Looks good... I'm still waiting on Geo Pride and the Flavor Queen are still green!

Crimson Royale patent:

"The new and distinct variety of interspecific tree, multiples of [Prunus salicinaÃÂ(Prunus salicinaÃÂ(Prunus salicinaÃÂPrunus armeniaca)], was developed by us in our experimental orchard located near Modesto, Calif., from seed of an open pollinated âÂÂFlavor Grenadeâ Interspecific (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,097), (the pollen parent is unknown). In 1997 we budded a large number of these open pollinated seedlings to established trees of âÂÂNemaguardâ Rootstock (non-patented), to enhance early production of fruit. Under close and careful observation the present variety exhibited desirable tree and fruit characteristics and was selected in 1999 for additional asexual propagation and commercialization."

Do you notice any FG in it?

Fruitnut, if this fruit is a cross between an apricot and a plum, it is amazing that your pluot really tastes like a cross between apricot and peach. No plum taste? Nice brix! I wish I had room for one of these.

Frank:

It's shaped like Flavor Grenade but tastes nothing like it. I'm not surprised FG is one parent.

Mrs G:

Someone else might well taste apricot and plum. I can taste the apricot for sure. The rest could be plum. I suspect given how much better it is this year than last, it might taste way different in another environment. I'm liking it here!!

Too bad it's clingstone.

Very nice!
That variety is listed in the DWN commercial catalog, so how do the rest of us common folks who will only want one get to buy a tree?

That 'pronounced suture' is very much like how the European prune-plums look.

Adam's County Nursery sells DWN cultivars you can't buy retail in CA. Call them and see if they are testing or have any plans to sell Crimson Royale. However remember this cultivar is probably a really long shot in PA.

What makes it any more of a long shot in my zone than the other pluots? The DWN pluot maturity chart shows it ripening around the same time as Dapple Dandy, which according to ACN matures at the beginning of September here. What other issues do you see? I am planning to plant my first pluots next season.

eboone:

Only way to know is to try. I think you already know that several others on here have found pluot difficult to grow outside of CA and a few other favorable places. They are pretty easy in my greenhouse but I haven't even bothered to try outdoors. I know it will be a disaster. I can hardly grow an apple outdoors. Here it's freezes, hail, birds, wind, coon, etc, etc. Back east it's often poor set, brown rot, PC, OFM, etc, etc.

Thanks for the encouraging outlook :)
Seriously, next year I will give Dapple Dandy and probably Flavor King a try, will plant them among the 4 plums I planted this year. If I can get them to survive the gauntlet of pests and diseases, frosts and excess rain, I will consider others in the future.
I am gradually learning, through the help of those more experienced here on the forum and through my own reading and by trial and error, how to get more of my fruit safely harvested than in the past. I have more time to put into my orchard and garden than in the past, which helps also.

I appreciate the various fruit reports and helpful advice given here very much.

Eboone I'm in 6a too. Here in MI one commercial grower grows pluots. They can be grown here. Maybe not all. But I have a 4N1 tree with FK, FQ, FS, and DD. I don't have any other pollinators so they are going to have to pollinate each other. And they do BTW. I don't really see a problem, they are just plums as far as I'm concerned, which originate from areas just like ours. I even think we can produce better fruits. I can't speak for PA but MI is a great place for blueberries, peaches, cherries, grapes and plums. Our fruits taste great! Our wines are starting to beat CA wines in competitions. (we are at the same latitude as
Bordeaux, France)They are major crops for us. We don't have the humidity the Northeast has, yet we have 90 degree days all the time.
Conditions are far from perfect, but are very acceptable.
None of the experienced growers here are from my area, so I do appreciate the input, but they have worse conditions than I do. If they were here, they might have a different opinion.
This year we had a lot of rain, and I planted the bare root this year. it is growing like gangbusters, so the tree doesn't seem to mind, and most years we have a lot less rain, so the first hurtle and the most serious was cleared by a mile. No fungal diseases on any of the trees. It's a darn good sign! Late frosts are another concern, but they are super rare here. We had one in 2012, the first one in a decade. So I doubt I will see another anytime soon. Otherwise we have sunny days with the humidity in the 60 percentile, with average temps around 80 degrees. They should thrive here. The high chill hours should ensure a great fruit set.
I will be adding more flowers to attract bees, but I already have many. I see over 50 bees a day currently. Sometimes as many as 200.

I have a dog that patrols the yards for fruit thieves. he is so good at it that none of my fruit is protected and all I lost was one strawberry out of hundreds produced. Not one other fruit was touched. Blueberries, raspberries, currants, and blackberries were left untouched.
The pluot grafted tree has grown so much it's first year I expect some fruit next year, I will leave a few on it, but not many. It has been summer pruned twice this year. And certainly needs winter pruning now too.

This post was edited by Drew51 on Thu, Aug 15, 13 at 20:34