How to grow Plums

Caring for your Plums plants + problems

Should recently-planted trees be heaved out of the ground by winter frosts, you will need to ease them back into position. Other than that, newly planted plums will need to be kept well watered during dry spells. Wall-trained trees require more water than free-standing specimens.

Keeping the base of the plant weedfree is also important and a thick mulch of organic matter applied in early spring will help to both lock-in moisture and slow the progress of weeds. Spread a mulch about 5cm thick out to the edge of the tree canopy, keeping the mulch clear of the trunk. An organic, slow-release fertilizer should be applied just before laying it.

Plum trees are prone to biennial bearing – where plenty of fruit is produced one year only to be followed with none the next. Don’t let this happen! Judicious thinning of the developing fruits will ensure a consistent year-to-year crop, while helping those plums that remain to attain the fullest depth of flavour. Complete an initial thinning as soon as the fruitlets appear, then another thinning at the end of June to leave about 5-7cm between each plum. In this way you will get a decent crop every single year – late frost allowing!

The only other regular job is to cut away suckers. These are upright shoots that appear from the ground, away from the main trunk. They come directly from the rootstock and will not be of the variety you have planted, so need to be removed. Cut them back to below ground level or, preferably, dig out the soil to pull them away from the roots.

Plum moth caterpillars burrow inside fruits and feed on the flesh close to the stone, leaving crumbly brown excrement pellets. The caterpillars, which are usually a pink colour, are about 15mm in length and have a dark brown head. Fruit which has been infested tends to ripen prematurely and often has a misshapen, depressed area. If you think your crops are affected, cut any fruit in half before eating and look out for the above signs. Once caterpillars have entered your fruit nothing can be done, but you can go some way to prevent attack. Pheromone traps can be used to attract male moths and help reduce the number of females laying eggs. While this won’t stop an infestation it can reduce the level of infection and is useful for gardeners who have just one or two plum trees.

How to harvest Plums

Wasps have a particular penchant for plums. If you know the pests are prevalent in your area then set up traps from early July. These may be home-made from plastic, two-litre bottles – cut across the neck and invert this to create a funnel. Seal the funnel onto the body of the bottle and fill with sugary water.

Hang the traps up in the tree canopy. The insects will fly in but are unlikely to be able to escape. Their frantic buzzing will attract other wasps to the trap and away from the fruit. You will need to empty these traps from time to time and recharge them with fresh sugar water. Plums will be ready to pick once they become fully coloured. They will smell ripe and juicy, too. Pick them along with their stalk and go over trees at several intervals so as not to miss any of the fruits. Plums and damsons destined for cooking or bottling can be harvested when slightly under-ripe. The earliest of these fruits will be ready as soon as August, with picking continuing on into October. Enjoy your plums fresh, or turn them into chutneys, jams, pickles, pies, wine and more – the options are as plentiful as the crop you’ll hopefully pick!