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| Just a note for my fellow northern growers considering plums...
I have several Japanese/American hybrid plums in my orchard (Superior, Pipestone, Alderman, Waneta, Toka and Underwood) and the Superior plum is hands down the tastiest I grow. It also holds well on the tree and is ripe right now here in Northern Wisconsin. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by scottfsmith 6B/7A MD (My Page) on Sat, Aug 13, 05 at 23:06
| Its even great down south here in Maryland -- an underappreciated plum. Scott |
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- Posted by connie1946 (My Page) on Mon, Aug 15, 05 at 9:30
| I am in northern wi(Door County) Years ago my daughter bought a tree from a magazine ad. It was called a Fruit Cocktail tree. She was just a kid when she bought it. We planted it. Each year it blossoms and has tiny green fruit which in the past always fell off early. This year the tree is actually making fruit which is turning ripe. And it appears to be some knid of Plum. They seem to fall off before they are ripe. Also on many I've noticed a spot on a plum that looks like grains of sand. If I cut open the fruit at the spot...it appears an insect has bored in there. Is it possible to pick this fruit early and ripen in the kitchen (like a tomato?) Or am I destined to have these plums all fall off early and/or to be infested? Should a tree like this be given a spay or something early in the season? Thanks |
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- Posted by CatOnMyrtis z8LA (My Page) on Mon, Aug 15, 05 at 10:20
| If Ozark Premier plum is okay for your area, it is delicious. So is Shiro. |
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- Posted by gardenpaws_VA z7 NoVA (My Page) on Tue, Aug 16, 05 at 12:52
| Connie, it sounds like you're dealing with Plum Curculio, and no, plums don't do a good job of ripening on the kitchen counter. (Neither do tomatoes, really, but tomatoes don't grow nearly as many fruit flies in the process, unless they go rotten!) I'd suggest looking back over the threads for previous comments on spray protocols for curculio. Also, there may well be material on the web from your local ag/extension service on what spray protocol works in your area. Over to you, Don... I can recognize some of the stuff, but I'm not an expert at dealing with the various fruit pests and diseases. |
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| We just finished eating our last Superior plum for it's first season. I have never been a plum fan but this variety may change me. We left them on until they were soft. The skin was still very sour but the flesh was so sweet and juicy, you just need to keep the two ( sweet and sour)combined in you mouth as you eat them. Yummy |
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| It does great in California as well. It is an early to mid August ripener here. It has very fine quality and I agree that it is an over looked widely adaptable variety. |
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- Posted by lizzie_gardener 5 (My Page) on Tue, Sep 5, 06 at 21:02
| I have had a superior plum tree for about 10 years, and am not getting any fruit. For the last three years, I get small plums of about 1 inch in diameter, then they fall off. What am I doing wrong? |
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- Posted by konrad___far_north 3 (My Page) on Thu, Sep 7, 06 at 0:42
| This is my Superior Plum....I think? [on the picnic table] The tree was labeled as Pembina, but a local fruit grower said it is Superior!....both plums are very similar. What's your opinion. Konrad  |
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| connie 1046: Gardenpaws is right that plum curculio is an early pest of plums, leaving a flat, shiny area that eventually becomes distorted and causes the plum to fall off. But the thing that looks like a grain of sand is probably a drop of dried pectin, and that is more typical of the entry wound of the oriental fruit moth. Not that it makes much difference, since the result of both these insects is about the same; a ruined plum that drops prematurely. Most places have these insects, and a few lucky places don't. To raise plums to the ripe stage on your tree, you are probably going to have to spray with an effective insecticide, something like permethrin or malathion, about every week or ten days until the plums become large enough and the skin tough enough that they are less attractive to the insects. During the last couple weeks of ripening, you can usually stop spraying, allowing the insecticide to wash and weather off, but you should wash the fruit anyway before eating. I don't know whether Konrad has to spray or not to produce those beautiful plums, but most of us do. In my area, insects also eat the leaves of plum trees, and the spray helps to stop that too. Plum leaves are a favorite of the Japanese beetle and several other types of beetle. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA |
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- Posted by wisconsin_steve 4b W. WI (My Page) on Fri, Sep 8, 06 at 12:51
| Konrad - Your picture does not look like the Superior plums that I grow. Mine are a much darker red color, not quite so orange. Could your plum possibly be Alderman? The pictures that I have seen of this plum look more like yours. have a tree growing, but it is still too young to bear fruit. - Steve |
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- Posted by franktank232 z5 WI (My Page) on Thu, Aug 23, 07 at 12:22
