Thinning
Japanese plums tend to set more fruit than the tree
can carry, which results in small, poor-quality fruit.
Hand thinning will help to increase size of the fruit
and improve the quality. Thinning can be done any time
between bloom until just before harvest, but fruit size
at harvest is generally directly related to the time
of thinning. The earlier you thin, the larger the fruit
you will have. Ideally, thin as soon as you can see the
developing fruit on the tree. Space fruit about 4 to
6 inches apart on the branch and break up the fruit clusters.
Focus on damaged fruit first. Then remove fruit at the
ends of branches that may be weakened by heavy fruit.
European plums do not require extensive thinning unless
fruit set is very heavy. |
Thin as soon as you see developing fruit
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