...anyone have any good ways of propagating plums from stones ?
These are from a semi-wild stock found near the Metro railway lines in Newcastle and are lovely small fruits about 1-1 1/2" long and I appreciate any answers ;)
Put them on a piece of ground or large pot, with plenty of grit mixed in, about half inch down only.
Leave them alone, apart from making sure that they don't completely dry out. Leave them over winter.
You should find, come the warmer spring months next year, that you get some decent seedlings, which you can then pot on and plant out in the late autumn.
I like to do a handful of stones each year this way to build up the local hedgerows.
They will also grow very well from cuttings. The trees are probably bullace, myrobella if ripe now or damson if ripening a bit later.
The Myrobella around here are heavenly. I harvested two buckets full last week, no-one else picks them, which is crazy because they are so sweet. Some of the branches, this year, were so laden they have snapped off.
A small word or three of warning though. Grown from either stones or cuttings they do have a tendency to grow into BIG trees and produce suckers all over the place. We have a wild plum hedgerow and I spend a lot of time taking suckers out from a fair distance away in the garden.
If you grow it from a seed it may not come true.
Many thanks all of you, I will give it a whirl and plant them in a wild place, even if they don`t grow true I will be able to use the wood for smoking ;D