Plum is popular with gardeners. This culture can be found in almost every area. With proper care, the tree brings good harvests. But this does not always happen regularly. It so happens that a tree ceases to please the owner with its fruits. What is the reason for this? Why does not the plum fruit? Consider the most common causes.
If the gardener wondered why the plum tree does not bear fruit, it is worth analyzing the planting conditions and tree care measures. Most likely, at some stage mistakes were made.
Soil selection
How to plant a plum in order to ensure a high yield of this crop in the future?
When planting a plum, it is important to choose the right type of soil for it. Surprisingly, this tree prefers land on which other crops do not grow. The optimal soil for plum will be clay, medium clay, sandy, with a high level of humidity. That is, the soil should be quite heavy, and even moistened.
If the tree grows on another land, perhaps there will be no harvest or it will be small.
It is also worth considering that the plum tree does not like acidic soils. If the site is very acidic, you can mix the mixture into it to reduce this indicator. The mixture has the following composition:
- one part of wood ash;
- three parts of chalk;
- one part lime.
Landing
When answering the question of why the plum does not bear fruit, it is important to understand whether the tree was planted correctly. When landing, several errors are often made.
Deepening the root neck. This is the most common mistake when planting a seedling. The root neck should rise 5-10 cm above the ground level. A recessed landing will adversely affect the development of the tree.
Excessive fertilization. By introducing too much fertilizer into the planting hole, gardeners harm the plum culture. Do not add fresh manure when planting. The most suitable fertilizer for plums will be a mixture of:
- 5 kg of compost;
- 6 kg of peat;
- 1 kg of ash;
- 0.3 kg of superphosphate;
- 0.1 potassium sulfate.
Unsuitable place to land. It is not enough to choose a lighted place, there should not be strong winds, the earth should be flat, large trees nearby are undesirable.
Now it becomes clear how to properly plant the plum tree to help the tree feel comfortable and delight the owner with high yields.
The choice of location and proper planting are important, but these are not all the reasons why there is no fruiting.
Watering and feeding
The implementation of watering and top dressing in the time necessary for the tree will ensure stable productivity.
Watering a tree is performed by:
- immediately after the formation of the first flowers;
- with the formation of ovaries;
- with the growth of bones;
- at the end of September.
50-60 liters of water is enough for one watering, plum 3-5 years - 60-90 liters, trees 6-10 years - 120-170 liters.
Top dressing is made according to this scheme:
- urea and organic fertilizers are applied before the flowering stage of the plum;
- around July, when the fruits are poured, the soil is fertilized with organic compounds;
- after harvesting, they are fed potassium-phosphorus fertilizers.
Diseases and parasites
Various plum diseases and parasites are a dangerous factor in the development of the tree and its fruiting. The most common diseases:
- Coccomycosis manifests itself in the appearance of reddish spots on the leaves. Sick leaves dry and fall. It is important to burn them in time, and to process the crown with copper chloride.
- Gommosis affects the bark and branches, gum appears. Copper sulfate and garden varar helps with the disease.
- Moniliosis affects the fruits of plums. Bordeaux fluid helps with the disease.
- Shoot moth. Caterpillars of this parasite damage the kidneys, which leads to a lack of yield, and sometimes to the death of the tree. You can fight the pest with Nitrafen or other insecticides.
- The plum moth can destroy all the fruits. To combat it, the plum is sprayed with benzophosphate.
- Plum aphids also harm fruits and can destroy them all. From a parasite helps a solution of benzophosphate.
Freezing
It also happens that the conditions of planting and care are met, there are no parasites and diseases, flowering is sufficient, and the fruits do not appear. Why does a plum blossom, but not bear fruit?
During the appearance of flowers, you need to pay attention to the pestle. If it is black, it means that in winter the tree froze, in this case there is no need to wait for fruit.
Normal pestle is green. A tree can freeze in the spring if unexpected sudden frosts occur. In this case, the fruits are not tied.
Features of variety or soil
Many plum varieties are self-pollinated. But if the plum grows alone on the site or all the trees are of the same variety, there will be color, but there may not be ovaries. To solve the problem, plums of several varieties should be planted, given pollination.
Pollination may not have occurred due to inclement rainy weather. In such conditions, there are few bees, and pollen flows from the flowers. Pollen that is wet in the rain will not provide ovary formation.
All varieties are created by breeders for specific areas. If a variety that is unsuitable for a particular locality is selected and planted, you can not wait for the fruit if all other conditions are met.
The importance of regular and timely top dressing when caring for the plum has already been said. But it is worthwhile to dwell in more detail on such an element as potassium. If a gardener thinks about why the plum does not bear fruit, the answer to the question may be the lack of this important element in the soil. The low potassium content in the ground leads to the fact that the flowers do not form ovaries, which means that there will be no fruits.
For this reason, the plum is fed with potash fertilizers after three years. Wood ash is rich in potassium.
No flowers form on the plum
It also happens that the tree does not bloom at all . Why doesn’t the plum blossom ? If the tree does not bloom and bear fruit for several years, it is most likely a wild bird. Such instances can be eliminated.
If the tree has not reached the age of 10 years, experts advise moving the lower tier of branches to a horizontal position, tying them to pegs dug in the ground. After a couple of years, the branches are untied. If the method does not help, drain the plum.
Plums may have spikes as a sign of “wildness”.
Why is the cultivar plum not blooming ? This may be due to an excess of nitrogenous fertilizers in the soil. Therefore, when feeding, it is very important not to exceed the allowable dosage.
These are the main reasons for the lack of fruiting in plums in orchards. Now it will be easier for gardeners to increase the yield of plum trees.