The proper way to propagate luscious plums!

European plums are the tastiest types. Mike McGrath host of You Bet Your Garden will plumb the depths of proper propagation, discuss the safe hunting and preparation of wild mushrooms in advance of Fungus Fest and answer all your growing questions.

Question of the Week:

I’m currently renting a house with an ‘Italian prune tree’ in the yard. We love these plums; they are delicious, and no one else seems to have this variety around here. We’re thinking about buying a place of our own in the future—no move actually slated yet—but we don’t want to lose out on these plums later down the road.

This tree sends up suckers all the time. Do you think it’s possible to dig a few of those up, temporarily pot them, and eventually move them to our future new home? Would the suckers produce the same type of plum? Or are plums commonly a tree that is grafted? If so, would we be better off trying to propagate a cutting from the branches? I’m assuming that starting a tree from seed isn’t a good idea as there are lots of ornamental plums around the neighborhood that our tree is likely ‘breeding’ with. Finally, regardless of the best way to ‘transport’ this tree, what’s the best time of year to do the work?

-Sara in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon

How to propagate a plum tree »

(Photo: Greg Jordan)