I was totally blown away by the performance of a new Tehranivee
self-pollinating cherry that I planted in April of this year (zone 6).
It's a dwarf tree, and was only about 5 ft. tall when I planted it. I
was surprised when it flowered profusely in May, and shocked when
cherries began to develop. Some of them withered up and fell off, but
the little tree still managed to produce a bumper crop, several bowls
full, of juicy, sweet, crunchy, flavourful cherries. I don't know if I
just lucked out with this one tree, or if they're all this good. It's
supposed to be susceptible to cracking, but that didn't happen ... at
least not this year.

The prune plum is a whole other story. It was mislabelled as being an
apricot when I bought it in '96, and I didn't know that it wasn't an
apricot till it fruited a few years ago, so I don't know which cultivar
it is.

Last year it bore heavily, but dropped about a third of it's fruit
before it ripened. I lost half of what was left to various bugs in
various stages. And some of the fruit had what looked like crystallized
loops and nubs and dribbles of sap on them. What is that?

Last fall I pruned off all the water spouts that had grown and cut the
tree back to a manageable size, trying to recognize the fruit spurs.

This year the tree fruited even more heavily, but has dropped about 2/3
of its fruit, either green and shrivelled, purple and shrivelled, or
purple and hard. The crystallized stuff is on many of them too, and I
can see bumps and punctures on much of the fruit. If I get a dozen
edible plums, I'll be lucky. So much for the plum jam and the galettes.

I'm not big on pesticides and such, but will definitely be using dormant
oil this fall and next spring. Any comments, insights or suggestions on
the plum problems would be appreciated.

Thanks!

EV

There are pictures of the cherry tree in various stages, and some of the
other edibles in my garden, he
http://www3.sympatico.ca/great/tempee.html

EV said:

The prune plum is a whole other story. ...
Last year it bore heavily, but dropped about a third of it's fruit
before it ripened. I lost half of what was left to various bugs in
various stages. And some of the fruit had what looked like crystallized
loops and nubs and dribbles of sap on them. What is that?

This year the tree fruited even more heavily, but has dropped about 2/3
of its fruit, either green and shrivelled, purple and shrivelled, or
purple and hard. The crystallized stuff is on many of them too, and I
can see bumps and punctures on much of the fruit. If I get a dozen
edible plums, I'll be lucky. So much for the plum jam and the galettes.

Where are you located? In eastern North America this is most likely
plum curculios, a type of weevil.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2043.html

I'm not big on pesticides and such, but will definitely be using dormant
oil this fall and next spring. Any comments, insights or suggestions on
the plum problems would be appreciated.

Of the pesticides recommended for plum curculios, phosmet (Imidan) is
considered less harmful to non-target insects.

Cleanup is important. Pick up all fallen fruit and send it off with the trash.


--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)

EV said:

The prune plum is a whole other story. ...
Last year it bore heavily, but dropped about a third of it's fruit
before it ripened. I lost half of what was left to various bugs in
various stages. And some of the fruit had what looked like crystallized
loops and nubs and dribbles of sap on them. What is that?

This year the tree fruited even more heavily, but has dropped about 2/3
of its fruit, either green and shrivelled, purple and shrivelled, or
purple and hard. The crystallized stuff is on many of them too, and I
can see bumps and punctures on much of the fruit. If I get a dozen
edible plums, I'll be lucky. So much for the plum jam and the galettes.

Where are you located? In eastern North America this is most likely
plum curculios, a type of weevil.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2043.html

I'm not big on pesticides and such, but will definitely be using dormant
oil this fall and next spring. Any comments, insights or suggestions on
the plum problems would be appreciated.

Of the pesticides recommended for plum curculios, phosmet (Imidan) is
considered less harmful to non-target insects.

Cleanup is important. Pick up all fallen fruit and send it off with the trash.


