Early Prolific Plum Info: How To Grow Rivers Early Plum Trees

If you want a terrific early dessert plum, try growing Rivers Early plum trees. They are also known as Early Prolific plums due to their heavy cropping. Their beautiful purple-blue skin houses extremely sweet flesh. Rivers Early Prolific plum is easy to grow and can even produce a small crop without a pollinating partner. Keep reading for more Early Prolific plum info and see if this variety is right for your zone and needs.

Early Prolific Plum Info

Rivers Early plum trees need a full sun location to produce their best. With good soil and careful establishment, Early Prolific plum care is minimal, requiring just annual pruning and feeding, and attention to water. United States Department of Agriculture zones 6 to 8 are perfect for Early Prolific plum tree growing.

Early Prolific is an English variety developed in Herfordshire around 1820. The parent is a Precoce de Tours. It is undeniably sweet but is a dual-purpose fruit also excellent in recipes. By 1895, it was awarded a First-Class Certificate from the RHS and has been a commercial favorite ever since.

The fruit is fairly small, rounded, and has golden-yellow flesh. It is a freestone variety and said to be very good for jam. The tree itself is small with drooping branches that can be fragile and will need monitoring and support if cropping is heavy. While it can produce fruit on its own, a better crop will be produced with a variety like Marjorie’s Seedling.

Early Prolific Plum Tree Growing

Choose a site with plenty of sun where the soil is loose and fertile. Make sure it drains adequately since trees with “wet feet” can suffer from rot. Ideally, the tree should have 6 to 8 hours of sunlight during the growing season.

When planting new trees, soak the roots of bare-root trees prior to installing. Make sure the roots are well spread in the planting hole and fill in around them completely. Water in new trees well. Young plants will benefit from some judicious pruning after the first year to establish a vase shape and encourage strong branches.

Early Prolific Plum Care

Your Early Rivers Prolific plum needs food at bud break once they start producing fruit. Use an organic mulch around the root zone that will prevent weeds, conserve moisture, and slowly feed the roots.

Because this tree tends to have delicate stems, prune out excess fruit at terminal ends, leaving just a few to ripen. If necessary, provide support to overly laden branches during cropping.

Watch for insects and treat them immediately. Avoid watering the tree from above to prevent fungal issues. Overall, this is an easy tree for which to care for and will reward you with bushels of fruit. The only problem is how to eat it all.