[Missey]

Can anyone shed any light on what's wrong with this plum? I've had a few go like this and we just knock them off away from the other fruits.

Thanks
Marie

[Missey]

Sorry! when should I prune my plum tree - Can I wait for this years crop to ripen approx 20/25 - then do it before winter sets in or wait until next year. 

It needs a real hard cut back & we accept it may not fruit next year as a result.

[Yorkie]

It looks like a form of rot - you're dong the right thing by disposing of the bad ones; don't compost them.

I'm not sure about how you dovetail harvesting and pruning - hopefully someone else will know.

[mumofstig]

I didn't think they should be pruned until Spring and now know why

Plum trees .. benefit from initial training and the thinning of old wood to ensure they produce as much fruit as possible. Plums are pruned in early spring or mid-summer to avoid infection by silver leaf disease.

Pruning advice here
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=339

[Ivor Backache]

Your plum has brown rot. No cure for it and very contagious. Last year I was destroying an average of 30 a week so I decided to cut the tree back hard and spray with a fungicide. Hardly a fruit this year but I thought I may break the sequence. Cleaned up the soil and treated that as well. This year I have still got brown rot. My neighbour has the same tree (Victoria) and maybe that is the cause of the infection. You will need to inspect your fruit on a daily basis and cut off the infected fruit and burn it.