The plum is dark purple, red or yellow, fleshy and succulent with the smooth bone. It was cultivated 2,000 thousand years ago. It can reach up to 06 meters with thick trunk, open and long branch.
Ideal Floor
The ground must be deep, over 1.2 meters, argilo-calcareous, clay-silicious, permeable, very drained and with good aeration. The pH of acidity should be around 6 to 6.5. The sowing can be in June to July and December to January.
How to plant
With seeds
In the planting of plum with seeds it is known that the seed is protected by that it thickens to lump. After tasting your plum, take the bone and let it dry for a few days. The seeds also dry and shrink.
Break the bone carefully, if you have a puzzle to do this, even better. Be careful not to damage the seeds. Leave the seeds in a glass with water to encourage twinning, those that are good for it, sink.
Place the seeds in a container with lid or an airtight bag and fill with fertilized soil. Place the seeds so that they are at the bottom of them and close them. Place in the refrigerator until it comes out of the root, this process is called stratification.
In glasses or orchard
Let's see now how to plant plum or garden pots:
Take a glass with several holes for drainage; the glass should be very spacious so that the root of the plant develops well.
Place a layer of gravel in the bottom. Fill with 3/4 of earth. Throw the seed from the containers and bury well in the bottom of the glass and wet it, leaving the soil only moist. Once the seedling begins to grow it is important to place a stake (approximately 15 cm) so that it develops firm and erect.
In the garden
After your plum plants are very firm, it is time to transplant to the final soil. A well drainable soil is essential for roots to grow up to one meter deep, which will provide larger trees, but productive and with longer life. You can also use graft holders to plant your plums.
Use agricultural limestone to correct the acidity of the soil and do the draft (adding lime to the soil) 03 months before sowing. The cave should be 40 cm x 40 cm x 40 cm or larger a little. And 40 days before planting, place in the caves a compost composed of dolomitic limestone, potassium, poultry manure, phosphorus and borax. From 02 in 02 months, add nitrogenous fertilizer.
Variety of plum
There are more than 2,000 types of plum that are classified into the following groups: American, ornamental, European and wild. We have as examples the best known:
European plum
It is also called domestic plum; Its color ranges from bluish purple to light green, passing through red, yellow and red. Their subspecies cross easily and on account of them, they vary in sweetness, acidity and color.
Apricot Plum (Prunus insititia)
Its fruit is also the damask, also called Brunho, Abrunho, Cabrunho or Cago. It is derived from Portugal.
Benefits of plum
Fruit time and harvest
How long does it take to receive the benefits?
It begins to bear fruit 2 years after sowing and its production peak is between six and eight years.
Plum pests
Thorn
It is a large "butterfly" with white wings. Its caterpillars hibernate in the dry foliage, devour the plant in a way that does not flower.
Winter trail
He has long legs and runs quickly through the branches. Males know how to fly. When the caterpillars eat the plant inside, then devour buttons, flowers and leaves, wrapping in spider webs.
Ticks
The females lay the eggs to the logo of the veins of the leaf, of the back side. When the larvae suck the juice from the leaves, they wilt and fall.
Spider
Parasite where its reproduction occurs at the bottom of the leaf under a thin cloth. It leaves black spots where it passes and damages the leaves, in more severe cases, flowers and fruits.
Acacia falsehood
This pest dirtifies the nutrients and dissolves the plant tissues with its toxic saliva, which weakens the tree.
Rotating blade
They are small butterflies that when the caterpillars devour the leaves of the tree, which remain bent.
Black Sawfly of the Plum
The adult of this insect has black-pearl color. They appear 01 weeks before the battlements flourish and put eggs on the buttons. When the larvae damage the seeds. They hibernate on the ground or near the tree.
Pollinated saffron
After that it affects the lower part of the foliage, which is rolled and wilted. In fruits, they wrinkle, rot and fall. The branches of the trees bend and the plant weakens.
Plum in the kitchen
It is also used in broths, ice creams, puddings, musses, cakes, soft drinks and liqueurs, it combines very well with salty dishes as well. They become soft when they freeze. And what is umeboshi? It is a preserved salted plum, widely used in Japan.
When buying, look for well-filled fruits, smooth and with the pulp that gives the pressure of the fingers. The color can change from yellow-green to purple. Prunes tend to be soft, with crushed or discolored rind and sometimes their juice is empty.