--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)

A number of year ago I had a very similar thing happen, but my tree was
supposed to be a sweet cherry tree. I spent three years seeing strange
little fruits develope and then fall off before I could figure out what
they were. The fourth year I sprayed dormant oil and then followed it
with an orchard pesticide. I can't remember the brand, but I sprayed it
faithfully according to the directions and lo and behold I got a
wonderful yield of purple plums. This wasn't what I wanted, but I like
plums so I figured no big deal. Then they got ripe and were the most
awful, tasteless things I had ever had. My assumption was that the
rootstock was for a bad tasting, but very hardy plum and that a sweet
cherry was grafted to it. When the graft died it grew from the rootstock
and the grower never noticed. I don't know that this is what happened,
but I sure don't know why anyone would want to grow that variety of plum
on purpose.

Linda


The prune plum is a whole other story. It was mislabelled as being an
apricot when I bought it in '96, and I didn't know that it wasn't an
apricot till it fruited a few years ago, so I don't know which cultivar
it is.

Last year it bore heavily, but dropped about a third of it's fruit
before it ripened. I lost half of what was left to various bugs in
various stages. And some of the fruit had what looked like crystallized
loops and nubs and dribbles of sap on them. What is that?

Last fall I pruned off all the water spouts that had grown and cut the
tree back to a manageable size, trying to recognize the fruit spurs.

This year the tree fruited even more heavily, but has dropped about 2/3
of its fruit, either green and shrivelled, purple and shrivelled, or
purple and hard. The crystallized stuff is on many of them too, and I
can see bumps and punctures on much of the fruit. If I get a dozen
edible plums, I'll be lucky. So much for the plum jam and the galettes.

I'm not big on pesticides and such, but will definitely be using dormant
oil this fall and next spring. Any comments, insights or suggestions on
the plum problems would be appreciated.

Thanks!

EV

There are pictures of the cherry tree in various stages, and some of the
other edibles in my garden, he
http://www3.sympatico.ca/great/tempee.html

A number of year ago I had a very similar thing happen, but my tree was
supposed to be a sweet cherry tree. I spent three years seeing strange
little fruits develope and then fall off before I could figure out what
they were. The fourth year I sprayed dormant oil and then followed it
with an orchard pesticide. I can't remember the brand, but I sprayed it
faithfully according to the directions and lo and behold I got a
wonderful yield of purple plums. This wasn't what I wanted, but I like
plums so I figured no big deal. Then they got ripe and were the most
awful, tasteless things I had ever had. My assumption was that the
rootstock was for a bad tasting, but very hardy plum and that a sweet
cherry was grafted to it. When the graft died it grew from the rootstock
and the grower never noticed. I don't know that this is what happened,
but I sure don't know why anyone would want to grow that variety of plum
on purpose.

Linda


The prune plum is a whole other story. It was mislabelled as being an
apricot when I bought it in '96, and I didn't know that it wasn't an
apricot till it fruited a few years ago, so I don't know which cultivar
it is.

Last year it bore heavily, but dropped about a third of it's fruit
before it ripened. I lost half of what was left to various bugs in
various stages. And some of the fruit had what looked like crystallized
loops and nubs and dribbles of sap on them. What is that?

Last fall I pruned off all the water spouts that had grown and cut the
tree back to a manageable size, trying to recognize the fruit spurs.

This year the tree fruited even more heavily, but has dropped about 2/3
of its fruit, either green and shrivelled, purple and shrivelled, or
purple and hard. The crystallized stuff is on many of them too, and I
can see bumps and punctures on much of the fruit. If I get a dozen
edible plums, I'll be lucky. So much for the plum jam and the galettes.

I'm not big on pesticides and such, but will definitely be using dormant
oil this fall and next spring. Any comments, insights or suggestions on
the plum problems would be appreciated.

Thanks!

EV

There are pictures of the cherry tree in various stages, and some of the
other edibles in my garden, he
http://www3.sympatico.ca/great/tempee.html

Pat Kiewicz wrote:

EV said:

The prune plum is a whole other story. ...
Last year it bore heavily, but dropped about a third of it's fruit
before it ripened. I lost half of what was left to various bugs in
various stages. And some of the fruit had what looked like crystallized
loops and nubs and dribbles of sap on them. What is that?

