Pollinating a Damson in the cold

[JimmerG]

So here's my concern.

My Damson is now in full flower - but the weather is about to go cold, and there's very little sign of any pollinating insects around. Could I get a light brush and give the blossom a bit of tickle - to get things going before the frost kills everything off?

J

[Flummery]

I don't think cold is as much a bother as wind - it blows the insects off course! It's not warm here but we are getting bees in good numbers. I've never tried hand pollinating mine - to be honest I'd be there for ages but you could try it.

[FB.]

If you hand pollinate the flowers, a frost could still kill the flowers. Whether pollinated or not, if the blossom buds, blossoms or baby fruits get frosted; they're dead. If they get frosted, you'll see them turn black in the next week or two and drop.
Besides; flowers can't be pollinated early; they must be pollinated at the correct time, otherwise the flower is not ready to receive the pollen, or if too late, the flower is too old to be pollinated. Flowers are only at their peak for a few days.

Frosts and cool weather "grounding" insects is often a problem with a plum/damson tree.
But all is not lost. Bumblebees will fly in the cold. They seem to do an qdequate job of pollinating my Victoria every year. A few Mason bees might be around too. Quite often, my Victoria seems to attract flies on the blossoms - they probably smear pollen around and help pollinate too.

Not all flowers need pollinating for a full crop. One or two fruits per flower cluster is as much as the tree can take, without producing small fruits and then going biennial.

If the frost will be mild, you might get away with it. Some varieties will tolerate worse frost than others.
If you have some outdoor Christmas tree lightbulbs, they might generate enough heat within the tree to keep the flowers from freezing.
Or you could try covering it with fleece/plastic/sacking (you'll damage a few buds but if you want to protect it....) and if it's in a container, put it right outside the house to get some warmth from the shelter of the house.

I won't be bothering to take any action for my fruit trees that are about to flower (some have flowers half-open).
My Victoria plum, Conference pear, Concorde pear, Williams pear, Discovery apple, James Grieve apple, Brownlees Russet apple, Irish Peach apple and maybe one or two others will have to take their chances.
My Crawley Beauty and Court Pendu Plat apples are still asleep; no signs of life yet, but that's normal for them to be very late.