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Bringing the Resources of the World to Rural Ontario

ORDER NO. 07-039

JULY 2007

AGDEX 216

PLUM CULTIVARS EUROPEAN AND JAPANESE

K. Slingerland, J. Subramanian and B. Lay

(Replaces OMAFRA FactsheetPlum Cultivars European and Japanese,Order No. 02-041)

INTRODUCTIONThis Factsheet provides information that will guidecommercial growers in selecting fruit cultivars to plant.

The term cultivar, used throughout this Factsheet, is a contraction of cultivated variety, replacing the older andconfusing term variety, which also refers to recognizabletypes within a species that maintain their distinguishing characteristics in the wild state. A cultivar is any horticulturally recognized and named type or sort that canonly be maintained through vegetative propagation or theuse of selected breeding lines and seed sources.

RECOMMENDED PLUM CULTIVARSRecommended cultivars for European and Japaneseplums are listed in order of maturity in two groups inTable 1, Recommended European and Japanese Plum.Those listed under General Planting are mainly well-known cultivars with proven performance and establishedmarket value. Cultivars listed under Limited Plantinghave value, but their planting should be limited forvarious reasons. Some may have proved valuable in trialplantings and now warrant limited commercial planting.Others may be suitable only for special markets, forexample, as early cultivars for roadside sales.

Table 1. Recommended European and Japanese PlumCultivar General Planting Limited Planting

Valerie StanleyVanette Italian

Valor VerityVictory VoyageurVision Veeblue

VibrantViolette

European

DamsonEarly Golden VanierShiro Ozark Premier

Burbank

Japanese

Vampire

European and Japanese plums are grown in regioOntario where winter temperatures are severe enougcause cold injury to shoots, fruit spurs, trunks roots. Also, spring frost during bloom is a threasome regions, more so to Japanese than to Europ

plums. To ensure fruiting, grow plums only in awith some moderating affect from one of the Great Lor on a site with a slope that allows for good air drai

PLUM HARVEST DATESHarvest dates are an important factor to fruit growsales agents, processors and nurserymen. Tabl

Average First Harvest Dates for European and JapanesPlum, shows average dates of first commercial harvEuropean and Japanese plum cultivars at the Univeof Guelph, Department of Plant Agriculture, VinelThese dates are averages of many years of observOnly the most common cultivars or those of speinterest are listed. Throughout the fruit-growdistricts of the province, actual harvest dates will from those reported at Vineland Station, and there be minor variation in the sequence of cultivars harve

Table 2. Average First Harvest Datesfor European and Japanese Plum

Cultivar Date Cultivar DateEarly Golden* July 28 Vampire* TM Aug. 29Vibrant TM Aug. 7 Violette TM Sept. 10Shiro* Aug. 11 Stanley Sept. 18Valerie TM Aug. 14 Valor Sept. 19

Vanette TM Aug. 17 Damson Sept. 20Ozark Premier* Aug. 26 Victory Sept. 22Burbank* Aug. 29 Italian Sept. 26Vanier* Aug. 29 Vision Oct. 1*Japanese plums

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PLUM POLLINATIONHoneybees, bumblebees and large flies are the major agentsresponsible for transferring pollen among plum cultivars.The recommended number of beehives for plums is twoper hectare in mature orchards. Place the hives in the centreof every 2 hectares when about 30% of the blooms haveopened. Face hive openings south for best exposure to thesun and stimulation of bee activity. Since flowers of dandelion and other weeds contain more sugar nectar thanplum blossoms, be sure to mow the orchard during thepollination period. Do not spray pesticides in the orchardduring the bloom period. Remove the hives from theorchard after completion of pollination to avoidcontamination of bees by spray chemicals.

In Ontario, plum orchards should be planted withmixtures of recommended cultivars. The pollenizer(pollen source) cultivar should bloom annually, flowerat the same time as the main cultivar and be crosscompatible. Choose cultivars that are of commercialimportance and suitable for the market requirements of the grower as a pollenizer. Pollenizer cultivars shouldnot be biennial in bearing habit or unusually susceptible to pests, disease or other limitations thatmight interfere with the pollenizer function.

To provide adequate pollen within the orchard, plant atleast every fourth tree location in every fourth row with a pollenizer cultivar that flowers consistently at the sametime as the main cultivar.

European PlumThe results of cross-pollination studies carried out at

Vineland during the past several years among variousself-unfruitful European plum cultivars are shown inTable 3, Pollen Compatibility of European PlumCultivars . This information will help growers who areplanting new European plum orchards to decide on theappropriate combination of cultivars to ensure goodpollination and adequate cropping.

For commercial production of European plums, about5% of the flowers on a tree must set fruit. Damson,Stanley and Voyageur European plum cultivars are self-fruitful and will crop when planted as solid blocks of a single cultivar. However, these cultivars benefit from

cross-pollination.Most European plum cultivars flower at the same time,providing an adequate bloom overlap for effective cross-pollination among them. The long-term data collected atVineland shows that May 1619 is the average full-bloom date period among different cultivars. This canvary from year to year under unusual weather conditions.