| How are plums this year? Must be about picking time? Pictures anyone? Because of this post, i've had in the ground since last spring an Alderman and a Superior. How do these plums compare to a Green Gage plum? I'm hoping for fruit next year. |
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| Konrad, I'm holding one of my "superior" plums in front of me. Mine is more burgundy colored, has a more pronounced point, (or tip) on the bottom, and is 80% specked with tiny gold dots. |
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- Posted by franktank232 z5 WI (My Page) on Thu, Aug 23, 07 at 17:47
| From the point of planting, how long did it take to get fruit? 1st year(doubtful), 2nd year(maybe?), 3rd year? |
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- Posted by wisconsin_steve 4b W. WI (My Page) on Fri, Aug 24, 07 at 8:16
| Danman1 - That would agree with the description of the Superior plums that I grow as well. The plums pictured look more like Alderman to me. This is also an excellent winter hardy hybrid plum variety, well worth growing. The varieties that I am currently growing here in western Wisconsin are: Superior, Alderman, Vermont, Pembina, La Crescent, Toka, Tecumseh, Underwood, Waneta, Gracious, Stanley and Green Gage. The Green Gage is just loaded with plums this year, but they are not quite ripe yet. These plums are excellent, but have the downside of being curculio magnets. With the hybrid plums, especially Superior, I have more problems with yellow jackets attacking the ripe fruit. - Steve |
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- Posted by konrad___far_north 3 (My Page) on Wed, Jan 14, 09 at 22:25
| Correction... the plum picture I posted wasn't Superior, it's a Supreme...according to other growers, this tree was labelled Pembina. Konrad |
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- Posted by ottawan_z5a Canada (My Page) on Wed, Feb 16, 11 at 22:54
| Isn't it funny again! Konrad's picture of Superior plum in a post above got used by Pahls market (Minnesota) on their website as Superior plum before Konrad made the correction that the picture was actually that of Supreme plum and not Superior plum. I guess they could not wait for the correction: (Pick and paste the link) http://www.pahls.com/plant-library/superior-plum/ |
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- Posted by konrad___far_north 3..just outside of E (My Page) on Mon, Feb 21, 11 at 13:28
| Thank you ottawan for this, ...they have been contacted. Another nursery, Tooley's in New Mexico is using it also,..saying the picture may be subject to copyright....yea right! |
Here is a link that might be useful: Plum Picture
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- Posted by konrad___far_north 3..just outside of E (My Page) on Thu, Feb 24, 11 at 1:43
| Pahls market has removed it. Tooley's Trees is still defiant |
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- Posted by konrad___far_north 3..just outside of E (My Page) on Wed, Mar 2, 11 at 2:09
| I found two more pictures Tooley's used in their website, another plum and cherry, [removed now]. I don't mind when my pictures are used for personal reason's but when used for their business it's a different story. |
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- Posted by daemon2525 5 (My Page) on Mon, Apr 29, 13 at 12:47
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- Posted by franktank232 z5 WI (My Page) on Mon, Apr 29, 13 at 13:33
| Last year i'm not sure i got one Superior plum off my tree because of PC... This year its war. |
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| Frank, These plums are worth going to war. I rate them above all other plums. You still may not get any if your grandchildren get a taste of them! |
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- Posted by hairmetal4ever Z7 MD (My Page) on Mon, Apr 29, 13 at 17:52
| It seems like fewer nurseries are selling this variety compared to a few yrs back. Basically down to Stark's, Gurney's, and Fedco. Are there others? |
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| Funny that when I do a search in google images for "superior plum", Konrad's image of supreme plum (above) is in the #1 spot! |
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| I'm in zone 4. My Superior is just ripening, about a month later than it is supposed to. It is a Stark Bros dwarf tree and has not been particularly cold hardy. The first year 2/3 of the tree died during the winter. I pruned the dead part and it regrew. I'm an organic gardener, use Spinosad for insect control. My tree's plums fall off in strong winds but some do ripen inside just sitting on the kitchen counter. I also have a Greengage, a Golden Transparent from Raintree Nursery. The plums are very sweet, a honey taste with a hint of cinnamon or nutmeg. Finches go crazy over them even before they are ripe. I prefer the taste of the Greengage but they really are two different tastes that I can't compare. My other plums are a Santa Rosa, a Stanley and an Italian prune plum. |
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- Posted by northwoodswis4 4a (My Page) on Mon, Sep 23, 13 at 21:40
| I have had a Superior plum for at least six years now. It has only produced a handful of plums total. Actually, I have a half dozen varieties and none have produced many plums. The ones I did get were quite tasty, so I keep hoping next year will be a bumper crop. Northwoodswis |
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