plum blossom

[FB.]

whats the correct technique for "painting" blossom? Just dust each flower and move down the branch?

You want to be gently picking up pollen grains from the outer ring of pollen-bearing structures (anthers) onto the brush, then gently touching them onto the middle part of the flower (stigma) which sticks up like a spike in the middle of the flower. The middle part is very easily damaged, which is why you must gently use a small soft paintbrush. Even better, let the body hairs of bees pick up and transfer the pollen!

The pollen grains settling on the stigma then use the nectar as an energy source to germinate, grow a tube into the flower and transfer their DNA to pollinate the flower.

[Raymond]

[QUOTE=FB.;834649]Raymond

Plums are well known for their biennial habit; heavy cropping in one year and light cropping the next.

QUOTE]

Many thanks FB for your helpful response, I will do as you suggest. I wonder if that might also be the reason for a similar problem with the pear cordons? A good crop last year (the first) but very few flowers this year. The apple fan on the other hand is racing away again with another bumper crop but I am told that this is due to the harsh winter we had again.

Anyone else here got heavy clay? Less than a mile away Ibstock make bricks with the stuff I grow my crops in. A great deal work with a Sneerbore, a Mantis tiller and tons and tons of gritsand and mushroom compost seems to be paying off though.

Regards
Raymond.

[mrscorpio]

I have an Opal plum tree and the blossom has come and is now starting to fall. The same happened last year, and I too was worried that I hadnt seen any insects to pollinate it. However we ended up with a bumper crop