Plum identification help

Heya,

Over a month ago and the other week I got some plums from the supermarket and decided to see if I could plant their seeds. Watched a video and put them in the fridge, and to my surprise as someone unfamiliar with all this, it worked. But now I'm not sure if whatever plum varieties I have would cross pollinate together, or survive where I live. The PLU codes on them are almost useless, referring to them as "Large Black" and "Large Red" plums. Luckily I took some photos of them when I still had them. I'll probably buy some seeds elsewhere soon, but it'd seem a waste to get rid of these when they're already sprouting because I don't know their variety. Wondering if the photos I have are enough for anyone here to recognize them.

Welcome to Permies Richard!

Congratulations on your plums sprouting. I would guess they are probably Asian plums, and they will most likely cross pollinate if they are both Asian plums. It is very hard to determine the variety of plums sold in stores unfortunately, and yeah I wish they would list the exact variety instead of just "black plum". A lot of the varieties sold in large chain stores are probably going to be newer varieties that they don't release much info on. Hope the seedlings grow well!

Steve

Thanks,

If I can get these seeds past the potting stage I think I'll gift these to a friend somewhere warmer, in case they die off here. For now I'll try and grow Black Ice and Toka together.

- Rich

Richard Esposito wrote:Heya,

Over a month ago and the other week I got some plums from the supermarket and decided to see if I could plant their seeds. Watched a video and put them in the fridge, and to my surprise as someone unfamiliar with all this, it worked. But now I'm not sure if whatever plum varieties I have would cross pollinate together, or survive where I live. The PLU codes on them are almost useless, referring to them as "Large Black" and "Large Red" plums. Luckily I took some photos of them when I still had them. I'll probably buy some seeds elsewhere soon, but it'd seem a waste to get rid of these when they're already sprouting because I don't know their variety. Wondering if the photos I have are enough for anyone here to recognize them.

These are all Asian Plums. Spherical, hard, good transporters, take a knock or two, lens-shaped stones. Can be imported from afar. Prunus salicina.
European plums are generally oval with flat stones, softer, more delicious, shorter lived. A group of them are called bullace, these have fat lens-shaped stones. Damsons and prunes are European. Prunus domestica.
P salicina is diploid, and has been crossed with cherry plum (P cerasifera) and extensively with apricot - producing pluots and apriums, depending what they've got most of. They're often called plums regardless - Flavor King is one.
European plum, though, is reckoned to be a hybrid, between cherry plum and the tetraploid sloe. Having a single set of chromosomes from one parent, and 2 from the other, makes 3 - making cell division awkward, so they double up to 6 and progress from there. Whether this leads to problems crossing with other Prunus species I don't know. BTW, you'll not that sloe suckers readily, Cherry rarely, and European plum commonly. So the latter's often grafted onto a non-suckering stock.
I had a Prunus salicina growing under a cherry plum. The latter usually suffered from pocket plum disease (Taphrina pruni), dropped is disformed fruit and got on with it. Meanwhile the P.salicina was really battered by it, dying last year. And a nearby bullace - never noticed the disease.

Anthony Powell wrote:

Richard Esposito wrote:Heya,

Over a month ago and the other week I got some plums from the supermarket and decided to see if I could plant their seeds. Watched a video and put them in the fridge, and to my surprise as someone unfamiliar with all this, it worked. But now I'm not sure if whatever plum varieties I have would cross pollinate together, or survive where I live. The PLU codes on them are almost useless, referring to them as "Large Black" and "Large Red" plums. Luckily I took some photos of them when I still had them. I'll probably buy some seeds elsewhere soon, but it'd seem a waste to get rid of these when they're already sprouting because I don't know their variety. Wondering if the photos I have are enough for anyone here to recognize them.

These are all Asian Plums. Spherical, hard, good transporters, take a knock or two, lens-shaped stones. Can be imported from afar. Prunus salicina.
European plums are generally oval with flat stones, softer, more delicious, shorter lived. A group of them are called bullace, these have fat lens-shaped stones. Damsons and prunes are European. Prunus domestica.
P salicina is diploid, and has been crossed with cherry plum (P cerasifera) and extensively with apricot - producing pluots and apriums, depending what they've got most of. They're often called plums regardless - Flavor King is one.
European plum, though, is reckoned to be a hybrid, between cherry plum and the tetraploid sloe. Having a single set of chromosomes from one parent, and 2 from the other, makes 3 - making cell division awkward, so they double up to 6 and progress from there. Whether this leads to problems crossing with other Prunus species I don't know. BTW, you'll not that sloe suckers readily, Cherry rarely, and European plum commonly. So the latter's often grafted onto a non-suckering stock.
I had a Prunus salicina growing under a cherry plum. The latter usually suffered from pocket plum disease (Taphrina pruni), dropped is disformed fruit and got on with it. Meanwhile the P.salicina was really battered by it, dying last year. And a nearby bullace - never noticed the disease.

Hey, thanks for the insight! Rn I think I'll buy a single toka tree to cross polinate and see how it goes. Disease-wise, pocket plum disease seems to be commen where I am, but I suppose there wouldn't be much of me to prevent it naturally other than mulch and the usual anyways. I've gotten my 2 seeds to successfully germinate and sprout, one 7 in and the other foot tall already! Can't wait to see how they progress