of trees and got interested in the pluots you talk about. I'll go with the grenade! Thanks again!

> Flavor Grenade must be self fruitful.

I wonder as much. I only have this one Pluot and it sets well. But there is a Santa Rosa about a hundred feet away. I want to get rid of the Santa Rosa cuz the tree is too vigorous and branches like crazy. Keeping it pruned is a nightmare and the fruit is sparse and poor quality.
When the Santa Rosa is gone, I will then see if Flavor Grenade can still set a crop.

Flavor King is truly an outstanding piece of fruit. It is very sweet and loaded with a deep plum flavor. Granted I'm not an apricot connoisseur, so I can't really identify any apricot undertones being present.

My FK is planted in a hedgerow right in between Burgundy & Beauty plum trees with a Dapple Dandy pluot about 15' away. Even with optimal pollinators so close, and being loaded with blossoms, sad to say that the tree only set about 10 pluots. Commercial growers must be using Gibberellic Acid to help with fruit set on FK pluots.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gibberellic Acid for Fruit Set and Seed Germination

mrclint:

I can't tell any apricot characteristics in pluot either. To me they are plums. Genetic analysis supposedly says they are almost entirely plum parentage.

I'm surprised your FK isn't setting better than that in your situation. Mine sets just the right amount with a little thinning needed in the thickest spots.

I've never heard of GA being used to set fruit. It is used to thin grapes. It is also used to make grapes and sweet cherries larger. It also makes cherries firmer.

Tried some organic pluots from the store. A couple were almost a green/yellow color. I really enjoyed those, the others were more brown/red/whatever... inside was blood red. Most had no flavor, one was very very sweet... If these have apricot flavor to them, i'm sure not tasting it. The "Superior" plums of my tree in the yard are 10000x better :), but this is store bought garbage, so that explains that.

I'm not convinced that the name pluot isn't a sales ploy by Zeiger. All the varieties I've tried just seem like high sugar Jap. plums. I'm not the first to suspect this.

My Flavor King are world class fruit in my experience. About 24 brix while still very firm and with sensational flavor. The Superiors have gotten to 21 brix. But to get there the flesh is plain old mush and the skin is still bitter. However a lot of the differences are about growing conditions. Perhaps Superior is better in some places than here.

Do agree that pluot is probably mostly about marketing. But I for one won't argue about the taste and variety of fruit. This really is a very wide array of tastes, texture, and appearance. Plus I have fruit from May until November.

My favorite pluot/plum are the firm fleshed stuff like Flavor Grenade, King, and Treat.

The Burgandy plums were very good this year. Small and many split pits but sweet and good flavor. The outside is nearly black and the interior almost as dark. I'm going to propagate more of this one.

Burgundy plum is a super star performer for me. It's not a sledgehammer of flavor like Flavor King, but has a nice, mellow, smooth almost wine-like richness. Great fruit for snacking, holds well on the tree too.

This Superior plum that some seem to rave about here- is it the Japanese-American hybrid that is very hardy. Who sells it?

Many places sell Superior, I think Raintree is one. I think the place I have it now is too hot for it, it gets mushy. In an older spot it was more firm; or maybe it was the weather. This year I didn't get any since the deer decided it was their favorite tree and they stripped it (leaves too). The thing I like about it is how tart and quenching it is -- it is something like a sweet-tart candy in that way. More tart than Santa Rosa. I really like cooking with it as well. So, I'm not sure how adapted it is yet, but it still has some very good things going for it.

Re: pluot as an advertising ploy, I have heard this rumor that UC Davis did DNA studies and determined pluots were 100% plum, no apricot. I have never found the actual citation confirming that but I can believe it. And, I don't really care since they clearly are original types of plums which can be extraordinary fruits.

Scott

PS link below is the Davis study, I finally found it. It doesn't prove there is no apricot in pluot, only that the chances are very small there is any (they found 63 plum-only markers and no apricot markers; if it was even 1/8th apricot there should have been about 8 (8x8=64) markers and so the odds are that with 95% probability there is less than 1/8th apricot genes in a pluot).

Scott

Here is a link that might be useful: study abstract

False advertising? I'm getting an attorney :)

I think my Superior came from Gurneys... No mush here, but my temps i'm sure are lower. I agree it has some tartness to it (from the skin i'd imagine) but the flavor is outstanding.

