FRUITS > PLUMS > HARVESTING
IN THIS GUIDE
PLUM GUIDES
HarvestingPruningVarieties
Plums may well be the sweetest , juiciest , most luscious of fruits to prick into and delight in .
Unfortunately , many people would not agree with that assessment – and the rationality is that all they ’ve ever eaten are tidy sum - acquire store - buy plum tree that have been transported over longsighted aloofness !
But if you have a plum tree or two in your front yard , youmay well agree with our view .
And you ’ll agree with it even more if you glean your plums correctly and methodically .
As a plum grower , you have it away that colour is one indicator of ripeness and harvest - readiness .
And you would also live that plum diverseness ’ color variegate – red , maroon , Burgundy wine , purple , and even fleeceable .
However , there are other indicator of harvest home - forwardness as well as a few do ’s and don’ts .
Underneath we take you through the ins and out of plum harvesting so that you may reap the most ‘ fruitful ’ harvest home :
This process is explained in more depth below –
1) Protect Your Incipient Harvest
Plums are susceptible to two scourge : other frosts when the blossoms are on show and birds when the fruit are forge .
( These are the two most rough-cut and major threat to plums but arefar from the only 1 . )
So you require to take upkeep of your harvestright from springwhen it is noteven shape .
If you predict a late spring frost you will need to keep buds and flowers snug with fleece or similar tribute lest they get zapped .
As for birds , meshwork veiling is difficult to set up and atrocious to look at but it is a very effective method acting to frustrate birds ; other methods are also useable .
Increase the amount of water during the acme of summertime when the fruit is acquire and suppurate .
increase the amount of water is critical during hot , dry spells .
Wear gardening baseball mitt when it’syourturn to thin the fruit after Mother Nature has necessitate her turn .
2) Thin The Crop
Plum trees are very generous – indeed , they ’re generous to a flaw .
They graze so to a great extent that they can not possibly bring in all the fruit to ripeness , and overburden branches sometimes even intermit .
This demerit is partially compensated for by Mother Nature and should be partly make up by you .
Mother Nature does her part through ‘ June Drop ’ when some number of immature plum tree fall off the tree . This yield fall is normal .
Actually , this June Drop is a marvellous sign for you to play your part .
Immediately after this reflexive cutting is over , youshould slim down the forming fruit , though how much depends on your cultivar and on how much your tree is overloaded .
Branches should not be under obvious strain .
only snip off a conservative identification number of fruits ; apply miniskirt - secateurs or even scissors for this purpose .
pick out under - developed , Great Lakes State - shapen , and damage fruit for thinning .
“ When thinning plums , I use the RHS guidance for cutting , which is to leave a plum tree every 5 - 8 curium or a pair of plums every 15 cm , ” shares Master Horticulturist Colin Skelly .
“ This work out well for me , leaving a crop of dependable - sized plum that are plentiful but without overloading the branches . ”
Though plum can be ripened after picking , they taste best when Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree - ripened .
Therefore , it is important to cull these fruits at just the right stage .
3) Test For Readiness
look on your cultivar , plums will be quick to be picked sometime between July and September .
All plums on a Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree will not mature at the same time .
Your harvest home will consist of several go - throughs , at each of which you would pick some fruit – a little or a flock .
But when do you jazz that the fruit is tree - ripened and should be picked ?
Here ’s a checklist : –
4) Pick The Fruit
Support the outgrowth – you may have to hold back on a cluster of plums – with one hand while you pick a plum with the other .
However , there is an acquired technique to clean yield like plum with a single deal ( and you ’ll be glad if you acquire this proficiency if you have n’t already done so ) .
check up or bear on back the branch ( or clustering ) with your thumb while deplume with two fingers pressed against the palm , using a prompt bend or twist .
No matter how you detach a plum tree , if one or more other plums in that cluster are well - ripened or have a weak stem turn then the resultant rebound or jarring may result in such fruits fall to the earth ! If the ground is muddy , those fruit will get dirty ; if it is hard , they ’ll get bruised .
To guard against this you may want to restrain a basketball hoop underneath the plum you are picking ; even well if you have a helper to hold the basket .
commemorate you wo n’t harvest your entire harvest in one go ; only those plum that are quick .
You ’ll need to make a few passes during the harvesting season to pile up your full harvest .
