Where Have All The PLums Gone

[gavincarter]

I have two plum trees in our garden which we planted ourselves around 7 years ago.

Both came from reputable sources and were both labled as self fertile.

Not only have we never had any plums, we havent even had any blossom.

Does anyone have any ideas or solutions?

Any thoughts most gratefully received.

gavincarter

[rustylady]

Where do you live Gavin? I'm wondering if the blossom is getting frosted before it even opens. Do you know what varieties they are? Where are they planted? If the soil is very fertile or you feed them high nitrogen feed they will just make stem and leaf growth.

[gavincarter]

hi rusty lady. We live in cornwall so dont really get any frosts. We are by the seaside but not close enough to get burnt by salt spray. They have not been fed, one is in the front lawn but keep a square around the tree free from grass. The other is in the back garden veggie plot with no growth of anysort around them.

As a matter of interest we have apples and a pear tree also in the front lawn area which all fruit well.

[Alice]

I had a plum tree Gavin and like yours it never did anything except 1 year it made 1 plum which blew away in a storm !
My father in law had a plum tree which made so many plums he had to put clothes props under the branches to suppoert the weight. He didn't do anything special to the tree.
Welcome to the Vine Gavin. Hope one of the Grapes can be be of some help to you. If you go into Personal Profile you can show on screen that you're in Cornwall (lovely part of the country) as it might help to know.

[rustylady]

May just be a question of time, then Gavin. Sounds as if you've done everything right. By the way, say hello to Cornwall for me. I was born and brought up near Plymouth and an now exiled to East Anglia.

[TPeers]

If you have loads of stems you could try festooning. That is bending the branches gently back down towards the trunk. This forces the sap flow closer to the 'skin' on the upper side which has the effect of forcing the dormant flower buds to break, that is open.