[nijjhar]

Hi,

I have a black plum tree and couple of years ago, it bore heavy fruit. Branches were breaking with the weight of the fruit. Last year, it produced very little say 10% and this year, plenty flowers but again very little fruit.

I haven't put manure to the plant and there were many offshoots from the roots and I have cut them off and replanted. All of them are green and ready for grafting.

Any suggestion:-

1. Why my plum tree is not bearing good fruit

2. How to graft the root offshoots?

I live in Reading, near the University and the allotment is called Mockbeggar.

I have also white seeded grapes and they are fine. I haven't put manure. Is it good to put chemical manure or the animal dung manure?

Anywhere in Reading, I can get big agricultural size bags of Nitrate and phosphate manure. Do you know any other type of manure sold in Reading or nearby? Is there a store for farmers?

Is there any way to suppress weeds growing under the fruit trees? I used to have carpets on my allotment and they were very effective. But Council objected. Why?

I put the black weed suppressant cloth but the weeds are growing through them. I have lifted the black cloth and some roots are embedded in the cloth. If I rip them off, it will damage the cloth. Can I spray herbicide on the roots?

I look forward to help?

[Goosegirl]

Hi nijjhar and welcome to the site. Others on here will know more than I do but as a start, it could be due to either frost or bird damage and a bit of dilute liquid feed rich in nitrogen helps during spring then use a dilute tomato feed later on. Keeping weeds away from the tree is good but avoid damaging it low down as it will produce suckers from the parent rootstock it was grafted on - maybe this is what you have rooted? Pernicious weeds like couch grass can grow through weed-suppressant membranes so maybe spray some glyphosate weed killer around the base but avoid getting it on any leaves that are coming from there. Using carpets as weed suppressants is not a good idea as they contain toxic chemicals.

[Mr Dog]

Before we were married Mrs Dog had 2 plum trees in her garden which behaved similarly to what you are describing, ie some years there was a glut and others a famine. Reasons are (as suggested earlier) late/wrong time frosts, cold weather so no pollinators about and also sometimes the tree just needs a rest, especially after a particularly fruitful year.

[solway cropper]

My early plum had an amazing show of blossom this year....right at the time we had a nasty cold spell. No pollinating insects due to the cold means a very poor crop from that tree this year. If you have the space it's always a good idea to plant several varieties with different flowering times.