American Plum?
- Thread starter SwampCat
- Start date
rocksnstumps
5 year old buck +
I have american plum at home and at property but cant comment much on ph as my soils are high 5s and maybe low 6ish.
Fruit is about 1.25 inch with some smaller. On heavier soil or at least good access to water they can grow moderately well in zone 5a. On well drained sandy loam up on a hill they are SLOW, that is zone 4b/4a. Thicket forming in those conditions after 17 yrs......ah no. Down by road ditches and water they can start to clump up some.
Down in your part of the country expect they drop fruit and long gone before hunting seasons. Had plums in my yard in NE Texas and they dropped early June. Was about 15 miles from Oklahoma line.
Fruit is about 1.25 inch with some smaller. On heavier soil or at least good access to water they can grow moderately well in zone 5a. On well drained sandy loam up on a hill they are SLOW, that is zone 4b/4a. Thicket forming in those conditions after 17 yrs......ah no. Down by road ditches and water they can start to clump up some.
Down in your part of the country expect they drop fruit and long gone before hunting seasons. Had plums in my yard in NE Texas and they dropped early June. Was about 15 miles from Oklahoma line.
Hoytvectrix
5 year old buck +
I planted some that I bought from Missouri Conservation as bare root seedlings. We planted them near a food plot that is around a 7.8 for pH. With 5 foot tree tubes, they were growing out the top of the tubes in two years. Probably our biggest success in terms of bare root seedlings from MDC.
Ours are not fruiting and may be several years from it, but on an adjacent property in the area, the plums are about quarter sized or ping pong ball sized. They seem to form a thicket and all kinds of wildlife are found in there.
I'm a huge fan of them so far and am looking to plant more each year.
Ours are not fruiting and may be several years from it, but on an adjacent property in the area, the plums are about quarter sized or ping pong ball sized. They seem to form a thicket and all kinds of wildlife are found in there.
I'm a huge fan of them so far and am looking to plant more each year.
Turkey Creek
5 year old buck +
In the Midwest they grow like weeds in some areas. They generally sucker quite a bit and form thickets in this area, good bedding cover and escape cover for quail and pheasants from aerial predators. The soil in most of this part of the country tends to be calcareous and thus neutral to slightly basic. Deer dont ear them here, rabbits will sometimes chew on them in the winter. For the most part nobody sprays them here for disease or insects, basically because they are native. Bagworms and Blackknot will infect them.
PatinPA
5 year old buck +
Just planted some last year from the Missouri DNC. I planted them in groups of 5 and caged. They looked pretty good at the end of the year. Looking forward to this years growth. I planted some in a very wet, not full sun area and some in a dryer, rocky, full sun area. So it will be a decent comparison. My pH sucks 4.7ish.
I have some native Mexican plums around. They are the edge of a woods tree. One of the first native trees to bloom here. Usually, they are not that prolific bearing fruit - maybe because none of mine are in full sun. Small fruit here - not quite nickel in size with a long drop period - over a month - maybe two. I dont notice that anything eats them - and since they dont all get ripe at once, I cant get enough for jelly. They are very tart tasting and have a large pit for their size.
b116757
5 year old buck +
I have no real experience with them just looked like they maybe an ok tree to add to the property. I like the fact that they don’t sucker and create thickets. I did find what I think maybe a wild Mexican plum tree in the understory this winter while releasing oak trees. I’m very much looking forward to this early spring to see if it blooms. I was just looking at it again yesterday while walking around looking for some more oaks to release in the next couple weekends before planting season arrives.
PrairieShadow
5 year old buck +
I've got 100 (I think) coming this spring. I'd like to think I they will do well on my place which is generally high PH. I'll probably do groups of them and then cage the group with chicken wire and a 3 T posts.
I think these have been in the ground about 5 years. They were 18-24 inches when planted. They are now about 10ft high and fruiting heavy. They are spreading thick from root suckers everywhere under the trees. Soil is good neutral peat planted near edge of a pond.
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PrairieShadow
5 year old buck +
Did you cage them or just leave them be?
4wanderingeyes
5 year old buck +
How much do the deer browse them, especially the root suckers? I have 25 on order, and I have about a 1 acre hillside I wanted to plant them on. I assume it will over take tht hillside and create a thick thicket. But do deer use the thick thicket?
Diesel5610
5 year old buck +
I have not noticed deer browsing mine but they will rub the hell out of them, like almost everything else I plant if I don’t cage it. They have busted every one of mine off once they hit 3-4’ high. The roots just throw up new growth so I think it will be ok eventually. I just ordered another 10 that I am going to plant in a tree tube to let them get a bit bigger and ahead of the deer.
I have not noticed any browsing on these in SE WI. It is a low deer area but they browse the dogwoods a little 10 yards from the plums. My land in Rusk county the plums are not doing nearly as well. Not sure if deer browsed them or it is just not as good of soil. I lost a quite a few. I planted mine 8 ft apart 2 rows. I wish I would of went wider, they are growing into each other. They are so thick and root suckered so much I honestly think a deer would not walk thru that wall. Maybe when they get bigger they will thin out on the bottom. They also have some pretty good thorns.
At home no cages. Hunting property I put them in tubes. I didn't like the results with the tubes, just seemed too cramped in the tube. I also had something pull a bunch of the tubes over. I think they will do better caged.
rocksnstumps
5 year old buck +
Well I can validate they grow s-l-o-w-e-r than a 3 legged turtle in Kennan bouldery fine sandy loam. I will not plant any more after planting for several yrs over 15 yrs ago. There were some actually growing wild in the fence row in places when I bought the place. Based on their original size and how little they have changed over the yrs would guess they take decades to do much here. I will not waste my time on them ever again. As usual YMMV but have to report I have as much respect for them like some folks like tubes or politicians.