This year the tree fruited even more heavily, but has dropped about 2/3
of its fruit, either green and shrivelled, purple and shrivelled, or
purple and hard. The crystallized stuff is on many of them too, and I
can see bumps and punctures on much of the fruit. If I get a dozen
edible plums, I'll be lucky. So much for the plum jam and the galettes.

Where are you located? In eastern North America this is most likely
plum curculios, a type of weevil.

I'm in Toronto, Ontario.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2043.html

It's one of the few bugs I haven't seen in the garden this summer. Lots of Black
Vine Weevils though. Had a bunch of pear slugs on the cherry after it bloomed and
removed them all by hand.



I'm not big on pesticides and such, but will definitely be using dormant
oil this fall and next spring. Any comments, insights or suggestions on
the plum problems would be appreciated.

Of the pesticides recommended for plum curculios, phosmet (Imidan) is
considered less harmful to non-target insects.

Thanks, Pat, but I won't be going there. Believe it or not, I'd rather lose the
fruit than use pesticides.

Cleanup is important. Pick up all fallen fruit and send it off with the trash.

I'm quite religious about discarding fallen fruit. I collect it every day.

Thanks for your comments,
EV



--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)

Pat Kiewicz wrote:

EV said:

The prune plum is a whole other story. ...
Last year it bore heavily, but dropped about a third of it's fruit
before it ripened. I lost half of what was left to various bugs in
various stages. And some of the fruit had what looked like crystallized
loops and nubs and dribbles of sap on them. What is that?

This year the tree fruited even more heavily, but has dropped about 2/3
of its fruit, either green and shrivelled, purple and shrivelled, or
purple and hard. The crystallized stuff is on many of them too, and I
can see bumps and punctures on much of the fruit. If I get a dozen
edible plums, I'll be lucky. So much for the plum jam and the galettes.

Where are you located? In eastern North America this is most likely
plum curculios, a type of weevil.

I'm in Toronto, Ontario.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2043.html

It's one of the few bugs I haven't seen in the garden this summer. Lots of Black
Vine Weevils though. Had a bunch of pear slugs on the cherry after it bloomed and
removed them all by hand.



I'm not big on pesticides and such, but will definitely be using dormant
oil this fall and next spring. Any comments, insights or suggestions on
the plum problems would be appreciated.

Of the pesticides recommended for plum curculios, phosmet (Imidan) is
considered less harmful to non-target insects.

Thanks, Pat, but I won't be going there. Believe it or not, I'd rather lose the
fruit than use pesticides.

Cleanup is important. Pick up all fallen fruit and send it off with the trash.

I'm quite religious about discarding fallen fruit. I collect it every day.

Thanks for your comments,
EV



--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)

Pat Kiewicz wrote:

EV said:

The prune plum is a whole other story. ...
Last year it bore heavily, but dropped about a third of it's fruit
before it ripened. I lost half of what was left to various bugs in
various stages. And some of the fruit had what looked like crystallized
loops and nubs and dribbles of sap on them. What is that?

This year the tree fruited even more heavily, but has dropped about 2/3
of its fruit, either green and shrivelled, purple and shrivelled, or
purple and hard. The crystallized stuff is on many of them too, and I
can see bumps and punctures on much of the fruit. If I get a dozen
edible plums, I'll be lucky. So much for the plum jam and the galettes.

Where are you located? In eastern North America this is most likely
plum curculios, a type of weevil.

I'm in Toronto, Ontario.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2043.html

It's one of the few bugs I haven't seen in the garden this summer. Lots of Black
Vine Weevils though. Had a bunch of pear slugs on the cherry after it bloomed and
removed them all by hand.



I'm not big on pesticides and such, but will definitely be using dormant
oil this fall and next spring. Any comments, insights or suggestions on
the plum problems would be appreciated.

