Yeah you really need to try things to be sure. You just never know! Thanks for the report.

I was able to get some Flavor Grenade from the grocery store (WF) back in late July. While I wouldn't say "intense sugar", it was quite sweet (16.5 brix). It wasn't overpowering, but had plenty of flavor, with an almost tropical hint. To get the kind of description that you've given them, I bet yours are even higher brix.

You've reminded me that I took pictures and recorded the results, meaning to post them over a month ago. I hope you don't mind if I add them onto your thread.

Flavor Grenade- upper right, 16.5 brix, sweet, mild and tropical. You can't see it well in the pic, but it is more elongated than the others and has bumpy skin.

Honey Punch- on right, 16.5 brix, crisp, almost crunchy, with a tangy sweet-tart flavor

Unknown yellow pluot- on bottom, 13 brix, plain old plum taste. Not impressive. A bit weak like a Shiro.

Dappled Dandy- upper left, 15 brix, nice acid kick with a raspberry overtone.

My favorite was the Honey Punch, with Flavor Grenade very close behind. My oldest daughter really liked the FG. I'm now planning to add FG. My understanding is that HP isn't available to home growers yet.

Bob, these are all store bought pluots, right? Grown in CA and shipped.

I'm trying to help northeast growers figure out what fruit is worth growing here. For years I didn't try to grow pluots because there were several varieties at a place I worked that never bore more than a couple of fruit and I'd read that they are not very productive here. Scott indicates that Flavor Grenade is exceptional in this regard in MD and I'm beginning to believe the same goes for here.

Most Zaiger varieties ripen hard so they can be shipped and stored and still be quite sweet. This tendency becomes a virtue with Flavor Grenade to my palate because at a level of crispness where most plums would be bitter it has high sugar.

I will probably wait for someone in the mid-Atlantic, up to the northeast, to attest to productivity of any given pluot, as grown outdoors, before I experiment with other types.

Some don't set fruit anywhere, yet they are still grown, all I need to know. Since it's a hobby for me and I'll stare at it everyday, I can help it along. I want to grow some of the seeds produced too, just for fun. I'm finding them extremely hardy and may make good rootstocks. Although I will check fruit first. Dapple Supreme is a cross of two I have. I'll just make my own DS.
I also want to do this with Indian Free, since it's not self fertile I'm guaranteed to have a cross. I may make my own Zaiger style fruit, as I'll also use the pluot to try and fertilize Indian Free. If it doesn't work, no biggy. But one never knows. I've been having fun crossing raspberries, as growing fruit has little profit. Collecting royalties does.
Look for the Drewberry in a store near you. The breeders of many current plants are eager to talk to people about it. I learned a lot from them. One thing I learned is hell will probably freeze over before you see the Drewberry in stores, but hey it's just a hobby, I can dream! :)
Currently crossing Anne with Prelude. The breeders taught me how to emasculate flowers, and best crossing techniques. My mentor is Pete Tallman. As he is an amateur who now has Nourse Farms selling his baby.

Harvestman, yes, they are from the grocery store (I noted that above) and I would bet that they are CA grown. It can still be useful to show what the fruit can be like, though I bet what you grew is better than anything mass produced, even in CA. I'm definitely glad to hear that it is producing well in my neighborhood.

TheAceOfSpades listed the best East-coast adapted pluots here, last year. His top 3 were: Dapple Dandy, Flavor Grenade and Flavor Supreme. He was adding Geo Pride and a few others, but his unfortunate early demise means that other will need to try them out. I've been thinking about adding Geo Pride (Fruitnut speaks well of it in the linked thread) and possibly Flavor Delight.

Bob:

Thanks for adding those picture and some concrete information as to sweetness. I can tell you that properly grown Flavor Grenade and Honey punch can easily reach mid 20s brix. Honey punch averages that. Flavor Grenade reaches about 20 heavily watered but at that point it's neither real sweet nor crunchy. With lower water I've had them go off scale at 34+ brix.

I don't know what to make of harvestman's intensely sweet, 16, 24, or 34.

Dapple Dandy is lower brix. Usually for me lower 20s. It's not one of my favorites.

I got the impression from various literature and comments that Flavor Grenade is one of the few that do well in the north.

Do all pluots have tart skins? I had aprium from the market the other day that had a pleasant candy-like flavor but the skin was still very tart.

No, only a few pluots have tartness at skin or seed when ripe. Flavor Supreme is one that does and it's a superb fruit when properly grown. Many can be tart when picked green but that's not concentrated at the skin, it's in the flesh. But I don't really have much experience tasting green fruit.

Harvestman,

Who needs Elephant Heart... it is an improved Elephant Heart red fleshed plum

When you say "improved", what do you mean? I do have an EH but have only had one fruit in 5 years due to frost issues.

Harvest-

Have you tried Geo Pride? Mine were perfect this year. I grow them in pots, so that makes a huge difference (i don't spray anything on them except back in May for PC). Great pluot. I have Flavor Grenade, but no fruit this year..the branch had so many fruit on it last year that it broke. Geo Pride would probably be earlier for you then me, so maybe early/mid Aug.

Dapple Dandy off my tree was "eh"... it sets fruit like crazy and grows a lot (vs some of the others that hardly put on any wood).

Flavor Grenade is the only one I've tried because Scott sent me the wood- it is no longer under patent. I had another pluot girdled by voles its first winter and grafted the wood on the citation red leaf tree that came out of the ground- grafted it 4' up- got first fruit the second year.

I ate one this evening that was so-so- needed more time on the tree, but it's hard to tell when they are ripe- background color changes from green you yellow and it still takes more time - guess I'll let the yellow jackets tell me.

Miles, Elephant Heart is a very inconsistent cropper for me and the one on my property gets a lot of pitch pockets which are hard spots in the flesh. It also takes as long as an average European plum to mature and begin its inconsistent bearing. The fruit also often ripens unevenly, but when they are right they are the queen of Japanese plums.

The pitch pockets may have something to do with all the grey water the tree gets from my washing machine, although there's only two of us and it is a front end loader that doesn't use much water or detergent.

Sorry Fruitnut, I'm not really interested in specific brix data, but I lived in CA for 15 years (and grew and foraged fruit there) before I moved here and arrived with knowledge of what tree ripened fruit is supposed to taste like. I'm always taking samples of my fruit to people who can afford to buy the best and travel all over the world and they commonly claim it's the best fruit they've ever tasted. But that isn't data.

Glad you like the Flavor Grenade. I may have some prejudice against the flavor, it reminds me of all the cheap penny candy I ate as a kid which I really can't stand now. The sweet/sour/crunch of it is great, thats for sure. Its also very reliable in the east (but a serious rot spray is needed).

I never grew Queen Rosa, only Ruby Queen. Ruby Queen was good one year and bad the other four and I removed it. It just wouldn't get any flavor most years for me... very strange.

Scott