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Plum is a rather capricious fruit tree. Plum fruits are falling – this is a very common problem among gardeners. It is interesting to understand why this happens and how to deal with dropping fruits.
Why do plum fruits fall?
There are many problems that harm the normal development of the fetus. Determining why a plum drops fruit is quite difficult. However, the range of probable causes can be narrowed down, based on the period in which it crumbles.
Why did the plum shed flowers
The flowering period of plum trees falls on the end of April or the beginning of May. And it often happens that the ovary gives very few flowers – or even crumbles before the flowering itself ends.
The reason most often lies in the freezing of the ovary. Late frosts are not uncommon in the middle lane – they harm the flowers and can irreversibly damage the ovary. As a rule, you can notice the presence of a problem at the very beginning of flowering – if the pistils and stamens of the plum are brown, then the frost has caused damage to the ovaries.
Why does the ovary fall off the plum
The ovary is called just appeared fruits, in size not yet exceeding a pea. Normally, the ovary should appear immediately after flowering, so that later it can develop freely to large, sweet, ripe berries.
If the plum sheds the ovary, and it crumbles, most likely, the reason lies in poor-quality pollination. Most plums are self-fertile and require proximity to similar varieties – without this, fruits cannot form normally. If there are few pollinators, or they are located too far, the ovary turns out to be of poor quality – and, accordingly, crumbles even in the early stages.
Why do plums drop green fruit
If flowering and ovary went well, then problems may arise at the next stage. When green plum fruits fall, the reason may be due to several factors.
- First of all, the lack of moisture can cause damage. Green plums appear on the branches in early summer – during this period, dry weather often occurs. If the roots of the tree do not have enough water, then the plum simply does not have the resources to feed the ovary – so it crumbles.
- Another common cause is waterlogged soil. Excess water for the plum is just as destructive – its roots begin to rot, and this again leads to the fact that the fruits of the plums fall off.
- It is not uncommon for a green plum to fall off due to garden pests, such as the plum sawfly. The larvae of this insect feed on the bones and pulp of precisely fragile, young fruits – that is why the plant sheds still green fruits.
Plum fruits turn yellow and fall off
In the middle of summer, the plum ovary acquires a yellow tint, gradually ripening. But at this stage, the plum also often crumbles and discards young fruits. Most often this occurs due to damage to the ovary by diseases and pests. In particular, the ovary can damage:
- monilioz;
- clasterosporium disease;
- coccomycosis;
- rust;
- gingivitis;
- shrinkage;
- and other diseases of fruit trees.
Other reasons are not excluded, why the yellow plum, not ripening, falls off – for example, this can still occur due to a lack or excess of moisture.
Why do plum fruits turn blue and fall off
When plums turn dark in color, it seems to gardeners that it is no longer worth fearing for the harvest. However, plum fruits fall before ripening and at this stage. Most often this happens due to garden pests – in particular, pachyderm, which forces the plant to drop the ovary.
Tolstopodki larvae appear in the ovary in early May or June, shortly after flowering. The insect lays its eggs in the ovary. It is almost impossible to understand that the plant is affected by the pachyderm, but the plant crumbles. Outwardly, the ovary develops normally and manages to change color to a rich dark one, but then it still discards the fruits.
Falling plum leaves
The problem can be not only that the ovary is crumbling, but also that the plum sheds leaves. The following common reasons can be identified:
- Unsuitable soil. Too wet soil or groundwater passing close to the surface contributes to the death of the roots, and accordingly, the drain crumbles.
- Winter deep freezing. Due to low temperatures, the plum may not die, but its leaves in the summer will begin to turn yellow and fall en masse.
- Infections and fungal diseases. For example, the reason for the fall of the fruits of the Stanley plum and other varieties often lies in coccomycosis, chlorosis, verticillium. All of these diseases affect plum leaves, contributing to the appearance of yellow spots. As a result, the tree sheds leaves, the crown crumbles abundantly.
Why plum fruits fall: the most common causes
Having considered the main problems due to which the ovary crumbles and the plum drops the berries, we can identify several main reasons – and delve into them in more detail.
spring frosts
Sharp cold snaps in the spring for plums are even more dangerous than harsh winters. The fact is that in the spring the ovary wakes up for the growing season. Even small frosts cause damage to the emerging flowers and fruits, and the plum falls off before it has time to ripen.