Of the pesticides recommended for plum curculios, phosmet (Imidan) is
considered less harmful to non-target insects.

Thanks, Pat, but I won't be going there. Believe it or not, I'd rather lose the
fruit than use pesticides.

Cleanup is important. Pick up all fallen fruit and send it off with the trash.

I'm quite religious about discarding fallen fruit. I collect it every day.

Thanks for your comments,
EV



--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)

Linda Barsalou wrote:

A number of year ago I had a very similar thing happen, but my tree was
supposed to be a sweet cherry tree. I spent three years seeing strange
little fruits develope and then fall off before I could figure out what
they were. The fourth year I sprayed dormant oil and then followed it
with an orchard pesticide. I can't remember the brand, but I sprayed it
faithfully according to the directions and lo and behold I got a
wonderful yield of purple plums. This wasn't what I wanted, but I like
plums so I figured no big deal. Then they got ripe and were the most
awful, tasteless things I had ever had. My assumption was that the
rootstock was for a bad tasting, but very hardy plum and that a sweet
cherry was grafted to it. When the graft died it grew from the rootstock
and the grower never noticed. I don't know that this is what happened,
but I sure don't know why anyone would want to grow that variety of plum
on purpose.

Linda

Hey, Linda. Sorry to hear about your tree. My apricot that turned out to be a
plum actually has incredibly sweet and delicious fruit ... the best prune
plums I've ever tasted. It's a good graft. I get the occasional green growth
at the graft, and I just pluck it off.

EV



The prune plum is a whole other story. It was mislabelled as being an
apricot when I bought it in '96, and I didn't know that it wasn't an
apricot till it fruited a few years ago, so I don't know which cultivar
it is.

Last year it bore heavily, but dropped about a third of it's fruit
before it ripened. I lost half of what was left to various bugs in
various stages. And some of the fruit had what looked like crystallized
loops and nubs and dribbles of sap on them. What is that?

Last fall I pruned off all the water spouts that had grown and cut the
tree back to a manageable size, trying to recognize the fruit spurs.

This year the tree fruited even more heavily, but has dropped about 2/3
of its fruit, either green and shrivelled, purple and shrivelled, or
purple and hard. The crystallized stuff is on many of them too, and I
can see bumps and punctures on much of the fruit. If I get a dozen
edible plums, I'll be lucky. So much for the plum jam and the galettes.

I'm not big on pesticides and such, but will definitely be using dormant
oil this fall and next spring. Any comments, insights or suggestions on
the plum problems would be appreciated.

Thanks!

EV

There are pictures of the cherry tree in various stages, and some of the
other edibles in my garden, he
http://www3.sympatico.ca/great/tempee.html

Linda Barsalou wrote:

A number of year ago I had a very similar thing happen, but my tree was
supposed to be a sweet cherry tree. I spent three years seeing strange
little fruits develope and then fall off before I could figure out what
they were. The fourth year I sprayed dormant oil and then followed it
with an orchard pesticide. I can't remember the brand, but I sprayed it
faithfully according to the directions and lo and behold I got a
wonderful yield of purple plums. This wasn't what I wanted, but I like
plums so I figured no big deal. Then they got ripe and were the most
awful, tasteless things I had ever had. My assumption was that the
rootstock was for a bad tasting, but very hardy plum and that a sweet
cherry was grafted to it. When the graft died it grew from the rootstock
and the grower never noticed. I don't know that this is what happened,
but I sure don't know why anyone would want to grow that variety of plum
on purpose.

Linda

Hey, Linda. Sorry to hear about your tree. My apricot that turned out to be a
plum actually has incredibly sweet and delicious fruit ... the best prune
plums I've ever tasted. It's a good graft. I get the occasional green growth
at the graft, and I just pluck it off.

EV



The prune plum is a whole other story. It was mislabelled as being an
apricot when I bought it in '96, and I didn't know that it wasn't an
apricot till it fruited a few years ago, so I don't know which cultivar
it is.

