Kitchen Garden Forum

Hi
A branch of my Victoria plum tree has broken off with quite a few unripe plums. I'd thinned out most of the branches but couldn't reach this one.
My question is will these plums continue to ripen off the tree or do they need to go straight to the compost bin?
Best wishes
Kath

chloe29 wrote:Hi
A branch of my Victoria plum tree has broken off with quite a few unripe plums. I'd thinned out most of the branches but couldn't reach this one.
My question is will these plums continue to ripen off the tree or do they need to go straight to the compost bin?
Best wishes
Kath

Hi Kath

If the plums on the broken branch are still small, hard and bright green I'd suggest compost heap, as they won't fill out now they are cut off from the tree. But if they are normal size and not too hard, but just not fully ripe, I would try them on a sunny windowsill indoors and see if they ripen up. If you have a nice ripe apple put that beside them, as it should help the ripening process (a ripe banana works as well).

Judy

Hi
If you have the patience, as so often happens, time has answered my query. I laid the plums on several trays in my porch and over the last couple of days they have started to ripen. So I'm delighted with that and a lesson well learnt.
Thanks for your help
Kath