I have a small victoria plum tree, planted 4 1/2 years ago, last year I had a superb crop, during the summer a friend told me that the 2 big bits growing up straight were from beneath the graft & I should cut them out - so I did in the autumn( actually when \i looked closely I could see that the fruit were very different). This year there is only a few flowers on the tips of some branches, please has anyone any ideas why this is??
I noticed that 3 of my 5 plum trees don't have a single flower bud on them despite flowering last year..they only have new growth buds coming on. I suspect something (like weather) has disturbed their progress of producing buds last year and it is showing now.
If you give your tree little potash feed..it will help your tree to make some flowerbuds this summer..ready for next year :icon_thumleft:
My trees, those that are not flowering are all next to polytunnel...I suspect all the rain and snow we've had has come down from tunnel and washed potash away..so although they did get general feed earlier on the year..mine will get their potash treatment soon.
Victoria, like a lot of older varieties, can be a bit biennial.... though that siad anything growing normally after the last year would be a bit of a shock....
My Victoria only has a few flowers, but this is the first year it looks like producing a crop so I'm not complaining. the Cambridge Gage next to it has masses of flowers.
Like chrisscross says, my Victoria, if left to its own devices, alternates between good and bad years, so I remove some of the fruitlets in good years, to try and even it out. (The bad years are because the tree has put too much energy into fruit in a good year.) From the blossom, 2013 looks like a good year.