When do plum trees produce fruit?

[kad613]

We have two Italian plum trees that are 5 years old and flower every spring but do not produce any fruit. Does anyone know how long it take before we see plums? I'd even be excited to see one or two plums come out.

 

[Marie]

Did you buy the trees as actual trees from a nursery, or did you plant the seeds from plums into the ground?

If you planted the seeds, they'll take about 5 years before they produce fruit, whereas if you bought maiden trees from a garden centre or nursery, they should be producing fruit within 2-3 years, depending on if your tree was 1 or 2 years old when you purchased them.

Are you sure they're being pollinated properly in the Spring? This happened to my apple trees this year : they've been producing bountiful crops of apples for about 2-3 years, but this Spring, I had tonnes of blossom, and now there are only a few apples growing.

 

[kad613]

We bought the trees from a nursery and I think they were about 2 years old. They are lovely trees and they are close to each other. We have so many bees and wasps around, I would expect they would have pollinated. We bought a cherry tree at the same time and it is producing fruit, so I'm not sure what's happening. Maybe we only have male flowers?

 

[Marie]

I would say that now your plum trees are old enough to fruit, you may have just been unlucky this year or last, due to other circumstances:

Do you know if they're self-fertile? Having two trees helps a lot, but self-fertile trees are known to produce a larger crop (especially when there are two in close range) and somewhat easier.

There are a few things I can think of off the top of my head:

Has there been a significant dry spell/drought in your area, this Spring? If they were under-watered during times like these, it can cause the trees to go into a sort of "survival mode", where they focus more on getting through the drought than setting fruit to reproduce.

Had you noticed any late, deep frosts, especially after the blossom/flowers had appeared? This can scorch the blossom, meaning that the fruit won't set.

(The above two are less likely as you mentioned your cherry tree is fine, though it depends whether they flowered at different times?)

Have you been adding feed/nutrients to your trees? Overfeeding can cause plants to grow excessively, producing lush leafage and wood at the expense of your fruit-crop.

Have the trees been pruned at all in the last 5 years?


If you can rule out most things, you may be able to establish why your plum trees aren't fruiting, and sort it for the next season. If it was a case of frost or drought, etc, the problem may fix itself and next year should be very bountiful!

Good luck; don't forget to let us know how you get on.

 

[headfullofbees]

Are your plum trees the same variety, and are they self-sterile?

You made need a tree of another, compatible variety to act as pollinator.

 

[kad613]

Both trees are the same variety and I'm thinking maybe they are both male. We never saw any fruit grow this year, despite the flowers. We may need to buy an older tree this fall or next spring and see what happens.

 

[headfullofbees]

Both trees are the same variety and I'm thinking maybe they are both male. We never saw any fruit grow this year, despite the flowers. We may need to buy an older tree this fall or next spring and see what happens.

Plum trees do not usually have gender.

If you let us know the variety, I'll try to find some suitable pollinators.

 

[headfullofbees]

http://www.paghat.com/yellowegg.html

 

[MindyT]

Thank you for the above information. It is very informative.
I had bought two plum trees two years ago. One had start to die after producing small plums. I was going to purchase another one to help the second tree with pollination. However, the second tree year started dying soon after. I think I will need to start again.