My five year old Santa Rosa plum is having a great year, I guess. We've had excellent rainfall. This is the first year of any fruit getting to harvest. More accurately, fruit near ripe started falling a few weeks ago. they were small but some were perfect and then ripen on the counter. They've gotten bigger. I pick up the perfect ones and they are very sweet when ripe.

But ugh, what a mess of the ones with bad spots, then mold. And the suckers off the roots. And am I going to get a lot of seedlings too, with all the dropped fruit?

How do you manage your plums? Does this sound like a disaster?

Plums can be difficult. Lots of diseases and insects. http://www.gardeningknowhow.co... With the exception of Green Gage, I have had less problems with the Japanese plums than with European varieties. Santa Rosa is an excellent variety altho I usually have Superior in that niche.

Thanks FarmerDill. I know you"re very knowledgeable.

2017- hardly any fruit. Late freeze, maybe? I seem to recall... what fruit I saw fell early and green.
2018- loads of flowers opening now. Maybe it rested last year. I don't think I have any seedlings, we mow around most of it and have an asparagus bed to one side- yes, bad choice planting this tree 6 feet to the south of the asparagus bed...

I wish I could like plums but they're always so darn puckery sour! I gave up!

SANTA ROSA PLUM: Wow! I have 10 plum trees, all but three or four, Japanese. The three or four are: "Santa Rosa" (which I think is of Japanese origin thanks to the famous California fruit tree breeder, Luther Burbank), two Canadian "Pembina" which will pollinate Japanese plums, and one European "Staniel"! I did have three European "Damson" plums which all succumbed to "Black Knot" about two years ago, which gave us over the years, however, fantastic "Damson" plum jam, and were very sweet to eat. The Japanese are loaded every year with both yellow and red round fruit and are extremely sweet. Getting back to the "Santa Rosa", I have had one for about four years, and last year, it had quite a few blossoms on it! I was excited! Then, as the Summer wore on, it looked like it was dying from the top down, just like a multi-grafted Cherry tree just a short distance from it. I so wanted to taste a "Santa Rosa" plum!!! It was almost like fireblight in pear trees. There is, unfortunately, a small amount of "Black Knot" starting to appear on a couple of my Japanese plums as well!!!!! In my second tour of my gardens, yet to be posted, I am pretty certain I see some new growth on the Cherry, but none yet on the "Santa Rosa". I am keeping the faith!!! Sally, I must look for suckers off the roots!! Thanks.

I have Stanley and it suckers a lot. I just snip them off as they pop up. Really good fruit, though, sweet and firm.

The only plums I've ever had are store plums. I'll bet home grown are much nicer. I do love Smucker's red plum jam. It's not cloyingly sweet like grape.