Last year it bore heavily, but dropped about a third of it's fruit
before it ripened. I lost half of what was left to various bugs in
various stages. And some of the fruit had what looked like crystallized
loops and nubs and dribbles of sap on them. What is that?

Last fall I pruned off all the water spouts that had grown and cut the
tree back to a manageable size, trying to recognize the fruit spurs.

This year the tree fruited even more heavily, but has dropped about 2/3
of its fruit, either green and shrivelled, purple and shrivelled, or
purple and hard. The crystallized stuff is on many of them too, and I
can see bumps and punctures on much of the fruit. If I get a dozen
edible plums, I'll be lucky. So much for the plum jam and the galettes.

I'm not big on pesticides and such, but will definitely be using dormant
oil this fall and next spring. Any comments, insights or suggestions on
the plum problems would be appreciated.

Thanks!

EV

There are pictures of the cherry tree in various stages, and some of the
other edibles in my garden, he
http://www3.sympatico.ca/great/tempee.html

EV wrote:
Pat Kiewicz wrote:
EV said:

The prune plum is a whole other story. ...
Last year it bore heavily, but dropped about a third of it's fruit
before it ripened. I lost half of what was left to various bugs in
various stages. And some of the fruit had what looked like crystallized
loops and nubs and dribbles of sap on them. What is that?

This year the tree fruited even more heavily, but has dropped about 2/3
of its fruit, either green and shrivelled, purple and shrivelled, or
purple and hard. The crystallized stuff is on many of them too, and I
can see bumps and punctures on much of the fruit. If I get a dozen
edible plums, I'll be lucky. So much for the plum jam and the galettes.

Where are you located? In eastern North America this is most likely
plum curculios, a type of weevil.

I'm in Toronto, Ontario.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2043.html

It's one of the few bugs I haven't seen in the garden this summer. Lots of Black
Vine Weevils though. Had a bunch of pear slugs on the cherry after it bloomed and
removed them all by hand.

Just a guess, but the bumps may be some type of scale insect.
The crystallized stuff might be "honeydew," their excrement.

--Jeff

--
Often war is waged only in order to
show valor; thus an inner dignity is
ascribed to war itself, and even some
philosophers have praised it as an
ennoblement of humanity, forgetting the
pronouncement of the Greek who said,
"War is an evil in as much as it produces
more wicked men than it takes away."
--Immanuel Kant

Americans will always do the right thing
- after they have exhausted every other
possibility. --Winston Churchill

Loyalty to the country always, loyalty
to the government when it deserves it.
--Mark Twain

I was against gay marriage until I found
out I didn't have to have one.
--James Carville

I think dormant oil is just the first step. Unfortunately, if you want
clean fruit and a
healthy tree, you have to go on a regular spray schedule of insecticides and
fungicides. I have had no luck with the organic sprays, but I'm sure I'll
get arguements from people that it works for them.

I also wish people would identify their sources of supply when they get the
wrong
tree. I can almost understand getting the wrong rootstock, but even that is
unforgivable. We should hold these nurseries and suppliers to account to
clean up
their act. Lets publish their names, please.

Sherwin Dubren

EV wrote:

I was totally blown away by the performance of a new Tehranivee
self-pollinating cherry that I planted in April of this year (zone 6).
It's a dwarf tree, and was only about 5 ft. tall when I planted it. I
was surprised when it flowered profusely in May, and shocked when
cherries began to develop. Some of them withered up and fell off, but
the little tree still managed to produce a bumper crop, several bowls
full, of juicy, sweet, crunchy, flavourful cherries. I don't know if I
just lucked out with this one tree, or if they're all this good. It's
supposed to be susceptible to cracking, but that didn't happen ... at
least not this year.

The prune plum is a whole other story. It was mislabelled as being an
apricot when I bought it in '96, and I didn't know that it wasn't an
apricot till it fruited a few years ago, so I don't know which cultivar
it is.

