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The Blue Egg plum has become a favorite fruit crop of Russian gardeners due to its resistance to unfavorable climatic conditions and the excellent taste of the fruit. The variety is unpretentious in care, and the plum yields are rich.
History of variety selection
The Blue plum, bred in 1986, became widespread in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus in just a few years. Russian breeders V.S. Simonov, Kh.K. Enikeev and S.N. Satarova developed a new variety by crossing the ancient “Skorospelka” and “Renclaude Ullens”.
Description of plum Egg Blue
Egg plum is adapted to the temperature regime of temperate climates. Grows in central Russia, the Baltic states, and Ukraine.
The tree reaches a height of 6 meters or more. The crown is dense, dome-shaped. Blue plum blossoms with large white flowers with oval petals.Color appears only on young annual shoots. Egg plum is a long-lasting plant, lifespan is up to 30 years.
The leaves are elongated, dark green, with small serrations.
The fruits are dense, round in shape, dark blue in color; there is a whitish coating on the surface. The shape is ovoid. The aroma is pronounced, plum. Weight ranges from 30 to 35 g.
The pulp is bright yellow, sweet, quite soft, and produces a lot of juice. Contains a high percentage of sugar, no sour taste. Reviews about the taste of the Egg plum fruit are positive.
The Blue plum is no different in terms of fertility: 12 kg of fruit from one tree. The Blue Egg plum will produce its first harvest 5 years after planting.
The Blue Egg Plum does not require pollinators, as it is self-fertile. It tolerates frosty winters well at temperatures below 30 degrees Celsius. Egg plums are more difficult to tolerate drought - additional watering and irrigation are required.
Plum blossoms in early May; Harvesting can begin in mid-August. Egg Blue plum is used only in private gardens - farmers are not attracted to the variety. Growing the Egg Blue plum will not be difficult even for novice gardeners.
Description of the plum variety Egg Yellow
The tree grows up to 5 m or more, with a sparse rounded crown and massive branches.
- The shoots are massive, green, smooth.
- The leaf is carved, dark green, with yellow spots in autumn.
- The fruits are large, weighing up to 50 g, oblong, ovoid in shape. The peel is dense, bright yellow, with veins visible underneath.
- Egg plum is susceptible to rot during periods of heavy rainfall. The seed is easily affected by fungal diseases.
- The pulp of the Egg plum is juicy, with a pronounced sour taste. Yellow egg plum does not have good taste.
Characteristics of the variety
Characteristics of the Egg Blue plum variety: the fruits are sweet, juicy, about 12 kg of harvest can be harvested per season. Begins to bear fruit 5 years after planting.
The Egg Blue plum does not require pollinators, as it is self-fertile. Blue plum tolerates severe frosts well. Temperatures below 30 degrees Celsius are not scary for young buds.
Drought resistance frost resistance
For gardeners, the undoubted advantage of the Blue plum is its resistance to frost and drought.
- Frost resistance. Egg plum can withstand frosts down to -30 °C. But it’s still worth wrapping the trunk for the winter.
- Drought resistance. Blue plum tolerates heat well and goes without watering for a long time. Prolonged lack of moisture can affect yields. When watering, make sure that the water at the root does not stagnate. Also, Egg plant is watered after leaf fall before frost sets in.
Plum pollinators
The Blue Egg plum is pollinated by bees. During the flowering period there are frosts, and the bees do not always have time to fly out. Gardeners know that the more different varieties grow nearby, the higher the yield of the plum tree. Only self-pollinating trees should not be planted nearby. It is necessary to alternate self-fertile with self-sterile. Young trees of different varieties are planted at a distance of 10 m from each other.
The following pollinators are suitable for the Blue Egg:
- plum Eurasia 21;
- Skoroplodnaya plum;
- plum Renklod Tambovsky.
These plums bloom in early May. Fruiting is at the end of August - beginning of September.
Productivity and fruiting
Blue plum (Smolinka) is not characterized by high yield. During the season, you can harvest from 10 to 12 kg of crop from one tree. The Egg Yellow plum has a high yield.In September, up to 40 kg of fruits are harvested from one tree.
The Blue plum bears fruit at the end of summer. Depending on weather conditions, the harvest period may occur in early autumn.
Area of application of berries
Blue Egg Plum is well suited for freezing, canning, and drying. It is used to produce preserves and jams, alcoholic drinks, juices, fruit drinks, and compotes. Housewives prepare such delicacies from the fruits as marmalade, marshmallows, and jam.
Resistance to diseases and pests
Blue is not resistant to diseases. Quite often, fruits and leaves are infested with aphids and codling moths, and the crown is affected by clasterospirosis or fruit rot.
For prevention in the spring, treat the crown with fungicides and prune the affected areas.
Advantages and disadvantages of the variety
The domesticated Egg Blue plum grows across much of the European continent. Gardeners fell in love with her for the following qualities:
- frost resistance;
- drought resistance;
- self-fertility.
Flaws:
- lack of immunity to garden pests and diseases;
- perishable fruits;
- low yield.
