The recent streak of warm weather has alerted the fruit trees around us to flower. Pictured above is a pluot tree budding in my backyard. What the heck is a pluot? It's a cross between a plum and an apricot both stone fruit trees. Pluots are a second generation of hybrid plum-apricots. The first of these cross-bred fruits were called apriums or plumcots were developed in the 19th Century by Luther Burbank in Santa Rosa, California.
If you get a chance visit the Luther Burbank Home and Garden and learn more about the different varieties of fruits and vegetables he hybridized. His plumcot was 50/50 cross of plum and apricot. He developed about 15 different varieties of plumcots but they proved hard to grow.
In the 20thCentury Floyd Zaiger, a plant geneticist developed the pluot. It is more plum than apricot. The outside resembles a large plum and the inside of mine are soft orange and fleshy. They have a higher sugar content than plums. Zaiger develops over 20 different varieties including Black Kat, Crimson Heart, Dapple Dandy, Dapple Fire, Early Dapple, Flavor Fall, Flavor Grenade, Flavor Heart, Flavor King, and Flavor Queen pluots. You can sample many of these at the numerous local Farmers' Markets in the Bay Area.
Pluot tree care is similar to plum tree maintenance. Winter is pruning time to remove any dead, diseased, or crossing branches. Avoid crowding, allow branches to spread apart leaving the fruit to develop without touching Prune the tree for a shorter height, it makes it easier to pick the fruit unless, of course, you enjoy climbing a ten-foot ladder to reach the top fruit. Mulch around the tree but not up to the trunk allows a 3' space around the trunk. Deeply water once a week for established trees. Oh, you will need another pluot tree to help cross-pollinate to produce fruit. Pictured below you can see the two pluot trees side by side.
For further reading:
food > Pluots
UCCE MasterGardner Newspaper Tulare/Kings Counties
Grow a Plum or Pluot in your Garden by Thia Fiskin, UC Master Gardener