Plum Trees

Help please....

My plum trees were full of blossom, the fruitlets developed... but they dropped off very quickly... What is wrong?

The soil is sandy, I fed the trees potash last year, they are not surrounded by other trees.
Last year we got 4 plums, this year we may get about the same. The trees are about ten+ years old.

Any ideas!

 

I wonder If your trees were stressed, due to possibly lack of water or the fact they are in sandy soil, which will not retain the water, like clay would.

Is it possible to add some organic matter or topsoil to the sand to try and give you something to retain the water, or try mulching when the soil is wet, which might help.

Do you know the variety's of plums that you have, as sometimes you need variety's that will pollinate each other, in order to get a good crop?

In my fruit book, they are placed in differant groups for Early, Mid-Season and Late flowering to get good pollination.

We find ours which are Victoria, and Marjories Seedling tend to be Biennial fruiting in order to build up after a heavy cropping year.

Hope this helps.

Kandy