Landing Features
It is necessary to plant seedlings in the spring. Sandy soils with a high humus content are suitable. Groundwater - no closer than 1.5 m to the surface of the earth.
Experienced gardeners place seedlings under the cover of a garden house. This way, in winter, the Blue plum will be protected from drafts and blowing snow.
Recommended timing
Egg seedlings are planted in March, before the buds on the shoots swell. Choose a warm and dry day for planting. Planting is possible in the fall, in September - early October, before the onset of cold weather.
Choosing a suitable location
For planting Blue, a warm, lighted place without drafts is suitable. Egg plum takes root in the south, southwest, and eastern part of the site.It is good to choose a place close to other varieties. This way it is possible to increase the yield of self-fertile plums.
What crops can and cannot be planted nearby?
- Blue Egg plum does not tolerate proximity to apple trees, pear trees, black currants, and raspberries.
- It’s good to plant a maple tree nearby. Neighborhood with it increases productivity.
- Blue Egg Plum grows well next to elderberries. This shrub prevents the appearance of aphids.
- Representatives of Russian selection (Egg plum, Pamyat Timiryazev, Kuban comet) cannot be planted with southern Manchurian species, such as Chinese and Amur plum.
Selection and preparation of planting material
- Choice. The Egg Blue plum can grow from a seed, a cutting, or a seedling. Growing shoots from seeds and cuttings is a fascinating, but undesirable activity. A cultivated plant is unlikely to succeed. It is better to choose a healthy, strong seedling from a nursery. The tree must have a developed root system and strong branches.
- Preparation. The seedling is left in a dark, damp place to avoid drying out the roots. Avoid exposure to drafts. Before planting, Egg seedlings are buried in shallow holes along the entire length of the root. The soil should be loose, the voids between the roots should be carefully filled.
Landing algorithm
- Dig a shallow hole based on the length of the root collar.
- A peg is driven into the center of the hole, which will become a temporary support for the tree.
- Lower the seedling into the hole carefully, without causing harm to the root.
- Dig in with loose soil. In this case, the root collar remains 3–5 cm above the soil level.
- Afterwards, abundant watering and fertilization with humus is necessary.
Aftercare for plums
A grown tree must be thinned out periodically.The Blue Egg plum has a lush crown - the branches are pruned once a year.
Trimming
Pruning is carried out in the spring, at the end of March, after frosts, before the formation of buds in the plum, using thinning and shortening methods.
Thin out a heavily overgrown crown by removing old branches and last year's shoots.
Pruning of plums is carried out with special garden tools, and the cut site is treated with garden varnish.
You can learn in detail about how to properly trim a Blue plum from this video:
Preparing for winter
When preparing young seedlings for wintering, you need to think about insulating the plum trunk. A sheet of old slate is placed in front of the tree to protect it from drafts. After a sufficient amount of snow has fallen, it is periodically thrown over an improvised fence.
If the winter turns out to be snowless, the trunk of the Blue plum is insulated with spruce branches or sawdust.
Learn more about how to prepare plums for winter in the video:
Feeding and watering
If the autumn is dry, the plum tree needs to be watered several times before frost sets in. Particular attention is paid to stagnation of water in the hole. The soil around the trunk should dry completely before the next watering.
Seedlings are fertilized several times a year. First time in the spring, after planting, once in the summer and again in the fall, before the weather gets colder. Fertilizing is carried out by watering with humus diluted in water or fertilizers containing potassium and magnesium. In the spring, fertilizing Egg is done with nitrogen-containing fertilizers.
Rodent protection
In autumn, in order to protect the trunk of the Egg Plum from rodents, it is wrapped with protective materials: spruce branches, raspberry and juniper branches. Such a barrier will protect not only from voles, but also from arguments during the winter thaw.
A protective layer is placed around the trunk close to the soil and tied with cloth or rope. You can wrap a layer of coniferous insulation on top with burlap or roofing felt.
Diseases and pests, methods of control and prevention
Clusterospirosis – a serious disease, the main pest of Egg plum. The disease is manifested by the appearance of red spots on the surface of the leaves. Over time, they turn into holes. The peculiarity of clusterospirosis is that it quickly spreads throughout the garden. Fungicides will help cope with it. They need to be changed periodically.
codling moth - another pest of this variety. The caterpillars eat up the ovaries and like to feast on ripe fruits, reducing the yield. In this case, the old bark is scraped off and the trunk is treated with chemicals.
Aphid settles on young leaves in the spring. Egg plum is treated for pests 1.5 months before fruiting.
Fruit rot appears on unripe fruits. It is a gray loose coating on the surface. Distributed in regions with a humid climate.
In order to prevent diseases, the affected shoots are cut off, the affected carrion is removed and burned in a timely manner. The cut areas are treated with copper sulfate. Fungal diseases are removed by spraying with a 1% solution of Bordeaux mixture.
Spraying with fungicidal preparations before flowering helps against pests.
Conclusion
Blue plum is an unpretentious plant common in our latitudes. The Blue Egg Plum will bear fruit for many years and will produce more than one harvest if you carry out regular feeding, pruning and protection from pests.
