Pissardi, red plum or purple plum, is popular among professional landscape designers and simple summer residents who want to decorate their site with a beautiful tree with unusual leaves and original fruits. Learn more about this wonderful plant.

History of origin of the variety

It is believed that this plum was bred hundreds of years ago in Iran, from where it was brought to Paris, at the end of the 70s of the XIX century, by M. Pissard, a specialist in botany and gardening. Later, a tree named after him became popular in the whole Old World.

Characterization and description of the variety

Pissardi (Prunus cerasifera var. Pissardii) - the original variety of spread or cherry plum, better known under the Azerbaijani name cherry plum; she is part of a large family of Rosaceae. Currently, its natural habitat is the mountains of the Caucasus, Transcaucasia and Western Asia. The tree is so noticeable and easily recognizable that it is very difficult to confuse it with any other.

Did you know? There is an old popular saying: "Plum does not praise itself, and the path to it is always trodden on."

Tree description

Outwardly, it looks more like a shrub with a dark red crown grafted onto a brown stump. The height of the tree can vary from 5 to 8.5 m, sometimes it reaches even more than 11 meters. Branches can grow by half a meter in 2 seasons. The leaves are elliptical in color, most close to red basil in color. The length of the leaves is approximately 4-6 cm.

Fruit Description

Fruits abundantly, bringing a large number of fruits of various shades of burgundy. The fruits are similar to ordinary plums, only slightly smaller in diameter - up to 3 cm. The average weight of one plum is 22–28 g. The fruits are quite edible, however, they do not differ in sweet taste, it is rather sour with a noticeable hint of astringency.

Did you know? Cherry plum can live for almost a century, while its closest relative, the home plum, lives no more than half of this period, and much more often - 15–20 years.

However, their taste qualities have a fairly large number of their admirers. Like all Rosaceae, they have a rich composition of vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, which makes their use very useful. Plums ripen at the end of summer, and look beautiful on branches until about mid-autumn, after which they fall if they are not collected.

Flowering and pollination

Pissardi blooms from April to May, more accurate time depends on climatic conditions and geographical factor. Before the branches are covered with leaves, beautiful flowers bloom on them, similar to those typical for all varieties of plums and other Rosaceae.

Important! For flowering plum Pissardi pollinator is needed. Chinese plum, various varieties of cherry plum (for example, Llama).

The peculiarity of the flowers lies in their beautiful light purple hue, which darkens over time, becoming towards the end of the flowering process burgundy. In addition, flowering is accompanied by a strong fragrance. The aroma is so pleasant that during the flowering period from the garden, where several such plums grow, I do not want to leave.

Drought and frost resistance

The variety grows and develops best in the temperate climatic zone. It is quite normally adapted to the dry weather typical of the steppe zone. But the high humidity reflects on it not in the best way, on the coast to grow Pissardi is undesirable. The frost resistance is not one of the strengths of the variety either - in order for the tree to feel good, it should choose a well-lit place with a lot of sunlight.

Advantages and disadvantages of the variety

• A few words should be said about some of the advantages characteristic of red-leaf plum:
• beautiful appearance makes the tree suitable for arranging various landscape compositions;
• not afraid of drought, do not worry about watering;
• strong immunity, sufficiently strong resistance to diseases and pests;
• the variety is quite unpretentious, capricious in nature does not differ.

• There are a number of drawbacks that you should pay attention to before planting Pissardi:
• poor tolerance of cold and frost;
• not everyone will like the taste of fruits;
• this variety does not like neighbors (trees of another species, shrubs, buildings), they must be at a certain distance; for a small area this can be a problem.

Planting and caring for Pissardi red plum

The variety in question is quite unpretentious. In order for a tree to grow normally, bloom and bear fruit, you just need to follow some simple recommendations.

Important! A spreading plum normally tolerates any type of soil, if the groundwater is deep enough, but on loams with high fertility and pH 6-7, the plant feels best. If pH 5.5 or lower, chalk or dolomite flour is added to the soil, shortly before planting.

Recommended Dates

A tree is planted in spring (before the buds swell before flowering), or in early autumn. Spring planting, depending on the specific geographical location (mountains, plains) and weather conditions, is carried out around April. The second decade of September is usually the most favorable time for landing in the fall.

Choosing the right place

When choosing a landing site, the following factors must be considered:

• Pissardi loves the sun very much - An open place is suitable for her, preferably located on the south side of the garden and sheltered from the wind;
• the tree reacts poorly to high humidity: the landing site should not be in a lowland, and groundwater should not be closer than two meters from the surface of the earth;
• if you are going to plant several trees, proceed from the fact that the distance between two neighboring should be at least 2 meters;
• try to find a place near which there are no other trees, shrubs and any structures.

If you still couldn’t find a suitable place, far enough from other trees, a neighborhood (no closer than 5 meters) with such plants will be acceptable:

• Apple tree;
• raspberry;
• currant;
• gooseberry;
• coniferous.

Selection and preparation of planting material

Before you start looking for Pissardi seedlings, remember some recommendations and try to follow them:

• buy seedlings in nurseries, and only those that have grown in your area. Even a good planting material grown in the south, wintering in more northern latitudes will be much worse, and may not survive even a fairly mild winter;
• buying this plum, remember: in order for it to bear fruit, it needs pollinators, which were mentioned above;
• one-year-olds are best taken root, the kidneys on them should “sleep”;
• there should be no signs of illness or injury on the tree. If you cut off the root tip, the cut should have a white color.

