Should I thin plums on tree bending with weight?

[Kdyjrd44]

Probably a silly question

Not a silly question at all. Yes, you can thin them out and then there's more chance for each to ripen, and it is less stress for the tree as well.

Yes, the remaining plums will do better & there is less likelihood of breakage or damage on windy days
we lost half a tree which snapped in a storm due to the weight of the fruit
rhs guide https://www.rhs.org.uk/fruit/fruit-trees/thinning

You can, but also there will be the “June drop”.

Definitely not a silly question. I had a tree overloaded with them one year. I didn't thin them. Two large branches broke off with the weight before the plums ripened. The tree never seemed to really recover from this.

Definitely wait til the June drop has happened or you may leave the ones which are going to drop anyway. You want to aim for a plum for every 2-3 inches of stem.

Ah this has brought back happy memories of my dear late father propping up plum tree branches with the washing line props and being roundly scalded by my mum.

Scolded… why can’t I edit?!

Lucky you, the wood pigeons ate all my blossom. Mine is a fairly young tree but was covered in blossom, next day 5 fat wood pigeons sat munching and not a single flower left. 😢

My parents plum tree split in half due to the weight of plums one year. So, yes, thin them out a bit.

So I’ve thinned. V windy today and I panicked. Tree looks a lot happier!

Oh I didn't know this was a thing. We have an apple tree the same, does the same advice apply to thin it out?

yes See the RHS link I posted above and it’ll tell you the appropriate way to do it for various fruiting trees including apples