Most of the pollenizing cultivars in Table 3 are mid-seasonto late season in flowering. In a warm spring, the total

flowering period of all cultivars will be shortened, acultivars may overlap, resulting in very effective pollination. In a cold spring, the whole flowering perlengthened, and less overlapping will occur. Howthere will usually be enough overlap in flowering ocultivars to bring about some cross-pollination.

Table 3. Pollen Compatibility of European Plum Cultivars

CultivarPollinated V

a l e r i e

V a n e

t t e

V i b r a n t

V i o l e t t e

S t a n

l e y

V a

l o r

V i c t o r y

I t a

l i a n

V i s i o n

Valerie TM Vanette TM Vibrant TM NT Violette NT Stanley NT NT O NT NT NT NTValor Victory Italian NT NT NT OO NTVision

Compatible IncompatibleO Self-fruitful OO Partially self-fruitful NT Not tested

Japanese PlumMost recommended Japanese-plum cultivars flowthe same time, and there is often an adequate bloverlap for effective cross-pollination among cultThe long-term data collected at Vineland shows that 1013 is the average full-bloom date period amdifferent cultivars. Full-bloom dates, however, areuseful for predicting the exact full-bloom period forcrop from year to year. Japanese plums bloom a

earlier than European. As a general rule, JapaneseEuropean plum cultivars will not pollinate each othe

Myrobalan B, the standard rootstock recommendedplum in Ontario, is a satisfactory pollenizer for Japanese plum cultivars grown in the proviHowever, the fruit of Myrobalan B are very smallunsuitable for sale. Myrobalan B can be used pollenizer for those wishing to plant a solid orchaone or two Japanese cultivars. In contrast, Vanier isonly an adequate pollenizer for all the major Japaplum cultivars but is a satisfactory, late-ripening cuas well. Methley is a satisfactory pollenizer for Buand Shiro but has little commercial value. BurbEarly Golden, Ozark Premier, Shiro and Vanier are unfruitful and do not set a satisfactory crop with own pollen. These cultivars must be grown in blinter-planted with suitable cultivars as pollenizers.

If cross-pollination is a problem in an established orcremove some of the trees and replace with suipollenizers, or permit a few suckers of Myrobalarootstock to grow to a flowering size to serve as a poll

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An alternative possibility is to top work a sufficientnumber of trees to the desired pollenizer cultivar.

Table 4, Pollen Compatibility Among Japanese Plum,shows the results of cross-compatibility studies carriedout at Vineland during the past several years among Japanese plum cultivars. This information will helpgrowers who are planting new orchards of Japanese

plums to decide on the appropriate combination of cultivars for pollination purposes.

Table 4. Pollen Compatibility Among Japanese PlumPollen Source

CultivarPollinated E

a r l y

G o

l d e n

S h i r o

O z a r k

P r e m

i e r

B u r b a n

k

V a m p

i r e

V a n

i e r

M y r o

b a

l a n

B

Early Golden Shiro

Ozark Premier NT Burbank NT Vampire TM Vanier

Compatible IncompatibleO Self-fruitful NT Not tested

PLUM CULTIVAR DESCRIPTIONSBrief descriptions are provided below for the major plumcultivars grown in Ontario and other cultivars that show promise. The descriptions are not intended to becomplete but rather to indicate the general characteristicsand performance of each cultivar in test plantings and/orcommercial orchards in Ontario. Unless otherwiseindicated, a cultivar is generally satisfactory in tree growth,hardiness, production and fruit quality characteristicssuch as size, colour, shape and internal quality.

European Plum, Named CultivarsDamson (Shropshire) A fine-quality processing plum

when properly mature. It is a self-fruitful, prolificcropper, producing small fruit that hang well on thetree. The flavour is very distinctive and is recommendedfor limited planting for specialty markets. It is reportedto adapt well to mechanical harvesting.

Italian (Fellenberg) A medium-sized blue plum withgood keeping and canning quality. It is lessproductive than Valor or Stanley. Italian and its sportsare not recommended for planting in Ontario.

Stanley A medium, dark blue, freestone fruit, oval inshape, with a fairly distinct neck. The flesh is yellow, juicy and of good quality. It is self-fruitful, productiveand ripens a week earlier than Italian. In some years, ittends to overbear and will benefit from thinning.

ValerieTM (formerly V70031) A Valor x California Bluseedling. It is semi-freestone, medium to large violet-blue plum with good flavour. It is the commercial European plum ripening ab August 14 at Vineland. Self-unfruitful, it is pollinby Stanley, Valor, Vanette, Veeblue, Verity, VictoVision and Voyageur.

Valor A medium to large, violet-blue, semi-freesplum of excellent quality. Valor ripens just aheaItalian but is larger, much more productive acomes into bearing earlier than Italian. It recommended as a fresh market cultivar.