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I get cracking on mine around the collar if we get a lot of rain, so if you were trying to sell them it might be tough. We had just over 6 inches of rain this month and 10 inches last month...so its been extremely wet.

Frank:

Mine have yours beat on color. Usually more color equals better fruit. There's no question what's tart/bitter about my Superior. The skin is inedible in my opinion.

I made one statement above that is misleading. Flavor King does get soft when really ripe. I've had some this year that were very sweet while still firm, almost hard. Those have been the best ones.

A lot of this is about growing conditions. All the pluot and plum we've discussed here can be really good under the right conditions. My Flavor King haven't always been great but enough people have chimed in here to tell us that it has the potential to be that way.

Thanks for all the good discussion!!

Fruit-

They are just turning...Most are still yellow. Normally i'd let them hang longer but someone else, someone much smaller starter pulling off yellow ones.

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If you want astringent, try eating a wild plum. I ate a bunch last fall and that are nearly inedible.

Here is a ripe one from last year...they seem bigger this year:
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On another note...i've been eating Red Gold nectarines off my container tree... Very good. If you let them get DEAD ripe (very soft) they are like candy. Pretty crazy to be eating ripe nectarines off a tree in WISCONSIN :) Only problem is the whole tree had to be tied up because the branches are really starting to bend. Even after extensive thinning, i still didn't thin enough.

Frank:

Yea the red one looks just like my Superior at soft ripe. Glad to hear you got some ripe nectarines and that they are good. We had discussed that earlier and I'm glad it's working for you!!! I grew Red Gold nectarine at one time in Amarillo but can't remember that much about it.

Arctic Star is another nectarine that is like candy at dead ripe. They kind of get a translucent quality to the flesh. If you gave one to a stranger they'd probably throw it away because they are so soft. On average Arctic Star has been my best fruit. And they are the best dried fruit I've made. But so highly perisable at optimum quality.

I put a bearing age Red Gold from my nursery into my orchard last fall and it has a few small fruit on it- nectarines are a bit sluggish compared to peaches or fruit might be full sized in spite of transplant.

The fruit are a somewhat cracked in spite of it being very droughty here. Last year in near constant rain the tree had a couple fruit that weren't cracked at all. I actually believe that damage from late frost has led to cracking. It has also made controlling brown rot even more difficult than usual.

Much thanks to this forum for "calling BS" regarding the lack of apricot flavor tones in pluots. You guys rock!

I was actually working my palate a bit to try and find at least a hint of apricot. No dice. That said, one of the key attributes of a patent is that the patent holder has to reveal the details of the secret. By revealing the secret the patent holder assures that the secret cannot be duplicated for the duration of the patent. If you review the FK patents you'll see that the apricot parentage is indeed miniscule as it comes from multiple plumcots. Note the following from the FK patent:

"The female parent with the field identification number 29EB30 was a selection that originated from a cross between Mariposa Plum (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 111) and a selected plum-cot seedling which originated from an open pollinated Red Beaut Plum (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 2,539) seed. The pollen parent with the identification number 42GA580 is a plum-cot selection which originated as a seedling from seed of an open pollinated Red Beaut Plum tree that had been grown from budwood which had been irradiated with cobalt."

These fruit could have just as easily been called "Frankenplums" with the multiple crosses and cobalt irradiation. I don't see any of this being clearly defined in the DW literature.

Here is a link that might be useful: Flavor King patent

Getting back to the original subject of the thread, my FK is now rotting just before ripening. I had to pick off nearly all of them. I had forgotten it was ripening and I let some rotted ones stay on a long time and that surely made things worse, but it is still in the top category of prone-to-rot plums along with my Howard MIracle. All the other Jap. plums are either OK or good as far as rots go. Wickson for example is about 5' away and only damaged fruits rotted.

Scott

Most Japanese plums are much less prone to rot here than most of their Euro cousins.

The FK and HM are in the most rot-prone category, they are the ones where one day all fruits are good and a day or two later all are hit with rot. I've had a few Euro plums do that some years but these guys seem as bad as any Euro. The rest of the Jap plums are much less prone to rot.

I should add I am only doing minimal sprays for brown rot, and with only oil and Serenade. I am planning on removing all the highly rot-prone ones so I don't have to be spraying for rot all the time, too many sprays already.

Scott

Scott good, you'll be a very useful source of info on the subject. BR is a killer for home growers of stone fruit.

My Flavor Kings are looking good,
no cracks at all yet.

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