Chickasaw/sand plum

[Bluestone]

Hey everyone. Fortunate enough over the last week to gather up some delicious Chickasaw plums. I would like to attempt to grow some from the seeds of the plums I have brought home.

According to OKSU, seeds need a cold stratification period. Question for the group - can I place seeds in a moist paper towel in the fridge now and then place in soil in 6 to 8 weeks and expect germination a few weeks after that?(this would be around mid august when the seeds would be removed from fridge)

Other question was what could I expect if I directly sowed a seed into a one gallon pot now (mid June). Would germination occur when the soil warms next spring? (8 or 9 months from now).

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[The Fishman]

In 2020, I collected about five Chickasaw plum pits and didn't know what to do with them. I just stuck them in a flower pot with another plant that I regularly watered. In March 2021, one of them germinated. In June 2021, I collected about 100 plum pits and put them into cold storage with a moist paper towel for 60 days after reading this paper. I pulled half of the pits out in late August and planted them. I kept them watered over the winter and 5 came up this spring and have done nothing. The largest one is 5" tall. I kept the remaining 50 in the fridge over the winter and planted them in February. I now have about 20 18-24" seedlings doing great. I collected another 100 plums last weekend and I will keep them in the fridge until February. The researcher doing the study at OSU only had 31% germination when she planted them after 60 days.

 

[Bluestone]

In 2020, I collected about five Chickasaw plum pits and didn't know what to do with them. I just stuck them in a flower pot with another plant that I regularly watered. In March 2021, one of them germinated. In June 2021, I collected about 100 plum pits and put them into cold storage with a moist paper towel for 60 days after reading this paper. I pulled half of the pits out in late August and planted them. I kept them watered over the winter and 5 came up this spring and have done nothing. The largest one is 5" tall. I kept the remaining 50 in the fridge over the winter and planted them in February. I now have about 20 18-24" seedlings doing great. I collected another 100 plums last weekend and I will keep them in the fridge until February. The researcher doing the study at OSU only had 31% germination when she planted them after 60 days.

That’s awesome feedback on your experience. Did you just keep them wrapped in a moist paper towel by itself or was the paper towel in a plastic bag?

What size pots did you put the seeds in this February?

 

[b116757]

I’ve been dabbling with some Mexican plum pits but my germination rate has been poor also. I’m thinking this fall I’m just going to order 10 or so seedlings from Wildlife Group.

 

[The Fishman]

I lightly wet the paper towel and then squeeze it out as much as possible. I put the paper towel in a small plastic storage container, put the pits on the towel, and folded the other half of the towel over the pits so the pits are sandwiched in the towel. Once in the fridge, you will get a little bit of moisture on the container. I checked on them about once a month.

I have a couple of raised beds for growing trees and I put the plum pits in the raised bed. They will grow quick.

 

[buckdeer1]

Sandhill plums spread by roots.I found it was easier to buy bareroot from Kansas or MO forestry.I have around 9 big patches but strangly enough not a plum on any of this year and i think every other year they have been loaded.Same goes for a couple other properties that I checked on

 

[TreeDaddy]

Sandhill plums spread by roots.I found it was easier to buy bareroot from Kansas or MO forestry.I have around 9 big patches but strangly enough not a plum on any of this year and i think every other year they have been loaded.Same goes for a couple other properties that I checked on

I have had great success with sandhill seedlings from kansas forestry

They seem to laugh at east texas summer heat/drought

bill

 

[b116757]

I have some native plums on the one farm already that forms thickets, I likely have some on the other one also. I am interested in the Mexican because they don’t make thickets not that thickets are a bad thing but I’d like to drop a few plum trees throughout the place that are more for nutritional value and stay where I put them.

 

[buckdeer1]

I always thought the mexican were the same as sandhills

 

[b116757]

Mexican Plum is non-thicket forming

 

[TreeDaddy]

Mexican plums are native to east texas

I "discovered" several today along with many large red mulberry trees

I was inspired by SD's " no buy trees" thread

bill

 

[Bluestone]

Sandhill plums spread by roots.I found it was easier to buy bareroot from Kansas or MO forestry.I have around 9 big patches but strangly enough not a plum on any of this year and i think every other year they have been loaded.Same goes for a couple other properties that I checked on

That’s right. I have dug several root suckers and transplanted with success in mid February. Just wanted to try the seeds since I have them and the cost is minimal.

 

[bigboreblr]

Peat moss is another popular choice instead of paper towels in the fridge. Some people use sand in general instead of soil to cover the plant, because its easier for the shoot to pop out.

Not sure if squirrels and chipmuns bother plums. However, general tree seeding is done with a bugscreen or other fine mesh to cover it, so they dont get dug up. Possums and skunks are a problem in my tree nursery area. They like to find moist easy to dig soil to get worms.

 

[Bluestone]

Wanted to update this thread for anyone trying to learn in the future.

In June of this year, I placed the pits/seeds in moist sand inside of a ziplock bag and put them in the fridge. I checked on them yesterday and saw that a dozen or so out of around 30 had sprouted and were sending a radicle down after 5.5 months.

Today I took those that had a radicle and placed them in rootmaker 18s outdoors. Will see how they do.

I also took a few hardwood cuttings last week and placed in a pot outdoors for curiosities sake.

 

[buckdeer1]

We didn't have plums this year due to drought.I have probably 10 acres planted everyway from rows to random patches

 

[buckdeer1]

I was looking for a different chickasaw plum thread and noticed it mention stratification and I am thinking I heard someplace that they required scarification like cedar. I was going to plant several more big patches but kansas is already out of stock.I think I will move some with my tree spade

 

[Bluestone]

They do require stratification. The seeds I had stratifying since June that germinated in December are outside and top growth is occurring on 11 of 11 seeds. I have them outdoors in rootmaker 18s. I do bring them indoors in an unheated garage if temperatures drop below 25 or so. As the Fishman pointed out above, it appears that the longer stratification period produces better results than a brief stratification period.

 

[buckdeer1]

Ok,I just was thinking they fell under scarification.I think I will stay with bareroot