Vanette TM (formerly V66071) An Early Rivers xStanley seedling. This is a freestone, medium-sized, ovate-shaped, purple-blue plum of gquality. It ripens about August 17 at Vineland, thdays after Valerie. It is self-unfruitful, very produand pollinated by Stanley, Valor, Veeblue, VerVictory, Vision and Voyageur.

Vibrant TM NEW (formerly V70034) An early varietywith a violet-blue skin and excellent bloom at matuThe flesh is amber coloured and has a semi-freesto

Victory This large, attractive, heart-shaped, producsemi-freestone fruit is dark violet-blue with greeyellow flesh. It is firm, good quality and ripensdays after Stanley. It is recommended as a fresh mcultivar.

VioletteTM NEW (formerly V72511) A mid-seasonvariety with large oblong fruits. It has bluish-bskin with moderate bloom. The flesh is yellow-gcoloured and has a semi-freestone. This variety isin total antioxidants.

Vision This late-maturing plum is a large, obloshaped, dark blue freestone fruit of excellent qualiripens about October 1 at Vineland.

Japanese Plum, Named CultivarsBurbank The seed producing the cultivar Burbank

received from Japan in 1883 by Luther Burbawho made this selection, which the U.S. Departm

of Agriculture named after him in 1887. This goquality plum is round, dark red, medium-siz juicy, aromatic and clingstone. It ripens unevebeginning in late August at Vineland.

Early Golden A round, golden, freestone plum wihigh red blush. It is firm and of good quality. Whilnot as large as Shiro, the cultivar ripens 1014 earlier. Trees are very vigorous, outgrowing oplum cultivars. It has a biennial fruiting habit butbe eliminated with proper thinning and irrigation.

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Ozark Premier A large, round, bright red, firm, aromatic clingstone of excellent quality. It ripensunevenly, in the same season as Burbank and Vanier.

Shiro A round, yellow plum with a pink blush. It isvery juicy, clingstone and fair in quality. It ripens2 weeks after Early Golden.

VampireTM

NEW (formerly V82053) A late mid-seasonplum with medium-large fruits. It has an attractiveblend of shiny green and ruby red skin. The flesh isred and very juicy. Exhibits more cold tolerance thanany other red-fleshed plum here.

Vanier A medium-sized, bright red clingstone withyellow flesh, maturing 2 weeks later than Shiro. Thequality is good, firm, meaty and improves after fruit arepicked and stored for 23 weeks. Trees are precocious,vigorous and have an upright growth habit. Best fruitquality is obtained through multiple picks.

PLUM ROOTSTOCKSMyrobalan Seedling has been used as the principal

rootstock for Japanese (Prunus salicina ) and European(Prunus domestica ) plums in Ontario. There issignificant variability in size and performance among trees grown on Myrobalan rootstocks started fromseed.

Myrobalan B A clonal selection of Myrobalan plumintroduced by the East Mailing Research Station inEngland around 1920. It is a very vigorous rootstock and is propagated vegetatively by hardwood cuttings.It has proven to be as productive as other rootstocks,such as Brompton or St. Julien A, with mostEuropean and Japanese plum cultivars in tests atVineland. Because of its genetic uniformity, trees onMyrobalan B are uniform in size and performance inthe orchard. For this reason, the clonal Myrobalan Bis superior to Myrobalan seedling rootstocks and isthe preferred plum rootstock for use in Ontario.

Brompton A clonal European plum rootstock (Prunus domestica ) similar to Myrobalan B. At Vineland, trootstock has substantially reduced the tree siz Japanese plum cultivars compared to trees growMyrobalan B.

Other Prunus Rootstocks In the past, seedlings of peac(Prunus persica ), almond (Prunus dulcis ), apricot

(Prunus armeniaca ) and American plum (Prunus americana ) have been used as rootstocks for Europand Japanese plums. The use of peach and Amerplum seedlings has been responsible for srootstock incompatibility problems that have catree losses in some plum orchards. ResearchVineland has shown that peach is not a satisfacrootstock for plum. Peach, almond, apricot American plum seedlings are not recommendeduse as plum rootstocks in Ontario.

FOR MORE INFORMATIONTo view photographs of a selection of the cultivars in this Factsheet, as well as other tender fruits, visiTender Fruit Photo Gallery on the OMAFRA weat ontario.ca/crops.

Recommendations for planting cultivars and adaareas within the province have been determined byUniversity of Guelph, Department of Plant AgriculVineland; Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAand the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). Valuable assistance provided in consultation with growers, shipper/deanurseries, processors and the Ontario Tender F

Producers Marketing Board (OTFPMB).

This Factsheet was compiled and edited by Ken Slingerland,OMAFRA, Vineland, and Jayasankar Subramanian and BillLay, Department of Plant Agriculture, University of Guelph.The authors gratefully acknowledge the following individualsand associations for their written contributions and/or for theirassistance in reviewing this Factsheet: Mori Nurseries andAdrian Huisman, Ontario Tender Fruit Producers MarketingBoard.