
Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Plums
- Plums are great for making jams or jellies.
- Plums can also be stored through freezing or drying them (dried plums are prunes).
- One of our favorite plum recipes is this Heavenly Plum Kuchen.
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I purchased a Hollywood variety for my Seattle area home, and now realize I need a 2nd variety for x-pollination. The next closest location for the 2nd tree would be about 100' away. Is that too far for an effective x-pollination sibling?
Thanks
The recommended maximum distance between plum trees is 50 feet, but as long as there are plenty of pollinators in your area, 100 feet shouldn’t be too far. You may just end up with fewer plums than idealâbut that’s better than no plums!
My Stanley Plum Tree dropped over half its unripened fruit in early July and then dropped more in August. It does not appear diseased. Is that a sign of lack of fertilizer or hot weather? Or some other reason?
Best time to plant
That’s unfortunate. It’s unlikelly to be too much or too little fertilizer. Premature fruit drop is common among fruit trees; it’s Mother Nature’s way of reducing the loadâespecially if you do not thin the fruit load yourself (prune when plums are about 3/4-inch long, leaving 4 to 6 inches between remaining fruits). Weather could be a factor; high heat in early spring can stress the tree, and if conditions in general have been dry, the tree may not be well irrigated.
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