I want to plant plum (aloo bukhara). Which areas grow it well, how much chilling does it need, and can it be grown in the lower hills or warm plains with low-chill varieties?
3 Answers
Plum (aloo bukhara) is a temperate stone fruit grown in Himachal, Uttarakhand, Kashmir and the hills, and like peach it has both high-chill and low-chill types, so it is more adaptable than apple or cherry. Low-chill Japanese-type plums such as Santa Rosa and similar varieties do well in the lower hills and the subtropical plains of north India, including parts of Punjab and the foothills, while high-chill European types suit colder higher areas. Match the variety's chilling requirement to your location, this is the key decision. Many plums need a compatible pollinizer variety because they are partly self-incompatible, so plant pollinizers and keep bees for good set. Plum flowers early, so frost is a risk in cold or frost-pocket sites. It bears fairly young and is a useful early-summer fruit. Choose the right chilling-class variety and pollinizer for your altitude with your horticulture department, and pick a frost-safe site.
Santa Rosa type plum grows well in our lower area. It needs a pollinizer though, my single-variety block set poorly until I added one.
Plum fruits early and sells in the early summer gap. Low-chill variety was the right choice for our warm winters here.