Prunus Mume

[Brian Van Fleet]

... do you know how old is your Ume? Any guess? And I think you said above this is the second year for blooms. Looking forward to the photos this year.

Mine hasn't completely lost its leaves yet

I was told it was around 50 years old, but I suspect it's half of that.

I bought one from Brent 3-4 years ago as a pencil-thick seedling in a 4" pot. It's been in the ground 3 seasons now and has thickened up to about 1.5", and is about 12' tall...unpruned as yet. If I let it go 2 more years, then chop it down to 6" tall or so, and let it go another 3-4 years, it could be bigger than the ume in this photo, with equally aged bark as a 12-year-old trunk.

BTW, the one in the ground still had a few leaves before last nights storms and today's wind. Some if the leaves actually turned a pretty red color.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

A few more shots from today...

 

[Dan W.]

Looking good Brian

 

[JudyB]

Very nice Brian! You know, they remind me of popcorn in some small way, with some open and some not and some in between....
I love popcorn...

 

[fredtruck]

they do look good, and there are a lot of them! Can't beat that.

 

[milehigh_7]

Looks great! Buds are swelling on my little Bonita.

 

[Beng]

Really nice tree!

 

[bonhe]

A few more shots from today...

Really nice!
Is it smelling good?
Its flower has double layer!
Bonhe

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Really nice!
Is it smelling good?
Its flower has double layer!
Bonhe

yes, double flowers, and the scent is so strong right now, it nearly overwhelms a room when inside. It dropped into the 20s the last couple nights, so it came in for the night. It's in a different room 12' behind me, and I can smell it!

night shot:

 

[Lancaster]

Very nice. I can smell it from here, Brian.

 

[Beng]

How often do you all cut back yours? I have several varieties, 6 of my Mume/Ume i've grown from small cuttings and i'm very familiar with their growth patterns. My 2 largest however I just got last last spring from Telperion Farms. Last year they didn't grow much as they were bare rooted. This year I had 2 foot long extensions by may 1st, I cut those back to two sets of leaves per shoot. Now a month later I have 2 foot long extensions again, it's so vigorous! My other Mumes i let grow free and cut back hard only once a year, sometimes twice. At this rate these new ones will take over my yard if I do that, they're growing as fast as wisteria. As long as I leave 2 sets of leaves i'm leaving old wood. So in theory cutting back long shoots 3 times in a growing season wouldn't hurt as the old wood will still be present for flowering right?

 

[Jason_mazzy]

Well if you want it for the flowers let it grow. then wire in the summer. then after winter bloom cut back where you want.

 

[Beng]

The shoots will be 1-2 meters or longer by then. I guess I could switch to a 0 nitrogen fertilizer.

I'm still working on ramification not to worried about flowering yet. If I can get it that's great if not i still need to build more branching.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

The shoots will be 1-2 meters or longer by then. I guess I could switch to a 0 nitrogen fertilizer.

I'm still working on ramification not to worried about flowering yet. If I can get it that's great if not i still need to build more branching.

If you are developing ramification, you are doing the right thing, just don't expect flowers. If its inclined to flower, that inclination can be encouraged by letting it grow without pruning back after early May. I cut mine back once during the growing season, late April. This photo is recent, and I won't cut it back again until the leaves fall and the flower buds are swelling.

Problem is, the two goals are mutually exclusive. If you want flowers, it needs to grow, which also means the viable leaf buds for next year are much further from the trunk, "destroying" ramification.

 

[Owen Reich]

Looking good .

 

[nathanbs]

correct me if im wrong but this is why many if not all ume in Japan are grafted every 5? years so that they can have fantastic branching and flowering all in one?

 

[Jason_mazzy]

very interesting

 

[Beng]

If you are developing ramification, you are doing the right thing, just don't expect flowers. If its inclined to flower, that inclination can be encouraged by letting it grow without pruning back after early May. I cut mine back once during the growing season, late April. This photo is recent, and I won't cut it back again until the leaves fall and the flower buds are swelling.

Problem is, the two goals are mutually exclusive. If you want flowers, it needs to grow, which also means the viable leaf buds for next year are much further from the trunk, "destroying" ramification.

Yours looks in control like most of my Ume, but this sub-species is super vigorous I will take a picture in the AM. It's from Chris Kirk anyone know what species he grows he said it was the standard white. It's literally above my waist now the growth and it's only about 1 months growth since i cut it way back. I'll cut it way back again this weekend and post a winter pic so you can see whats under the mop. Otherwise inside leaves are gonna be shaded out and those are the important ones. I bet I could defoliate the whole thing to slow it down and it wouldn't skip a beat like a trident. It's growing like godzilla, i'm not looking for trunk girth or flowering yet, till I get it into a real pot in a few years.

 

[Beng]

Cut it back this morning. Forgot to take a picture.. But I'm sure in another month it'll be sending long shoots out again. Ill remember then.

 

[Jason_mazzy]

ok so i have a couple Ume. one I wired into what i'm hoping wil be a beautiful flower display (i wont say the style until bloom time pictures) and the other needs vigor and back budding if possible. How do we encourage ramification and growth on the latter since i don't want it to flower for a couple years?