Pluot: Planting, Growing, and Harvest (Note: The translation maintains the British English spelling and follows the glossary terms provided. The HTML structure is preserved as per instructions. The botanical name "Pluot" remains unchanged as it's a hybrid name.)

Description and Botany

The pluot, also nicknamed “apricot-plum”, “plumcot” or “dinosaur egg”, is a fruit tree from the Rosaceae family, like the apricot, almond and peach trees. It is an interspecific species, a new hybrid fruit, resulting from cross-breeding between a plum (Prunus domestica at 70%) and an apricot (Prunus armeniaca at 30%). Its hybridization was developed in 1988 in the United States by Chris Floyd Zaiger, a Californian breeder and developer of stone fruit varieties. Pluot® is now a registered trademark. Today, it comes in around 25 hybrid varieties such as ‘Flavor Candy‘ or ‘Flavor Supreme’, which was the first Pluot® variety introduced to the market.

The pluot forms a semi-dwarf tree with a spreading habit that won’t exceed 3.50 m in height at maturity. This makes this fruit tree interesting for small gardens. The silhouette is naturally wide-spreading. The branches bear deciduous foliage. As with plum trees, pluot branches are quite brittle under the weight of the fruit. The leaves are long, ovate, measuring 8 to 15 cm by 3 to 4 cm wide, with a short petiole. Bright green in colour, they are smooth with crenate margins.

Flowering occurs in March-April on the previous year’s branches. The pluot is then covered with small pale pink flowers typical of Rosaceae, cup-shaped and composed of 5 sepals and 5 pedunculate petals. The flowers are hermaphroditic. Most varieties are self-fertile (Pluot® Pink Candy®, Pluot® Pink Candy®, Pluot® Purple Candy®), so there’s no need for another apricot or plum tree nearby to ensure good fruiting. Self-sterile varieties will fruit better through cross-pollination by planting a plum tree nearby to improve fertility.

Once pollinated by bees, the flowers turn into large fruits – Pluots. They are harvested from June to August depending on the region. With their smooth skin, Pluots look very much like plums, but their size brings them closer to peaches. The fruits are round, as large as peaches at about 6 cm in diameter, and retain the typical small crease of the apricot. The epidermis is thin, its colour varies from dark purple to pink-red, sometimes bicoloured and punctate with coloured spots. They are most often covered with a bloom that disappears when touched. They contain juicy, sweet flesh, yellow or red, very fragrant, with a tangy flavour and texture similar to that of apricot. It usually takes 3 years before the first harvest.

The pluot is a hybrid between plum and apricot

Main varieties

[product sku=”792152″ blog_description=”This self-fertile variety produces bicolour pluots, yellow and red-purple in July. To improve fertility: Golden Japan is ideal.” template=”listing1″ /]

[product sku=”792192″ blog_description=”This was the first Pluot® variety to appear on the market. It is not self-fertile. Another peach tree will need to be planted nearby.” template=”listing1″ /]

[product sku=”782172″ blog_description=”A productive, self-fertile variety, very sweet with exotic fruit aromas.” template=”listing1″ /]

[product sku=”792211″ blog_description=”This variety is self-fertile. It is compact and productive.” template=”listing1″ /]

Planting

Where to Plant It?

Perfectly hardy, the pluot can withstand temperatures as low as -35°C, making it suitable for all regions. In colder areas, choose a sheltered spot away from northerly and easterly winds to protect the flowering.

To ensure a good fruit yield, plant it in full sun in neutral, light, deep, and well-drained soil without excess water. It dislikes heavy, compact soils.

As it remains modest in size, this fruit tree is well-suited to small gardens. It can be planted in an orchard but also in an ornamental garden, where its beautiful spring flowering will add charm. Self-sterile varieties require planting another plum tree (such as ‘Golden Japan’) or apricot tree nearby for fruiting.

Pluots

When to Plant?

Usually sold as bare-root plants, the pluot is best planted between October and December, avoiding frost periods.

How to Plant?

• Dig a hole two to three times wider and deeper than the root ball
• Soak the root ball in a basin of water for a few minutes
• Spread gravel at the bottom of the planting hole
• Add compost
• Place the pluot in the hole
• Position the tree and backfill, gently firming the enriched garden soil mixed with compost to remove air pockets
• Water thoroughly and regularly to help your pluot establish

Maintaining and Pruning the Pluot

After planting, for the first three years, ensure regular watering as the soil should remain moist throughout summer. It prefers soils that retain some moisture. In autumn or spring, apply manure by surface raking or use fruit tree fertiliser.

Remove any suckers growing at the base of the tree.

The apricot-plum is a fruit tree resistant to fungal diseases and parasitic attacks.

When and how to prune?

Proper pruning leads to good fruiting.

Formative pruning

This is carried out in spring following planting, avoiding frost periods, and for the next three years before the tree becomes productive. Use a saw or pruning shears. It involves pruning to remove poorly placed and weak branches, retaining only 5 branches that will form the tree’s framework. This formative pruning is necessary in the early years.

Fruit-bearing pruning

Fruits appear on one-year-old wood, and branches that have already fruited will not bear pluots again. This pruning encourages good fruit production and is done in winter with a sharp and carefully cleaned pruning shear. Coat pruning wounds with a healing paste to prevent diseases. It is advisable to:

• Prune branches that have already fruited to 2 buds above the future branching
• Remove suckers developing on the trunk
• Cut away dead or broken wood and crossing branches
• Shorten the longest ones

Propagation

The Pluot reproduces through grafting, a technique that requires some expertise best suited to professional gardeners. It is also possible to take the suckers that develop around the mother plant and replant them further away, but they will only flower many years after planting.

When and how to harvest pluots?

The harvest takes place at ripeness from June to August-September depending on the variety and region. The fruits are simply picked by hand when they feel tender to the touch.

Use and storage

Apricot plums can be eaten raw or prepared. They are delicious when crunched raw straight after picking. Pluots are also delightful in fruit salads, clafoutis, cakes, crumbles, or tarts. They can also accompany savoury dishes. They are also used to make jams, fruits in syrup, compotes, or juices.

They have a short shelf life, keeping for just a few days at room temperature. Once washed, dried, and stoned, they can be frozen.

A pluot contains around 80 calories. The flesh is rich in vitamins C and A, trace elements (potassium), and fibre.

Pluots can be eaten raw or cooked in tarts or clafoutis, for example