How to grow Cherry plum

Prunus cerasifera · myrobalan plum

The cherry plum is a small, sometimes spiny tree, 8–12 m in the wild, and one of the first European trees to flower, with white blossom often before the leaves. Its self-fertile flowers give yellow or red fruit 2–3 cm across, eaten fresh or cooked into jam and sauces such as Georgian tkemali. It is also a common rootstock for other plums.

Quick facts

Type	Fruit tree
Family	Rosaceae
Light	Full sun
Frost	tolerates light frost
Sowing to harvest	1095 days
Where it grows	Open ground

When to plant

Planted as a young plant from a nursery while it is dormant — in early spring before the buds open, or in autumn after leaf fall.

Harvest from July to September (northern hemisphere).

Care

Open ground

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Growth	every 7 days	—	organic, at the start of the stage
Flowering	every 7 days	—	—
Fruiting	every 7 days	—	—
Harvest	every 7 days	—	—
Winter rest	—	—	—

Growing notes

Light

Grows in full sun or part shade, but flowers and crops best in full sun.

Soil

Average, moderately moist, well-drained loam.

Care

Water a young tree once a week in dry spells for the first summers and mulch each spring with compost; feed only after a good crop. Prune like other plums in spring or summer on a dry day, never while dormant, to avoid silver leaf and bacterial canker. Pick the fruit from July to September as it colours.

How to tell it is ripe

The fruit is 2–3 cm across and fully coloured in its variety's shade: yellow, pink, red, purple or nearly black.
The skin carries a light waxy bloom.
Taste one: a ripe cherry plum is juicy and sweet-sour.
Pick the fruit by hand as it colours, from July to September; eat sweet kinds fresh and cook sour ones into jam or sauce.

Pests and diseases of Cherry plum

Sources

Figures checked against these sources.