97°F
weather icon Clear

If bees don’t get to flowers, plums can’t form properly

Question: I have two Santa Rosa plum trees planted in my backyard. One is planted in a lawn, and the other is in a rock landscape. Both are doing well with numerous large plums growing on them. The one in the lawn area has about 25 percent small yellow plums that fall off when I flick them or shake the branches. The remainder of the larger plums look great.

The small, yellow fruit that drop off easily when you gently shake the branch have not been pollinated. Maybe the bee didn’t get to that flower.

Even without pollination, the fruit will start to form but without a seed developing inside the fruit. Without the seed forming, the plum fails to grow, the fruit dies on the tree, and it is aborted. This is frequently normal.

Bob Morris is a horticulture expert living in Las Vegas and professor emeritus for the University of Nevada. Visit his blog at xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com.

Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
THE LATEST
Some petunia varieties can stand up to our summer heat

There are lots of different kinds of petunias. For instance, the Madness Summer Series can take the heat, but petunias typically are not known for that.

Watch out for hornworms lurking in your garden

Anyone who has been gardening for a while has a horror story or two about hornworms, which infest many vegetables in the tomato family.

What can be done about high boron levels in soil?

Boron is one of the salts commonly found in desert soils. It can be present naturally or it can accumulate over the years in such places as horse corrals.

Do honeybees prefer pink flowers over white ones?

All of the so-called temperate fruit trees flower in the spring. The white-flowered types such as almonds, plums and pluots, apples and pears usually flower a bit later.

Is redbud tree a good choice for pool area?

My landscaper is recommending a redbud tree in the planter attached to my pool. I asked him if that’s a good tree to plant so close to the pool.

Can scent tell me what kind of plant this is?

You should smell a big difference between bay laurel and cherry laurel, which come from different plant families despite their similar names.