Not much help here... but I did plant 4 pluot trees last year, Flavor King, Queen, Supreme and Grenade. They grew very well last growing season and are now just bursting with flower buds from top to bottom. The flower bud development seems to be paralleling my asian plum trees which always carry a high risk of blooming too soon. Although my asian plums did produce last year in a miserable fruit setting season.
I planted these 4 pluot trees against my better judgement after tasting a Flavor King from the HOS arboretum the year before last, which was a banner year for fruit setting. It was the best fruit I have ever tasted. I don't know if any pluots set last year.
Anyway, I would not be surprised if my pluots turn out to be a complete bust. Then again maybe global warming will help them out.
I tried growing an Aprium several years ago and it died suddenly about the second spring, seemingly of
a bacterial disease that killed all the spring growth at once. The catalog didn't warn me that dormant
sprays were mandatory just to keep the tree alive. Several Puget Gold apricots met the same fate before
I figured it out. Just got up the courage to try again with a Harglow apricot. We'll see.
(Western Oregon)
We tried pluots and apriums up here in Whatcom County, but found they bloomed too early for us and usually lost their fruit to frost. If you are in a location with good air drainage and not much spring frost you might succeed with them. They seemed to bloom even earlier than the Puget Gold and Harglow apricots (which some people are having success with locally).
I planted a Puget Gold, a Moorpark, and a Mongolian apricot in my yard in 2003. In spring 2005 the Moorpark was fully leafed out and suddenly died. The Puget Gold hasn't fruited nor has the Mongolian. The Puget gold is showing some pink buds on March 5, almost ready to bloom.
I have a Brooks and an Italian plum and a Frost Peach near the apricots also planted in 2003 but they seem healthier and more vigorous. Only the peach has yielded fruit so far. The area where they are all planted is about 4 feet above the lowest point in my yard and surrounding area, which is fairly level. The orchard is sheltered on the north and west sides by taller trees and a building on the east side. They all get plenty of sun.
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