Plums are widespread for cooking, jam-making and bottling or canning, however the sweeter varieties are amongst our most scrumptious dessert fruits Damsons ripen a bit of later than most plums. The fruits are small, oval and richly flavoured, however probably not candy sufficient for the overall style for consuming uncooked. They’re, nonetheless, wonderful for cooking, preserves and bottling. Bullaces are small spherical fruits which ripen even later and are helpful on that account to elongate the season. Bullaces may be eaten uncooked however are wonderful for cooking. Gages are merely a category of plum with a attribute, and notably scrumptious, taste. Gages, bullaces and damsons are all grown in the identical means as plums
| Selection | Season | Fruit high quality | Crop | Particular remarks |
| Late Clear, greenish-yellow pores and skin, yellow flesh | Late Sept | Juicy and really candy with wealthy gage flavour | Average | Dessert. Good for the south, wants a wall |
| Laxton’s Cropper, reddish-purple to blue-black pores and skin, yellow flesh | Mid—late Sept | Agency, juicy | Good | Cooker. Hangs effectively on tree |
| Laxton’s Gage, golden-yellow pores and skin and flesh | Mid-Aug | Wealthy gage flavour however not the equal of ‘Cambridge Gage’ | Good, common | Dessert |
| Marjorie’s Seedling, blue-black pores and skin, yellow flesh | Late Sept—mid-Oct | Sweetish, reasonable flavour | Good, common | Twin-purpose. Cooks effectively |
| Merryweather Damson, purple pores and skin, yellow flesh | Sept—Oct | Average damson flavour | Heavy | Cooker. Self-compatible |
| Monarch, darkish purple pores and skin, pale yellow flesh | Late Sept | Somewhat flavourless however cooks effectively |
Irregular in |
Cooker |
| Previous Greengage, inexperienced pores and skin and flesh | Late Aug | Very good flavour | Unreliable | Dessert. Stays inexperienced when ripe |
| Ontario, greenish-yellow pores and skin, yellow flesh | Mid-Aug | Truthful flavour, juicy | Good | Dessert |
| Oullin’s Golden Gage, inexperienced to | Early—mid‑ | Truthful flavour, not very juicy. Not true | Truthful however | Dessert however good for bottling |
| yellow pores and skin, yellow flesh | Aug | gage high quality | common | |
| Pershore, yellow pores and skin and flesh | Late Aug | Somewhat mealy | Very heavy | Cooker, notably good for jam. Additionally picked inexperienced for cooking |
| Pond’s Seedling, darkish pink pores and skin, yellow flesh | Mid-Sept | Giant fruit, little flavour, cooks effectively | Truthful | Cooker |
| President, deep purple pores and skin, greenish-yellow flesh | Late Sept— October | Candy, pleasing flavour. Giant fruit | Irregular | Cooker however may be eaten as dessert |
| Purple Pershore, darkish purple pores and skin, yellow flesh | Mid—late Aug | Agency flesh, cooks effectively | Heavy | Cooker |
| River’s Early Prolific, blue‑purple pores and skin, yellow flesh | Late July | Candy with damson-like flavour | Good in some areas | Cooker, makes good pink plum jam. Often known as ‘Early Rivers’ |
| Severn Cross, greenish-yellow pores and skin and flesh | Late Sept | Candy, very juicy, reasonable flavour | Heavy | Twin-purpose |
| Shropshire Damson, blue-black pores and skin, greenish-yellow flesh | Late Sept | Glorious flavour | Average | Cooker. Self-compatible. Often known as ‘Prune Damson’ |
| Victoria, pink pores and skin, yellow flesh | Mid—late August | Truthful dessert flavour when totally ripe | Very heavy | Twin-purpose. Glorious for cooking and preserving |
| Warwickshire Drooper, yellow pores and skin and flesh | Mid-Sept | Simply acceptable as dessert when ripe | Good | Cooker. Glorious for jam and preserving |
| Washington, yellow pores and skin and flesh | Late Aug— Sept | Juicy, candy, scrumptious flavour | Irregular | Dessert |
| White Bullace, pale yellow pores and skin, yellow flesh | Oct—Nov | Lateness is its chief advantage | Good | Cooker. Self-compatible |
| Wyedale, reddish-blue pores and skin, yellow flesh | October | Mealy however cooks effectively | Good | Cooker |
Candy orange plums
Plums will develop in most components of the world however as they flower early they’re very weak to spring frosts. The choicer varieties deserve the safety of a wall the place safety from frost (and birds) can extra simply be given. They do greatest in districts the place the annual rainfall is between 50 and 90cm (20 and 35in). Damsons will reach areas having increased rainfall, and fewer sunshine, than plums will tolerate.
