Fertilising plum with apricot and vice-versa

[ChingfordHarry]

Hi

last year I grafted a couple of plums (Cambridge Gage and Coe's Golden Drop) successfully (VVA1 rootstock) and had two of each that looked really healthy. I put one of each into my allotment next to each other, both came into leaf but one appears to have died, and the spare two that were still in pots have not come into leaf this year.

I also have a Flavorcot close by, and a couple of Hunza apricots and two of what I call "Turkish sweet apricots" grown from stones - all produce blossom (and after ~20 years I have the first fruit on one of the Hunzas).

I know that various plum/apricot crosses are available to buy (pluots, apriplums, etc), but I was wondering; part of my original reasoning for having both Cambridge Gage & Coe's Golden Drop was for pollination purposes, to get a crop of each. Given that I now only have one plum, does anyone here have any direct experience of plums and apricots pollinating each other? I ask because it will certainly take another couple of years for me to graft and grow replacement plums.

[ameno]

They won't pollinate each other.
For starters, they flower at different times usually, but more importantly, as far as I am aware European plums and apricots are not compatible. Those plum/apricot crosses are between apricots and oriental plums (Prunus salicina, a completely different species). Outside of Europe, oriental plums are actually far more widely grown than European, because they are larger and less prone to bruising, and even in Europe are starting to take over. The big spherical plums you often see in supermarkets are these.

[Snoop Puss]

Helpful info, ameno. I hadn't realised the big spherical ones were so different. Not such a good flavour in my view. I shall be careful to avoid them. Thanks.

[ChingfordHarry]

Ah, okay. I see from a bit of searching that P. Armenica (apricot) and P. Salicina are both diploid (like us...) but P. Domestica (European plum) is hexaploid (has six sets of chromosomes) - a difference in ploidity is often associated with an incompatibility.

i suppose I'll have to rely on other plums on the allotment for pollination. From what I can gather, as long as they're within about 30m I should be okay.

[ameno]

Helpful info, ameno. I hadn't realised the big spherical ones were so different. Not such a good flavour in my view. I shall be careful to avoid them. Thanks.

In my experience, the oriental plums can be as nice or nicer than European plums, with very fragrant, sweet, juicy fruit.
The problem is that the ones you buy in supermarkets are often picked too early (especially the cheaper ones), and will never properly ripen or develop their full flavour.
You could try growing one yourself, but apparently they prefer warmer climates than we tend to get here, and thus cropping here can be a bit unreliable.

[Snoop Puss]

Thanks, ameno. I've only ever had them from a supermarket. I will see if I can fit an oriental one in.

[ameno]

Thanks, ameno. I've only ever had them from a supermarket. I will see if I can fit an oriental one in.

Even the supermarket ones can be good, but only the expensive ones. I've never had nice cheap ones.
Much like supermarket peaches and apricots, they are also rather seasonal, and you are most likely to get good ones during the peak season, whereas early or late in the season they are more likely to be poor quality and not ripen properly.

[Nicos]

I thought pluots were possible?
Never seen them commercially though.

[ameno]

I thought pluots were possible?
Never seen them commercially though.

I mentioned it in my first reply, but the plum parent of a pluot is a different species of plum.
We grow the European plum (Prunus domestica), whereas the plum parent of a pluot is the Asian plum (Prunus salicina).

[ChingfordHarry]

I once bought some pluots from a supermarket and wasn't terribly impressed - from what I remember, they were so similar in taste to an oriental plum that I couldn't really taste the difference (no prizes for guessing which store I think I bought them from), but they commanded a definite price premium. Once bitten...

wikipedia has interesting stuff on plum/apricot crosses, and it might be reliable...