Plum Blossom not setting...

[sarah_h]

Hi,

I have a 3 year old Victoria and it was covered in blossom a few weeks back. I noticed that as the flowers began to die back that no fruits had set. I can't believe it, the tree was covered. I fleeced it on cold and frosty nights and I even polinated (So I thought) with a small brush! So what's gone wrong? Any ideas?

[Flummery]

They need bees to pollinate them. Our damson was full of the small 'miner' or solitary bees that inhabit the sloping grass edges to our road. If you don't have pollinators, there's not much you can do. you need plants in the garden to attract bees (google will find you a good list) but you also need a lack of high wind at the critical time - if it's windy the bees don't fly.

It's not anything you've done - let's hope for better bee populations next year.

[sarah_h]

Ahh I see, although I was under the impression that I could do their job with a fine bristled brush? I suppose there's no substitute for the real thing...

More flowers required then

[FB.]

Despite the very pleasant spring, pollinators are becoming very scarce. I didn't see a single bee on my Victoria this year. I am waiting to see whether the (now petal-less) flower stalks turn into fruit or not. There are quite a few potential plums in among the remaind of the central part of the flowers (the size of grains of wheat), but will they drop, or fail to develop?
I don't see why a brush wouldn't pollinate the flowers. Perhaps you had a bad frost that killed them? Having said that, we haven't had any frosts here and Victoria seems to tolerate slight frosts without affecting the crop.

Give it a bit more time and see what happens.

[SueA]

I think Victoria is a self-pollinator so your 'brushing' should have done the trick but they do produce more fruit when they cross-pollinate & obviously bees are better at it than us! Also if you didn't do it at exactly the right time when the pollen was ripe etc. it may not have taken. I'm worried about my apples & cherries as we haven't had many bees & have been trying to pollinate with a paintbrush but I think I've left it too late as the blossoms are blowing off the trees.

[stevemac]

I have a victoria plum tree as well.It had loads of flowers on which have dissapeared with little "green blobs" left behind.
Can someone please confirm if this is the start of the fruit?It does look like chillies do at the start so i assume/hope it is.

[Flummery]

Yes they are stevemac.

A plant which is self fertile as I understand it, means that its own pollen will do the trick, rather than pollen from another tree. However, I think it's better done by bees. It's tricky with a paintbrush to do as well (or as much) as an insect that can reach everywhere.

[stevemac]

Thanks Flummery

[FB.]

I have a victoria plum tree as well.It had loads of flowers on which have dissapeared with little "green blobs" left behind.
Can someone please confirm if this is the start of the fruit?It does look like chillies do at the start so i assume/hope it is.

Yes, they are baby fruits. Don't get your hopes too high at the moment because some or all of them will be damaged, dropped by the tree in early summer when they're about half-inch long.

[FB.]

Yes they are stevemac.

A plant which is self fertile as I understand it, means that its own pollen will do the trick, rather than pollen from another tree. However, I think it's better done by bees. It's tricky with a paintbrush to do as well (or as much) as an insect that can reach everywhere.

Yes, a self-fertile plant is capable of pollinating with it's own pollen. However, self-pollinated fruits are often of lower quality because the tree doesn't really want inbred pips/seeds growing in the fruit and such fruits would have been "dropped" in favour of properly pollinated fruits, if proper pollination had occurred.
Self-pollinated fruits can be mis-shapen, small and generally not as good quality.

[Flummery]

So you really do want the bees - and bees that have roamed a bit too.

[FB.]

So you really do want the bees - and bees that have roamed a bit too.

I've spent many hours watching bees crawl over my fruit blossoms.

The honey bees have clinical precision and they don't hang around for long. It is claimed that honey bees are so quick and efficient at getting what they want from a flower that their ability to assist pollination is less because they spend so little time in each flower. It is also claimed that honey bees are so efficiently organised that the same honey bee often flies the same route, to the same single tree/plant/patch of flowers etc, for days on end. Therefore, they don't necessarily help much with bringing in pollen from other trees. Honey bees are also less hairy than "wild" bees, so tend to have less pollen stick to them.
Honey bees sometimes cut the base of flowers open with their jaws to get the nectar, which bypasses the parts of the flower that might receive pollen (the pollen-receiving parts are usually the most prominent parts sticking out of the top of the flower).
Honey bees tend to be "grounded" and may not fly in less good weather.

Bumble bees often seem to have a short attention span, before heading off into the distance. While they're on the flowers, they are literally "bumbling" around and clumsily scattering pollen all over the place - and all over their very hairy bodies. Their clumsiness sometimes damages flowers. Bumbles will fly in cool and damp weather, when honey bees are grounded.

Mason bees and mining bees seem to prefer to crawl (rather than fly) from one flower to the next - dragging themselves through the pollen in the process. They are very hairy and get easily covered in pollen, especially since they spend a long time clambering around a flower cluster. Their smaller size seems to allow them to clamber over the flowers without causing damage, but they pick up a lot of pollen in the process.
Mason/Mining bees will fly in cool and damp weather, when honey bees are grounded.


I have seen the claims made by several studies (which sounds believeable from my observation of bee activity on my fruit/veg/flowers) and the general opinion seems to be that when it comes to good pollinators of fruit trees:

1 Mason or Mining bee = 4 Bumble bees = 40 honey bees.

Sadly, the Mason/Mining/Solitary bees only live for a short while during the fruit blossom period of the year, with peak activity in April-June.


Apologies for the rather negative criticism regarding the lack of pollination efficiency of honey bees. I have nothing against them and they are most welcome to come and collect from my bee-friendly garden. There is plenty of pollen and nectar to go around.

[Flummery]

I know the ones on my damson were the mining bees - good news for me then! I've seen a few bumbles about, but not many. I hope the miners stick around for the apple blossom that's just come out.

Thanks for such a full answer by the way. I think personal observation beats internet research hands down!