Plums want a well-drained soil and one containing loads of humus to carry moisture throughout the rising season. A really acid soil ought to be limed, however an alkaline soil shouldn’t be planted with plums. Plums (and different stone
fruits) do want calcium however they won’t prosper in an alkaline soil. Plum timber planted in skinny soils overlaying chalk typically undergo significantly from lime-induced iron deficiency.
No actually passable dwarfing rootstock has but been discovered for plums. The 2 least vigorous are frequent plum and St Julien ‘A’; the previous, nonetheless, is barely suitable with sure varieties. Bushes grown on these root shares are generally described as ‘semi-dwarf’ however, even so, an ordinary or half-standard could be too giant for the common backyard, and even a bush-type tree requires a spacing of 4-5m (12-15ft) (on Brompton or Myrobalan ‘B’ rootstock, 6-7m [18-20ft]).
As a result of plums don’t produce fruiting spurs as apples and pears do, they aren’t so amenable to coaching, and are seldom passable as cordons or espaliers. They could, nonetheless, be grown as followers, for wall-training or with the assist of posts and horizontal wires, however root-pruning will most likely be essential each 5 years or so to restrain development and preserve fruiting. A fan tree on St Julien ‘A’ rootstock ought to be allotted a minimum of 5m (15ft) of wall house.
Plums might also be grown as semidwarf pyramids on St Julien ‘A’ rootstock and this can be a type, which is greatest for the small backyard. Such a tree requires a spacing of three.3m (10ft) and, as it should by no means be allowed to develop a lot over 3m (9ft) in top, it’s attainable to rearrange some type of cage or netting excessive of the tree to maintain off birds, which can in any other case harm the fruit. An extra benefit is that the branches of a pyramid seldom break and there may be thus much less chance of an infection by illness.
For coaching as a pyramid a maiden ought to be planted within the traditional means and the next March it ought to be headed again to 1.6m (5ft). Any laterals above 45cm (18in) from soil stage ought to be shortened by half and any arising decrease down the stem ought to be reduce off totally. In the direction of the tip of July or early in August, when new development has completed, reduce department leaders to 20cm (8in), making the reduce to a bud pointing downwards or outwards. Lower laterals again to 16cm (6in). Repeat this process yearly. Go away the central chief untouched in summer time however in April of the second yr reduce it again to one-third of its size. Repeat this yearly, reducing the brand new development again by two-thirds till a top of 3m (9ft) is attained. After that shorten the brand new development on the central chief to 2.5cm (1in) or much less every Might.
Plant plums within the traditional means between November and March, the earlier the higher, all the time supplied the soil is friable. Stake securely and put down mulch to protect soil moisture.
A longtime plum wants loads of nitrogen however, till good crops are being carried, on most soils will probably be enough to present a lightweight mulch of rotted farmyard manure or backyard compost in spring, and prick this evenly into the floor the following autumn. When good crops are being borne, the yearly mulch could also be supplemented with 28g (1oz) per dressing of Nitro-chalk and 14g (0.5oz) per sq. m sq. yd) of sulphate of potash, given in February. Each third yr, add 28g (1oz) per sq. m sq. ft) of superphosphate. The place no manure or backyard compost is out there, peat could also be used as mulch and the dose of Nitro-chalk doubled.
The wooden of plum timber naturally tends to be brittle and branches typically break in late summer time gales when the crop is heavy. Thinning of the fruit will assist to stop this type of breakage, and it’s also advisable to rearrange some type of assist for extra-heavily laden branches on bush-type timber. Picket props could also be fastened beneath branches (effectively padding the purpose of assist) or a tall, sturdy central pole may be erected and branches supported from this by ropes, maypole trend.
Dessert plums ought to be left on the tree till fairly ripe after which picked by taking maintain of the stalk in order that the place. They are going to hold for a few weeks or so.
