Santa Rosa Plum for Sale - Buying & Growing Guide

Planting and Care

by Mary Van Keuren | Gardener (30+ Years Experience) – last update on August 4, 2022

Planting instructions

Site your Santa Rosa plum tree where it will get full sun in well-drained, sandy soil with a pH of roughly 5.5 to 6.5. Avoid planting it under overhead utility cables, and, if possible, plant it away from prevailing winds in your area. Unpot your sapling and tease out any encircling roots, which can girdle the tree and slowly kill it. Dig a hole that’s as deep as the root ball and two to three times as wide. Place the tree in the hole, and fill in around it with topsoil, tamping down as you go to eliminate air pockets. Water thoroughly. Apply a layer of an organic mulch, such as bark chips, around the root zone to conserve moisture and hinder weed growth, but keep it from touching the trunk, which promotes rot.

Watering and nutrients

During your tree’s first growing season, water it thoroughly twice a week. A mature Santa Rosa plum tree needs about an inch of water a week, either from rain or supplemental watering. Feed trees that are less than 3 years old annually with a half cup of a slow-release balanced fertilizer, such as a 10-10-10 formula, watering thoroughly after application. Older trees can be fertilized more heavily with the same balanced formula in spring, using roughly 8 ounces for every year of the tree’s age.

Pollination

Santa Rosa Pplum trees are self-fertile, or monoecious, which means that a single tree has both male and female reproductive organs. What that means for you is that you can harvest plums even if you only have one tree. Your tree will bear more heavily, however, if you plant another plum tree nearby.

Pruning

Other than pruning diseased, broken, or dead branches, which should be done whenever you see them, prune your plum tree in late winter before the buds break in spring. Prune to establish a strong central leader (trunk) with roughly five scaffold branches equally spaced around it. Prune out about 20% of new growth each year to encourage new branches. You may also need to prune out some of the fruit on branches that are weighted down.

Pests, diseases, and animals

Pests of the Santa Rosa plum tree include the scale insect, leafrollers, and aphids. Consider releasing beneficial insects, such as ladybugs and lacewings, to help naturally control the insect population on your trees. If necessary, use a chemical insecticide, but only as a last choice. Diseases of the plum tree include leaf curl and scab. These are both fungal and can be addressed with a general-purpose fungicide. You may also find birds attracted to the developing fruit on your tree. Netting is available at garden centers and online that can be used to keep birds away from the fruit. Monitor it carefully, though, because smaller birds can get caught and may need to be released.

Harvesting

Pick your plums by hand. They are ready when they release easily from the tree and are no longer firm to the touch. A good way to tell if they’re ripe is to try one — it should be sweet and have soft, juicy flesh. Store your plums in a cool spot. The best place to store them is someplace humid that averages 32 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

Achieving maximum results

Many people shy away from growing fruit trees because it can seem complex and much more difficult than, say, picking up a dozen plums at the supermarket. But it doesn’t have to be, and it can be a rewarding experience. There is a wealth of information online about pruning fruit trees, and although it doesn’t all agree, you should know that there is no one right way to prune, and your trees will forgive you for any mistakes. The same is true with spraying. There are a variety of fruit tree sprays that can be used to hinder fungal growth, eliminate insects, and control disease. But there’s no one right way to use sprays, and your best bet is to keep an observant eye on your trees and respond as necessary when you see something that doesn’t look right.

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