plum trees

Carla says...
When leaves go yellow it's usually a nutrient deficient problem. Whether it's just hungry for a total food-fertilizer or lacking in a certain element, it's showing you something is not right. Plum trees are prolific in flowering and fruiting and need to be top dressed at least twice a year in the growing season. As I am a organic grower I use blood & bone, Dynamic lifter, a dash of wood ash ( I have a wood stove) and heaps of mulch. To apply, I walk all around my tree and throw handfuls of B/bone & D/lifter. Epsom salts is used when a plant is Magnesium (Mg)deficient - visual symptons are chlorosis of leaves followed by yellowing between the leaf veins.

Carla says...
Hello Denise,
Growing seedling fruit trees can either be hit or miss. Most fruit tree seedlings do not come true to their parents, instead they have there own distinctive features (like us humans, we are simular to our parents, but not exact). So maybe your plums could be worse, simular or even better than the orginal parent. It's certainly worth trailing out because seedling plums can start fruiting from approx 5 years on. Also I am a bit concerned that maybe you might have rootstock suckers instead of seedlings ( you meationed they were growing from around the trunk). Ask your source are the parent blood plums grafted onto a plum rootstock (we use mariana plum),did the plants lift out easily from the soil or were they attached to the trunk. Plums quite often will grow suckers from the rootstock.
No 2 - Sulphate of potash (potassium) is known to improve the quality of flower & fruit production, colour and minimises diseases such as blackspot, rust and powdery mildew. As Australian soils are low in potassium it would certainly improve your soil quality. Also Organic certifing bodies allow the use of sulfate of potash.

Gabbie says...
I have a blood plum tree in Grafton NSW a subtropical area I dont get much frost here
Will I get any fruit?
Thanks
Gabbie

Athan says...
I live in Sydney. I moved into a house which has a Lemon, Orange, Plum, Mango, Peach/Nectarine. They are all unhealthy and I dont know why, could I get a quick snapshot of advice

Mango-Leaves are yellow, flowering fruits parts are yellow...no fruit
Lemons-Thick skin, when you cut open are brown and rotten inside, lots of fruit
Plums-Black holes, when you cut open rotten and a little grub inside, lots of fruit
Orange-thick skin and rotten inside like the lemon, little fruit

Cheryne says...
My husband over pruned the plum tree to trunks, they are probably about 1.5 meters high and they were originally about 4 meters high. I can see some buds on them so I know they aren't completely dead. Will they grow back? He pruned them about 5 months ago.

tim8610 says...
Hi Athan,

thick skin and yellow leaves on citrus indicate your soil is deficient in Nitrogen, Phosphorus, or both... you need to add a fertilizer rich in these elements and mulch around the base of your trees with lots of organic matter, rotten and grubs inside sounds like they are being stung by fruit flies. you can buy fruit fly spray at any nursary or hardware. do not spray when the tree is flowering you will kill our all important bees, simply spray young fruit just before it starts to colour and ripen. you can also buy and make fruit fly traps.

Edward3 says...
I assume you want to graft the cuttings onto some plum rootstock you already have? If so, grafting of plum trees is best done at the end of winter/early spring before bud burst. The scions should be pencil thick and about 15 cm long with 3 to 4 buds. Check the technique on Youtube. If you are grafting onto an established plum tree, I found bark grafting particularly effective. Good luck.