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Nectarine and Plum Fruit Drop: June Drop and Pollination Issues

Young nectarine and plum trees setting heavy crops then dropping fruit to near zero, with clear jelly on remaining fruit: likely natural "June drop" (tree shedding excess fruit) plus possible poor pollination or borer damage.

June Drop

Natural thinning when tree sets more fruit than it can support.
Occurs when fruit are ½–1 inch diameter (late May/early June).
Hand-thin remaining fruit to 3–5 inches apart for nectarines; 2–4 inches for plums.

Other Causes

Poor pollination: Plant pollinator-friendly flowers; avoid insecticides during bloom.
Borers: Check trunk for sap/frass; probe holes with wire to kill larvae.
Inconsistent water: Maintain even soil moisture.

Jelly on Fruit

May be borer sap or natural exudate. Inspect trunk carefully.

Plant Diseases: Premature Fruit Ripening and Drop in Plum Trees: Environmental Causes; Nectarine Brown Rot and Oriental Fruit Moth: Dual Organic Control; Plum Tree with Jelly-Like Sap: Borer Infestation; Blue Plum Fruit Rot: Brown Rot Disease; Plum Tree Brown Rot: Sanitation and Fungicide Timing; Plum Fruit Drop: Water, Pollination, or Fungus?; Plum Tree Decline: Bacterial Infection and a Systemic Cleanup Approach; Plum Tree with Sticky Fruit: Scale or Borer Infestation; Plum Tree Stress After Aphid/Ant Infestation: Water and Organic Sprays; Black Knot Disease on Stone Fruit Trees: Pruning Out Infected Limbs

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