Pruning a fast growing Mirabelle Plum (Mirabelle of Nancy)

Moin everyone,

Last year in September, we planted a Mirabelle Plum (Mirabelle de Nancy). The tree came with about 100cm height, a few strong branches and I pruned it in autumn. No sweat there.

Fast forward to today: it has now reached a height of over 350 cm (!) and grows like the devil himself is pushing it upwards.
Already gave it the second pruning this year alone and removed a lot of crossing branches, watershoots (hope this is the right word) and cut part of the top to keep it manageable and "light".

I am unsure how often I can prune it per year without damaging it too much. Are there any experiences?

 

I get the feeling you dont prune plums in winter.
Having said that, I've never grown plums.

Is it on a dwarfing rootstock as it sounds very vigorous.

 

Pete is quite right you don't prune plums in winter. The reason is that they are prone to a disease called silver leaf that enters through the wounds left after pruning. The fungal spores spread more easily in the wetter, cooler parts of the year; so you prune in summer when it is dry.

 

Thanks for that advice, but I don't plan to prune it during winter or rainy days.

The question remains:
How OFTEN can I prune it in the warmer part of the year without damaging it? Every other month? Twice per year? Because at the current rate it will look like a drawer full of unsorted headphone cords within a few months if I don't cut it back on a regular basis.

 

I'm thinking it's not going to work, you need something smaller.
I can't think it's going to be viable if you are thinking of doing that much pruning so soon after planting.

 

I suppose you can prune it as often as you like, you are unlikely to damage the tree.
I'm just wondering what rootstock it's on because 250cm is a lot of growth for a tree on a dwarfing rootstock (like Pixy) to make in a season even on a semi dwarfing rootstock like St Julien A it sounds a lot to me.
if it is on it's own roots it could be trying to reach 5 to 10m and fruit will be some years off and pruning will just encourage more shoots to appear.
Perhaps step back a bit and let the growth mature, slow down and prune in the next growing season.
Bear in mind pruning serves two purposes firstly to train the tree to the available space and desired shape, secondly to encourage the production of fruiting growth. These can be mutually exclusive unfortunately and the the main effect of a lot of pruning to fit the space will be less fruit.