Last year it bore heavily, but dropped about a third of it's fruit
before it ripened. I lost half of what was left to various bugs in
various stages. And some of the fruit had what looked like crystallized
loops and nubs and dribbles of sap on them. What is that?

Last fall I pruned off all the water spouts that had grown and cut the
tree back to a manageable size, trying to recognize the fruit spurs.

This year the tree fruited even more heavily, but has dropped about 2/3
of its fruit, either green and shrivelled, purple and shrivelled, or
purple and hard. The crystallized stuff is on many of them too, and I
can see bumps and punctures on much of the fruit. If I get a dozen
edible plums, I'll be lucky. So much for the plum jam and the galettes.

I'm not big on pesticides and such, but will definitely be using dormant
oil this fall and next spring. Any comments, insights or suggestions on
the plum problems would be appreciated.

Thanks!

EV

There are pictures of the cherry tree in various stages, and some of the
other edibles in my garden, he
http://www3.sympatico.ca/great/tempee.html

I think dormant oil is just the first step. Unfortunately, if you want
clean fruit and a
healthy tree, you have to go on a regular spray schedule of insecticides and
fungicides. I have had no luck with the organic sprays, but I'm sure I'll
get arguements from people that it works for them.

I also wish people would identify their sources of supply when they get the
wrong
tree. I can almost understand getting the wrong rootstock, but even that is
unforgivable. We should hold these nurseries and suppliers to account to
clean up
their act. Lets publish their names, please.

Sherwin Dubren

EV wrote:

I was totally blown away by the performance of a new Tehranivee
self-pollinating cherry that I planted in April of this year (zone 6).
It's a dwarf tree, and was only about 5 ft. tall when I planted it. I
was surprised when it flowered profusely in May, and shocked when
cherries began to develop. Some of them withered up and fell off, but
the little tree still managed to produce a bumper crop, several bowls
full, of juicy, sweet, crunchy, flavourful cherries. I don't know if I
just lucked out with this one tree, or if they're all this good. It's
supposed to be susceptible to cracking, but that didn't happen ... at
least not this year.

The prune plum is a whole other story. It was mislabelled as being an
apricot when I bought it in '96, and I didn't know that it wasn't an
apricot till it fruited a few years ago, so I don't know which cultivar
it is.

Last year it bore heavily, but dropped about a third of it's fruit
before it ripened. I lost half of what was left to various bugs in
various stages. And some of the fruit had what looked like crystallized
loops and nubs and dribbles of sap on them. What is that?

Last fall I pruned off all the water spouts that had grown and cut the
tree back to a manageable size, trying to recognize the fruit spurs.

This year the tree fruited even more heavily, but has dropped about 2/3
of its fruit, either green and shrivelled, purple and shrivelled, or
purple and hard. The crystallized stuff is on many of them too, and I
can see bumps and punctures on much of the fruit. If I get a dozen
edible plums, I'll be lucky. So much for the plum jam and the galettes.

I'm not big on pesticides and such, but will definitely be using dormant
oil this fall and next spring. Any comments, insights or suggestions on
the plum problems would be appreciated.

Thanks!

EV

There are pictures of the cherry tree in various stages, and some of the
other edibles in my garden, he
http://www3.sympatico.ca/great/tempee.html

Jeffrey Turner wrote:

EV wrote:
Pat Kiewicz wrote:
EV said:

The prune plum is a whole other story. ...
Last year it bore heavily, but dropped about a third of it's fruit
before it ripened. I lost half of what was left to various bugs in
various stages. And some of the fruit had what looked like crystallized
loops and nubs and dribbles of sap on them. What is that?

This year the tree fruited even more heavily, but has dropped about 2/3
of its fruit, either green and shrivelled, purple and shrivelled, or
purple and hard. The crystallized stuff is on many of them too, and I
can see bumps and punctures on much of the fruit. If I get a dozen
edible plums, I'll be lucky. So much for the plum jam and the galettes.

