Problem with plums

[Masco&Bongo]

We have a huge plum tree in our garden... (about 10-12 ft tall)

The inaccessible plums at the top are rip and keep falling off and splatting on the ground

The plums on the reachable branches, however, are still green, and some seem to be rotting without turning ripe

I'm not sure what kind of plums they are, as they are not deep purple when ripe, but a very nice "sunset" colour (orange/peachy/red)...

We were wondering if we had some sort of virus/bug on our lower branches that is eating the plums?

I had visions of making plum jam, but now they are all squished on the floor (and the puppy keeps bringing them into the house to eat on the carpet)



Squished on the floor


Mostly unripe, yet with a totally rotten one on


Another with brown bits on



Ripening but with funny brown bits on...



Totally unripe - Argh!

[Han&Matt]

Hey.
Looks like a victoria to me (though am no expert). Not sure why tops plums are ripening first but I shouldn't worry (more sun?) - you'll just need to invest in a ladder to get to them before they drop!

Disease sounds like sawfly - try this link: http://gardenaction.co.uk/techniques/pe ... sawfly.htm

Get some good advice about pruning to avoid disease next season, and sprinkle some bonemeal over the shallow roots next month. Also take off any dead or diseased wood or fruit - the fruit that is damaged will attract wasps and you'll lose more of your precious harvest.

If not enough plums for jam try preserving in syrup in kiner jars for the winter. Yum!

Good luck!

[Millymollymandy]

It could be lack of light which is why the lower ones aren't as ripe as the ones higher up. It looks pretty dark in your photos.

You could invest in a Wolf tool which is a long handled net which is specifically designed for collecting hard to reach fruit - it has a little cutter in one corner for cutting the stalk of the fruit. Usually if the fruit is ripe it will just pop into the net.

I have bugs inside my plums which are just starting to ripen up. I'm not spraying with Derris though! Just grateful to get any plums at all as I've had to water them all summer!