Manually fertilize plum tree?

[Bob F]

I have a plum tree that is in full bloom. It's fruit is vary large reddish yellow plums 3" long when ripe. Usually, it gets a dozen or two fruit on it, but one year I harvested 80 pounds of plums from it.

Here in Seattle, the spring has been cold and damp. There is no sign of any bees. I am wondering if there is some way of fertilizing the tree manually, perhaps be tapping a branch from my neighbor's small fruit plum or my italian prune trees against it's blooms. Does anyone have any knowledge about this they could assist me with?

[Bill who putters]

I think the word you want is pollination.

Have fun !

[Billy]

Large harvests are often followed by small harvests.

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[David Hare-Scott]

Or lack of a suitable pollinator blooming at the same time. Until you know the cultivar of the tree and can check its pollinators you are guessing.

David

[Una]

Is this plum self-fertile? If yes, then you can gently dust the flowers with a big household duster (feather or long microfiber filament types). No need to sacrifice a branch.

Una