Stone fruit trees (forum)

Front Yard Honey starts with ...
I have an existing plum and nectarine tree.
They have not produced fruit after 3 seasons.
I think i need to plant 'companion' trees.
Do they have to be exactly the same variety or fruit?

Time: 13th April 2018 3:44pm

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About the Author Front Yard Honey
Caulfield North
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Fruitylicious1 says...
Hi FYH

Do you know what plum/nectarine varieties you have or have you seen their fruits? The reason i am asking is you might unwittingly buy the same varieties as your existing one hence you will be back to square one. Second question, are they grafted or seedling grown? Seedling grown will take more time to reach full production.

Yes, you will need a compatible pollinator for your trees unless they are self fertile but still a pollinator around will be greatly beneficial for fruit set even for self fertile varieties.

Since you haven't mentioned what variety of plum/nectarine you have i suggest you visit the plum pollination chart site https://www.flowerworldusa.com/images/Pollination_Plum.pdf

Happy gardening :-)

Time: 14th April 2018 5:18pm

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Original Post was last edited: 14th April 2018 5:33pm

About the Author Fruitylicious1
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David01 says...
Hi Front Yard Honey,

Do you have the name of the fruit trees? and Photos as it will help to identify the problem. Cheers.

Time: 14th April 2018 5:32pm

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About the Author David01
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brad16 says...
There are very few self-fertile plums or nectarines, so the idea of planting another one is so that they can 'cross-pollinate'.

The idea of cross-pollination is that they exchange pollen with a different 'plant'. It's the plant way of preventing in-breeding.

If you look at it as though two trees of the same cultivar are the 'same tree' it is easy to remember. That's not too far from the truth, as a grafted named cultivar is a piece of the original tree growing on another one.

So in short:

No, they don't have to be the same variety. Infact they ought to be a different one.

Different varieties of plums and nectarines can flower at different times. Depending on the one you have, choose another one that interests you from the list that most retailers recommend for cross-pollination.

Time: 15th April 2018 12:16pm

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About the Author brad16
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brad16 says...
Just had another interesting thought.

Both plums and nectarines belong to the Prunus genus. Have you ever seen either of them flower?

You may have noticed that interspecific fruit of crossed, plum/nectarine/apricot/cherry etc. have become quite trendy. If your trees have flowered before, and they flower at the same time, you could try to hand pollinate them both together (ie. your plum with your nectarine). I haven't had any experience doing that myself, so I don't know how much of a success rate you can achieve with it. Fruits like Necta-Plums, Pluots etc. are proof that they can interbreed, but their pollination success rate is unknown to me. It may be that it often works, or rarely works. I've never tried.

Edit: I'm not saying the cross pollination of plums and nectarines will produce a new Necta-Plum type of fruit. Only the tree that grows from the resulting seed will do that. The fruit on your plum or nectarine tree will be a plum or nectarine.
If you want to see what is created by crossing the genes of your two trees, you will have to plant the seed and grow the tree. When that tree produces fruit you will see what the result was.

Time: 15th April 2018 1:07pm

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Original Post was last edited: 15th April 2018 1:15pm
About the Author brad16
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Fruitylicious1 says...
Hi FYH

There is also an age old method of forcing shy bearing fruit trees to flower and fruit called cincturing. It is cutting a small portion of bark around the branch(es). It temporarily stops the flow of photosynthesize sugars to the roots. This forces the cinctured branch to flower. At the same time the roots are being deprived temporarily of food hence root growth slows down. Timing is crucial. Month of April is your last chance to do it. You can't do it during the dormant season because disease might enter the wounds. Cincturing is only applicable if your plant is self pollinating or a compatible pollinator is nearby.

Happy gardening :-)

Time: 17th April 2018 6:54am

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Original Post was last edited: 17th April 2018 6:56am

About the Author Fruitylicious1
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