What do do with my plum tree

sebrightlover

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I have a plum tree - It probably is an ornamental - but when the frost doesn't kill it, we get lots of little oblong red plums that are good!

My problem is that it has started to split. Do you prune off the side that seems to be weaker or what? I will try to get some pics tomorrow in the daylight if possible.

I would love some advise on what to prune back, etc, or to just chop the sucker down if it's too far gone. I wish I had some pics of the plums so y'all might be able to tell me which kind they are.

They kinda look like these - but redder http://www.theproducehunter.com/temp/FrenchPrunePlum3b.jpg
 

Reinbeau

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sebrightlover said:
I have a plum tree - It probably is an ornamental - but when the frost doesn't kill it, we get lots of little oblong red plums that are good!

My problem is that it has started to split. Do you prune off the side that seems to be weaker or what? I will try to get some pics tomorrow in the daylight if possible.

I would love some advise on what to prune back, etc, or to just chop the sucker down if it's too far gone. I wish I had some pics of the plums so y'all might be able to tell me which kind they are.

They kinda look like these - but redder http://www.theproducehunter.com/temp/FrenchPrunePlum3b.jpg
How thick is the trunk? Where is the split? Pruning may help, if you really want to keep the tree I would contact an arborist who may be able to wire the tree in such a way to strengthen it and prevent more splitting.
 

Rio_Lindo_AZ

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try getting a piece of cord and wrap it around the split then prune the piece that is still getting weaker. :D
 

sebrightlover

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Hubby went out and checked the tree today -- seems that it has started to rot too. So we'll probably just cut it down and start over.

Gives me an excuse to get my dwarf apricot and dwarf apple trees ;)
 

Nifty

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A little off topic, but why do people choose dwarf fruit trees over the regular variety? Maybe I just don't understand how small "dwarf" really is, but when I was really young my dad had a dwarf orange tree and put so much work into the thing to get 5 oranges a year.
 

patandchickens

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Well Rob maybe it's different for apples versus oranges, ha ha ha ha ha :p

I can tell you that the appeal of dwarf (or, really, anything other than full-sized) apple trees is that a) you can fit 'em more easily onto a city or suburban sized lot, and more importantly b) all of the fruit is down low enough you can pick it. A full sized apple tree at maturity will be producing most of its fruit up where you have no possible shot at getting to it. Which ends up as rotting insect-infested windfall cluttering the lawn and making mowing horrible. Same with peach trees. Dunno from personal experience about any of the other tree fruits.

Is it possible that your father's dwarf orange was either just very young or in poor health? Or maybe it *is* different w/oranges, dunno.

Pat, with three (very young still) semi-dwarf apple trees, more because of the 'inaccessible fruit' issue and because I want 'em to remain wind-sheltered by the house than because of lack of land per se, although there is an element of that too
 

sebrightlover

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I live within city limits and have a 0.4 acre lot ... so to have more than 1 tree, I will have to have dwarfs.

Plus, I'll be doing the miniature citrus trees in pots this year if I get my way ;)
 

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