Where are you located? In eastern North America this is most likely
plum curculios, a type of weevil.

I'm in Toronto, Ontario.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2043.html

It's one of the few bugs I haven't seen in the garden this summer. Lots of Black
Vine Weevils though. Had a bunch of pear slugs on the cherry after it bloomed and
removed them all by hand.

Just a guess, but the bumps may be some type of scale insect.
The crystallized stuff might be "honeydew," their excrement.

Thanks for your comment.

Actually, I have seen scale insects, I think, here and there, but the bumps on the
fruit seem to be under the skin. I think that the crystallized stuff is too big to be
honeydew. I've put a picture of it up he

http://www3.sympatico.ca/great/viralbynature.html

That one's up near the fruit stem, but they can be anywhere on the fruit.

I've gathered a few fallen fruit specimens and will 'autopsy' them to see if there are
clues inside. :-)

EV

sherwindu wrote:

I think dormant oil is just the first step. Unfortunately, if you want
clean fruit and a
healthy tree, you have to go on a regular spray schedule of insecticides and
fungicides.

The tree seems to be very healthy. It doesn't look sickly or damaged. The
leaves look good. The graft is good. Now, mind you, a little crown gall does
appear on some part of it every year. But I just cut it off.

I don't mind fruit with worms in it, actually. Provided there's not a lot of
frass, I just cut out the affected part and eat the rest. I wouldn't even be
freaked out if I ate a larva or two. In other parts of the world, stuff like
that is a source of protein ... and I'm not a vegetarian.

Is there any chance that the cold wet weather is contributing to the premature
fruit drop? Other than plum curculios and scale insects, is there any other bug
I should look out for?

I have had no luck with the organic sprays, but I'm sure I'll
get arguements from people that it works for them.

I'd like to know more about them, if anyone has more information.

I also wish people would identify their sources of supply when they get the
wrong
tree. I can almost understand getting the wrong rootstock, but even that is
unforgivable. We should hold these nurseries and suppliers to account to
clean up
their act. Lets publish their names, please.

I got the tree from White Rose, which is now out of business. They were an OK
nursery once upon a time.

Thanks for your comments.

EV





EV wrote:

I was totally blown away by the performance of a new Tehranivee
self-pollinating cherry that I planted in April of this year (zone 6).
It's a dwarf tree, and was only about 5 ft. tall when I planted it. I
was surprised when it flowered profusely in May, and shocked when
cherries began to develop. Some of them withered up and fell off, but
the little tree still managed to produce a bumper crop, several bowls
full, of juicy, sweet, crunchy, flavourful cherries. I don't know if I
just lucked out with this one tree, or if they're all this good. It's
supposed to be susceptible to cracking, but that didn't happen ... at
least not this year.

The prune plum is a whole other story. It was mislabelled as being an
apricot when I bought it in '96, and I didn't know that it wasn't an
apricot till it fruited a few years ago, so I don't know which cultivar
it is.

Last year it bore heavily, but dropped about a third of it's fruit
before it ripened. I lost half of what was left to various bugs in
various stages. And some of the fruit had what looked like crystallized
loops and nubs and dribbles of sap on them. What is that?

Last fall I pruned off all the water spouts that had grown and cut the
tree back to a manageable size, trying to recognize the fruit spurs.

This year the tree fruited even more heavily, but has dropped about 2/3
of its fruit, either green and shrivelled, purple and shrivelled, or
purple and hard. The crystallized stuff is on many of them too, and I
can see bumps and punctures on much of the fruit. If I get a dozen
edible plums, I'll be lucky. So much for the plum jam and the galettes.

I'm not big on pesticides and such, but will definitely be using dormant
oil this fall and next spring. Any comments, insights or suggestions on
the plum problems would be appreciated.

Thanks!

EV

There are pictures of the cherry tree in various stages, and some of the
other edibles in my garden, he
http://www3.sympatico.ca/great/tempee.html