plum trees

[chatee]

when do you pick plums?
last year the fruit never ripened(there were only about 10 fruits on each tree)but this year we have loads and some are deep red some pinky some still green....do you pick them early and they will ripen up or leave them on the tree?
the trees are only 3 years old if that helps....thanks for helping
ps: how do you make plum jam???????????????

My friend has a plum tree and picked them last week as they were slightly underripe. She puts them on her kitchen window ledge to finish ripening - takes a couple of days. She says that if she leaves them on the tree until they are completely ripe the wasps always get to them before she does.

Plum jam:
3lbs plums
3lbs sugar
0.75 pint of water

Put the plums and water into a large pan and bring to the boil.
Cover and simmer until the plums are soft.
Add the sugar and stir until dissolved.
Bring back to the boil and boil rapidly for 5-7 mins, skimming any scum off the surface and removing the stones as they rise to the surface.
After 5 mins start testing for the setting point. Take a teaspoonful of jam and put it on a cold plate. Leave for 1 minute. Setting point is reached if the jam wrinkles when you push your finger into it when cool.
Once the setting point is reached pour the jam into sterilised jars, cover with a waxed disc and seal.

I've just made some and to be honest the cooled jam wasn't wrinkling after 10 mins boiling so I potted it anyway as it felt very sticky. Once it was cooled it was fine - and tastes lovely.

leave them on the tree.
there are so few wasps this year you should be fine.
yum!

Should say re jam that you can use whatever quantity you like as long as the sugar and fruit are equal, and the pan is big enough. I made crabapple jelly last year in a pan that was too small and it took me hours to scrape the overflow off the cooker.

thanks for that......will pick before the wasps get them....oh i've never had a fruit tree before and never made jam, so fingers crossed

my aunty had just made a plum jam - its the most gorgeous jam me and DP ever tasted and we just cant get enough of it - we are running out of bread very quickly

We have a plum tree in our garden, we moved here last July and last year there wasn't a single plum on it.

This year however, we have had about 15. Most of which have fallen off and landed on the other side of the wall in the carpark.

Is it true that you only get plums on them every other year? I'm just wondering what we might have on it next year, or are we likely to get some more this year?

I think it depends on what tree you've got. We were here for four years before discovering what we thought was a copper beech was actually a plum tree. And we harvested that (after the birds had had their go) just after the summer holidays.

Message withdrawn

Kid - your plum tree shjould fruit every year. However, some years the blossom can get hit by frost at a critical stage, which ruins the crop for that year.

My parents have been known to leave a paraffin heater on beside their damson tree (damson are a wild plum) when frost is forecast to prevent the damage!

Our plum tree must have been hit this year by a late frost - after masses of blossom, there are only about 10 plums left - after a bumper crop last year. There was one night a frost was forecase and a left a night light hanging in the tree, in the hope that that would create enough of an air flow. Interestingly, the plums that have developed are all low down/on the "inside" of the tree.

thanks

we have just taken an interest in the garden this year. Its only tiny but its ours!

We put a bamboo screen up and planted various flowers which hopefully won't need much looking after.

Another question about the plum tree, are you supposed to cut it back at all? Our one is going a bit mad, branches seem very long, pointing out and up.

Don't prune your plum tree just now: it needs to be growing actively when you prune, otherwise it is vulnerable to attack by Silver Leaf Disease (a fungus).

In practice this means you will now need to leave it till about next June: and that you may lose some of next year's crop.

My pride and joy plum tree, which I planted 3 years ago has finally got some fruit on it! But it also has hundreds of ants running up and down the trunk and onto the branches. Any ideas of how I can get rid of them before they destroy my first ever crop?