Plant family: Rosaceae
Plant origin: Europe.
Fruit description: Gulf Gold Plums are aromatic delicious fruits, about 5cm in diameter. The skin has an edible natural dull “wax bloom” which can easily be wiped off. The skin is thin, smooth and edible, green when unripe, turning golden red when ripe. The flesh is firm, semi-sweet, a little tangy, and yellow. There is a woody stone inside each fruit containing an inedible seed that resembles an almond.
Flowers: Gulf Gold Plum flowers are a small white delicate blossom, produced in abundance in Spring. They are bisexual. If there is a wind during flowering, the petals fall like snowflakes.
Growing conditions: The Gulf Gold Plum is a hardy, deciduous tree, and is frost tolerant, it grows to 4 metres. It is a beautiful garden specimen, suitable for a small garden. Plant Plum trees in well-drained soil, enriched with well-rotted compost or other organic material. Water well before and after planting. Shelter the tree from strong winds. The tree needs plenty of sunshine to grow well and fruit profusely. Water the tree all during the growing season. Plums can be grown in a pot. The tree should be fertilised with general plant food twice a year in July and December. Mulch the tree annually. Prune the tree to a vase shape, a central “leader” stem, or to an espalier shape. Prune the tree immediately after flowering to within a few buds near the base of each major branch to ensure the fruit is a good size and the branches bearing the fruit are strong. Plums fruit on new wood so, after fruiting, prune back the branches where fruit was borne to permit new growth for the next crop. Prune again in winter when the tree is dormant. This variety of Gulf Gold Plum is Self-Pollinating, and is adaptable to cold, warm, subtropical and tropical climates. It does not need frost to flower and set fruit, and is considered to be a low-chill or “tropical” variety. Plums are very hardy and long-lived, they can tolerate a wide range of climatic conditions, and they always give an abundant crop of fruit.
Uses: Eat Gulf Gold Plums fresh. You can also add them to fruit salads, drinks, and ice-cream. They make excellent jams, sauces, chutney, wine or brandy. They can be preserved in syrup. Plums can be used for cooking, baking, and stewing.
Medicinal uses:
Pollination requirements: Self-Pollinating.
Harvest time Pick the fruit when it is nearly ripe or fully ripe. It can ripen a little after picking at room temperature. Ripeness is indicated by the full colour of the skin and the fruit having a slight give when gently pressed. Pick the fruit carefully so as not to bruise or damage the skin.
Plant relatives Prunus salicina are the Asian variety of blood plums. The Plum is related to all Prunus species, including peaches, nectarines, cherries and apricots.
Special features: Plums have been cultivated for thousands of years.
Grown by method: Grafted Pot size: 5 litre
Plant growing Height and Width for pots or in the ground planting: Grows to 3 metres high by 2 metres wide if Planted in a Pot. Grows 4 metres high by 4 metres wide if Planted in the Ground.
Shipping plant pot or planter bag size: 5 litre
