Victoria plum doing strange things.

[cheops]

Please have a look at the two images I have uploaded of a young dwarf Victoria plum tree I planted last autumn. In one of the images you can see little flower buds at the tip of a branch[es]. In the other image there are opened flowers and today is the 7th June. At best this tree is confused. My query is, though it is June should I allow it to carry on and do its own thing or should I get the secateurs out and cut offfbany buds or flowers. As usual any help/advice is greatly appreciated.
A side issue is the holes and damage in a lot of the leaves - this made me look closer at the tree this afternoon and that's when I noticed the buds and flowers. Any idea what is causing this leaf damage? Incidentally close by is an young Opal plum tree which is totally unaffected with lush green undamaged leaves.

[Guest]

Sorry not much help but only an hour or so ago I went to look at my pear tree as it too is having a second flush of flowers

[cheops]

Norfolk in my case this is the first flush of flowers. Having only planted it last autumn I expected no fruit/flowers this year. Out of interest are you going to ignore the flowers on your pear tree?

[muddled]

Have you noticed any aphids on your tree?

My rose and my elderflower have green and blackfly.
There are an army...a veritable SWARM of sparrows and assorted tits pecking at the bugs all day (clearly a delicacy for baby birds and nesting mothers) and the leaves on both those plants look very much like the ones in your photo.

[cheops]

I've checked the leaves and turned them over Muddled but I see nothing. I have very little greenfly this year. I saw them on the honeysuckle flower buds and on one of the aguellia but that's all.
Yes blue tits and their cousins will go for greenfly alright.

[Guest]

I am leaving the flowers on my pear tree, it will decide if it wants to support the fruit or not should they develop. With yours as it is a new tree either remove the flowers or if fruit sets only allow one or two to develop so that most of its energy goes into establishing

[Jungle Jane]

I wouldn't remove anything at the moment,it's ok to have a few plums growing with a new tree,mine did. If too many plums are left to grow,it could have problems the next year & become a biennial bearer,but we don't know how many plums are going to grow because the tree will reject some,they just fall off naturally. I thinned mine a bit the other day,plums are about 1cm big. You could give some tomato feed to it now & throughout summer.

[cheops]

Good advice from all as usual. I shall let nature take its course and thin if necessary. Will feed with tomato feed too. Thanks everyone. If anyone comes along with advice about leaves I'll be all ears.

[cheops]

One thing I forgot to say. Look at the flowers and all the buds. They are all coming from the tip of new growth. Surely this is not right?

[Kirk]

Doesn't seem to be much (anything) that says where a Victoria will flower - apples are usually defined as tip or spur bearing, not is seems plums.

I would guess it is flowering approppiately, there are a few mentions of a plum being covered in blossom, which sort of implies everywhere.

Another aspect is that they can load up with fruit and branches break, this breaking is easier if the fruit is bourne at the tip or end of the branch which is where the new growth occurs. So in that respect it half makes sense that they can flower and so carry fruit it the ends on new growth.

May be wrong but cannot locate anything specific about flowering location.

[BUFFS]

after such a prolonged cold spring we have all the plants now trying to catch up, so you will get a few oddly timed flowerings, just make sure the plants are watered and fed properly..

[mosstrooper]

I planted a Victoria plum 3 or 4 years ago and it behaved exactly as yours is Cheops. The flowering is, i believe a result of being stressed (moved). I also had concerns about possible canker, (theres a thread on here somewhere.) as the tree had a weeping split in the bark and all of the leaves were full of holes.
I sprayed the tree with fungicide 3 times from Autumn through to Spring and now it is a picture of health.
Don't know whether the fungicide did any good but it didn't do any harm. good luck.

[cheops]

Thanks everyone. Moss trooper thanks for your input. Very interesting. Not sure about it flowering now because of stress as it was planted while dormant last autumn.
However you say you sprayed with fungicide and as you say if it did no good it did no harm. So I'll copy you - but what fungicide did you use?
Out of interest did plums develop and ripen with your tree or did they run out of time.

[mosstrooper]

Cheops, i.ve since planted another 3 plum trees and every one has come into blossom. The resulting fruit doesn't develop past pea size before dropping off and the trees then settle down to grow to a size where they will begin to fruit properly.
I used Bordeaux Mix copper spray on the tree but i think it may be banned now.

[cheops]

Thanks again moss trooper. Yes no longer for sale since 2014 but it is easy to buy copper sulphate and hydrated lime to make your own which I intend doing.