Plum tree question

Parent Cafe
1

My friends have some 18 year old plum trees growing in a mid-Western type of climate. There is no disease or pest problem, but the fruit production has dropped a lot compared to the peak earlier years.

So this spring they plan to remove them all and plant new young trees, thus getting almost no fruit for the first couple of years.

Is this yield drop normal, or the trees need better nutrition or care? If they insist on taking them out, should I transplant them to my own garden and get instant mature trees?

2

It would be very hard to move mature trees. I think these trees are getting towards the end of their lives. I believe plums only live on an average of 15-20 years. You could certainly try to move them but realistically, I would get some young trees and start there. I have wild plums in my yard and they grow pretty fast although the fruit they bear is small and disappears fast (opossums love them).

3

Agree that moving a mature plum tree (or any mature tree) is difficult and in this case, it is not worth an effort.

A plum tree can bear fruit in 3-4 years if grown from bare root. If your friend buys potted trees, it can be faster to fruit.

Fruit drop is not normal. Often, it is because of a tree’s poor health, environmental stress (a drought) or pests (larvae feeding inside).

4

This summer I was told that our plum tree had a much lower yield than normal because of the very wet Spring we had had. I was so disappointed, having gone from hundreds one year to maybe a couple of dozen the following year, so I’m looking forward to seeing if things improve this year. Our tree is about 12 years old.

5

Yes,I also had a very wet spring in 2919. The timing was bad, right during bloom time. Pollinators did not want to work when it rained days after days. Fruit set was minimal as a result.

Also, if flowers that are not fully pollinated, they can still form fruitlets but only o turn yellow and drop off afterward. Those fruit do not fully develop to maturity.