Lack of pollinators
Plum yield and fruit quality directly depend on the quality of pollination. If there are no pollinators, or there are too few of them, or they are located far from the plum tree, then the plant drops the ovary. And even those fruits that have appeared may fall before they ripen.
Non-compliance with watering rules
Excess or lack of moisture is equally dangerous for the plum ovary. With prolonged drought, the roots dry out and die, with stagnant water, they begin to rot and die. All this is reflected in fruiting – as a rule, with improper watering, the plum still sets fruits, but crumbles and discards them green or barely yellow.
Nutrient deficiency or excess
For healthy development, a plum tree needs a balanced top dressing with mineral fertilizers and organic matter. A lack of nitrogen, potassium, or fluorine will cause the plum tree to grow slowly, and the fruit will begin to form in fewer numbers and fall off. At the same time, an excess of fertilizers is also dangerous – for example, it is precisely because of the high content of lime in the soil that a fruit tree is often affected by chlorosis, crumbles and drops the ovary.
Pests and diseases
Harmful insects and diseases can affect the plum ovary at almost any stage of fruit growth. Diseases are most often the result of improper plant care – they appear from unsuitable soil, improper watering, insufficient sanitary pruning.
As for pests, it can be quite difficult to recognize their presence in a plum tree that is crumbling. Some of the insects lay their larvae inside the fruit, and at first glance it seems that the plum is in perfect order. Damaged pulp or stone is found only with a closer examination of fallen fruits. The codling moth, the sawfly and the pachyderm are especially dangerous for plums – they eat away the ovary from the inside, leaving almost no noticeable external traces, but discard the plum fruits.
What to do if plum fruits fall
The most pressing question that worries summer residents is what measures can be taken if a drain falls, and what can be done to prevent this from happening in principle?
- If the plum drops its fruits due to damage by winter cold or spring frosts, only high-quality prevention will help. First of all, it is worth planting only frost-resistant varieties in the middle lane and cold regions. For the winter, the trunks of plum trees and the ground around need to be covered with spruce branches, tightly trample down the snow and form a snowdrift near the stem – all this protects the ovary from freezing, and in spring it does not crumble.
- If the ovary falls off after the plum blossoms, then the neighboring trees should be transplanted closer to the plum. It is also worth checking once again that the varieties bloom at the same time – perhaps pollination does not occur simply because the flowering periods of the trees do not coincide.
- If the ovary crumbles due to a lack or excess of moisture, you need to reconsider watering. It is carried out as needed – once a month during normal precipitation, every 10 days during a drought. It is necessary to check the condition of the soil around the trunk – if the soil is wet, watering can be skipped. If the plum is clearly suffering from drought and therefore discards the fruits, it is possible to pour water to the roots ahead of time. You should also take into account the presence of neighboring trees in the immediate vicinity – their roots can take some of the moisture from the plum.
- If the plum drops the ovary from a lack of fertilizer, then most likely you can not expect a good harvest this year. Nevertheless, in the summer, in June, the tree still needs to be fed with mixtures containing potassium. In autumn, it is recommended to scatter manure around the trunk, and in the following spring, apply nitrogenous fertilizers, such as urea. If the plant is crumbling from an overabundance of fertilizer, it is necessary to reduce the amount of top dressing – and pay attention to the composition of the soil, since it may contain too much lime.
As for pests, due to which the plant sheds berries and the ovary crumbles, it is most convenient to deal with them with the help of preventive spraying of the ovary. In the spring, during the flowering period, it is necessary to process the plum so that the fruits do not crumble with special chemicals – Fitoverm, Lepidocide, Confidor and Dantop. The risk of plum damage by pests can be reduced by digging up the soil around the tree in autumn, as well as removing fallen leaves and fruits in time, preventing them from rotting.
Conclusion
Plum fruits fall off – a very unpleasant problem, but not a sentence for a plum ovary. If the plum falls abundantly and discards the fruits, then it is quite difficult to save the current year’s crop, it will be smaller in any case. But competent struggle and prevention will help restore health to plums next year.