The time interval between the purchase of a seedling and its planting should be minimal. If it is not possible to plant it in the very near future, the rhizome should be wrapped with a slightly damp cloth. However, it should be remembered that the species is not hydrophilic, so water should not be abused - it should be sufficient only for easy moistening of the roots, no more. By the time you land, you should already have the holes ready. Dig them up 12-15 days before the estimated date of planting.

The procedure is not fraught with any difficulties:

1. In a suitable place, you should dig a round hole with a diameter of 0.7-0.8 m, a depth of 0.5-0.6 m.
2. The bottom of the hole is covered with fertile substrate, humus, potash and phosphorus fertilizers, watered. Under the spring planting, such a procedure can be done in the fall, after which it is covered with earth; in spring you only need to select the soil, and the hole is ready.

Planting Red Plum

The landing procedure itself is quite simple:

1. A wooden peg, about 1 m long, is driven into the center of the prepared hole, so that it protrudes 25-30 cm above the upper edge of the hole.
2. The seedling is placed next to the peg (it is desirable that the stake is located south of the handle), the root system is straightened. The roots should be freely located at the bottom, approximately at the same level.
3. When installing a seedling in a hole, it should be borne in mind that the neck of the root after digging in the hole should be 4-6 cm above the ground. If the pit is too deep, sprinkle the earth; if it is shallow, make a small depression. Fill the hole, periodically tamping it.
4. Tie the shank to the peg, water and loosen the soil.

Watering frequency and fertilizer features

Although red plum does not like excess moisture, it should be watered weekly. The approximate norm for each tree is 40–45 liters of water. You need to water the soil near the headquarters; you can make a fence with a height of 15–20 cm in a radius of 1 m around the trunk and pour water into the resulting round pool. During the season when the tree has been planted, it is not fertilized - it is enough that the bottom of the hole was fertilized. From the second year, fertilizers are applied in this way: during winter work - humus, and during spring digging - potassium.

We recommend that you familiarize yourself with the features of growing such plum varieties as:

Pest and Disease Control

A few words should be said about characteristic diseases and possible pests.

Powdery mildew. The defeat of this fungal disease is similar to a rust-colored coating covering the tips and edges of the leaves. Leaves and ovaries dry and crumble. For treatment, "Ditan", "Rovral" and other fungicides are used during the beginning of budding, after flowering, and again after half a month. All parts of the tree with traces of fungus are removed and burned away from the garden.

As preventive measures, the following measures should be taken:

• trim on time;
• do not forget about top dressing, they are necessary for normal resistance to diseases;
• carry out regular spraying with insecticides.

Necrosis of the trunk. The tree can be saved only in case of early detection of the disease, otherwise the plum must be destroyed. If you learned about the problem at the initial stage, you must immediately remove all affected parts of the plant.

Fruit rot. The shoots turn brown and fade. First, injured branches are affected, and after the fungus passes to healthy ones. At the next stage, the fruits begin to rot, spores of the fungus form on their surface. For treatment, 1% solutions of copper sulfate or Bordeaux fluid are used. Sprinkle the tree before flowering, and after the plum blossoms. All affected parts are removed and burned, sections are treated with Bordeaux fluid.

As a preventive measure, the following procedures should be carried out regularly:

• remove and burn loose leaves, plums, shoots;
• conduct seasonal insecticide treatment;
• to process places of cuts, damage by var;
• whiten stamb and skeletal branches.

Rust. The name speaks for itself: rust-colored spots cover the foliage surface. Later, instead of spots, fungal spores appear, foliage crumbles, the tree weakens greatly and becomes practically unable to winter. For treatment, fungicides and Bordeaux are used. If you notice the problem in time and start treatment, you can completely get rid of the disease. Processing is carried out, starting from 2-3 decades of July, twice a month. For 18-20 days before harvesting, processing is stopped (if the crop will be eaten).

Fruit moth, leafworms. To control pests, insecticides such as Vertimek, Aktofit, Akarin are used. To reduce the likelihood of parasites, the following measures have proven themselves well:

• in autumn, remove and burn fallen leaves, dry bark, damaged branches;
• dig and remove (then burn) weeds;
• in winter, nests of parasites are removed; the larvae are shaken off onto a spread film below, after which they are destroyed;
• Do not forget to whitewash.

Trimming branches and shoots

Pruning of dry, injured or diseased branches is carried out in spring. In addition to these branches, young green shoots are also removed. This must be done so that the tree receives more sunlight, which it so needs. Pruning is done before the buds open. In the event that the tree is sick and needs this procedure, the branches are cut at any time, and the cut points are treated with var.

Video: spring pruning plum

Excavation

Ground care work is simple and fairly easy, but they should not be neglected. And they need to be carried out on time:

1. Weed should be regularly removed in the near-trunk area.
2. In the spring, mulching is carried out to increase the temperature of the soil and stimulate the vital processes of the tree. Mulch with compost or manure. During the period of winter work, they mulch with straw and peat for warming.
3. After watering and when removing weed, carry out loosening of the trunk area. This procedure promotes soil aeration.

Winter preparations

When preparing a tree for the winter season, it must be remembered that resistance to cold and frost is not one of the advantages of red-leaf plum. During the pre-winter work, the earth around the stem is dug up, fertilizer is applied and abundantly watered (5–7 buckets per 1 tree). Then the near-trunk area is mulched, insulated with straw and peat. From above, mulch can be covered with spruce branches or corrugated cardboard, crushing it with stones. At young trees, the shtamb is covered with corrugated cardboard, roofing felt, tied with a rope. In older adults, the trunk and lower branches are whitened.Despite the not very attractive taste, Pissardi fruits are used, because they are real natural multivitamins. But the main value of the tree does not lie in its fruits: the red-leaf plum has a unique appearance and is able to decorate any personal plot, park or square.