Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard
Hey European members! Does the plum 'Pozegaca' need a long cold winter to bear a good crop, or does it produce well near the Mediterranean coast?
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I have never seen plums, apples, pears or anything like that at the coast in Meditterranean, it's just too warm and DRY! for them there. From the name it could be a German or northern Slavic variety(?)... Our usual winters last 3 months (with below 32°F temps) and the general rule is that if you can grow peaches somewhere with limitations (e.g. too cold climate), then it's almost perfect conditions for plums, which require more or less strong winters.
So to answer your question: No, I haven't seen a plum in warmer area here, but I can't say for 100% that there's none in the M. sea area.
Plums are a delicacy here, one of the endangered species though, there's a cold liking illness called "Šárka" or transcribed as "Sharka", which eliminated proffessional production in Central Europe. Therefore people grow it only in Northern parts here (Ukraine, Poland...).
If you once get Sharka in your garden, you have to cut down all infected trees (susceptible are peaches, plums...) and burn the roots along with the wood. If you intend to get a graft from someone, be sure not to get infected material.
Also, ideal time for grafting would be in May (when it literally wakes up here).
And there's one special drink we make of it (52% and more % of alcohol, sometimes even dangerous 75%, 85%... some people appear in hospitals after drinking uncertiphied Slivovica (Plum Brandy)...) Also a sport around Slivovica was brought here by Russians during WWII (drinking flaming burning Slivovica aka Marshal Marinovsky!):
From one of Czech movies (it's about a village boy who inherited a lot of money). It shows, how slivovica has always been a drink of poor and uncivilized people here. Usually home-made too.