Plum Grafting

[Tickrancher]

i

The Tick Ranch is loaded with wild plums that ripen in mid-summer. Grafting Waneta, Ozark Premier and Alderman scions should both extend the season another month and provide some take home fruit. So far, so good. Five out of six grafts took. I haven't seen this idea mentioned on any deer habitat sites but if you have native plums it might be worth a try.

 

[chickenlittle]

Interesting. I don't know plums much. What kinds of disease resistance are important for your area? Are the varieties you used self-pollinating or compatible with wild plum?

 

[Tickrancher]

I'm learning too. The American plum is very tough, at least in Ralls County Missouri. It is unclear to me if this is because of an inherent disease resistace or because my soil and climate are ideal for plums. Occasionally you see a tree that has some gummy sap oozing from the trunk but the fruit and leaves look healthy. Plum don't seem to be affected by fire blight or cedar rust like apples. The scions were selected based on their disease resistance and should be the among the best of the improved varieties. How they perform in a semi-wild setting is still a question. Any recommendations of hardy plum varieties would be welcome. I didn't put a lot of thought into pollination and expect that they are compatible. In addition to the American plums there are several Mexican plums growing wild nearby, throw in the 3 grafted varieties and pollination should take care of itself.

 

[g squared 23]

I put a mess of american plum in this spring for cover, but now you have me thinking they might just be rootstock


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