Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/34757
New Varieties Hopes were HIGH W The impact of plum and apricot hybrids can be seen in fruit breeding programs. by Melissa Hansen hen modern varieties of plums crossed with apricots were first commer- cially released in the late 1980s, the new fruit offered great promise of energizing the plum industry and exciting consumers. Though the hybrid fruit, known as interspecific plums, didn’t revolutionize the plum category, it did change the focus of private breeding programs, resulting in plum hybrids much sweeter than many conventional plum varieties. Nearly 50 varieties of interspecific plums have been developed, extending the market- ing season from summer through fall, but many are being sold as standard plums, not as “new” fruit. What happened to the new fruit category? Fruit breeder Floyd Zaiger of Zaiger Genetics, Modesto, California, was not the first to mix apricots and plums together. About a century earlier, plant breeder and botanist Luther Burbank developed the plumcot, a 50- 50 cross of the two fruits. But it was Zaiger who took the plumcot idea further, crossing the initial plum and apricot again and again with plums or apricots to result in hybrids of varying ratios of the two types of fruit. Those with more plum background were trademarked under the Pluot name; fruit with more apricot lineage were trademarked Aprium. Dead ends Growers and retailers were excited about the potential of the new type of plum, but the road to fame and fortune for the hybridized plums has been dotted with potholes, detours, and even dead ends. Growers have struggled with inconsistent yields and low productivity problems, while retailers grappled with identity and marketing chal- lenges. As other plum and apricot cross- ings were developed by other breeders, the name game got murky. The industry could not call the new fruits “pluots” because that name was reserved only for Zaiger varieties. Industry groups in Cali- fornia decided on the “interspecific plums” as the commodity term for the fruit. High hopes Stone fruit growers in Washington State joined others in planting new vari- eties of interspecific plums, enthusiastic about the potential for giving consumers plums with great taste. David Douglas of Douglas Fruit Company in Pasco planted inter specific plums in the early 2000s, but removed the last of them last winter because he couldn’t get consistent yields. “Now, we’re completely out of the plum deal,” he said, adding that none of the Douglas Fruit growers have interspecific plums anymore. “They do well in local farmer’s markets, but only a few are still grown in the state.” (The cover photo for this issue of Good Fruit Grower was taken at Smallwood’s Harvest, a fruit stand near Leavenworth, Washington, that sells plum/apricot hybrids.) Lynnell Brandt of Brandt’s Fruit Trees, Wapato, Washington, too, had high hopes for Texas A & M scientists found high levels of antioxidants in red- fleshed plums. the new fruit in the late 1990s. “They didn’t explode like we’d hoped,” Brandt said. “In Washington, growers have had inconsistency in production, and then on top of that, they had to develop a marketing program around the fruit.” Brandt believes that most commercial stone fruit growers in 10 JUNE 2011 GOOD FRUIT GROWER BQ Genetics