How to Grow a Candy Rosa Plum

Find the right site for these trees, which need full sun and well-draining soil. Leave 20 feet between plum trees.

Dig a hole for your tree that is twice as wide and deep as the Candy Rosa root ball. Remove anything that interferes with root growth, such as rocks, sticks, or weeds.

Pull your plum tree from its container and gently unwind and untangle roots before placing the tree in the prepared hole. Position the trunk straight and bury the tree to the same depth as it was in its container. Pushing soil around the roots and trunk completes planting.

Water your tree and saturate the soil. Thereafter, saturate the soil when the dirt feels dry to the touch.

Mulch the plum tree with 2 inches of organic mulch, which helps the soil retain moisture and prevents weed growth.

Fertilize your plum tree just after planting using 8 ounces of 10-10-10 fertilizer. Sprinkle dry fertilizer on the ground near the soil, and then water it to work in the nutrients. Fertilize your Candy Rosa with 10-10-10 fertilizer each spring, adding an additional 8 ounces for each year of age. A 3-year-old tree would receive 1-1/2 pounds of 10-10-10 fertilizer.

Watch pests and disease. Evidence of problems includes leaves changing color, curling or falling off, damaged or diseased-looking branches or visible pest presence. Consult with a county extension agent or master gardener to identify and treat problems with insecticide, fungicide or another agent.

Prune your tree in the spring before new growth resumes. Plum trees need an open center allowing light to penetrate interior branches. Remove interior limbs that make less than a 30-degree angle with the trunk. Leave four to six fruiting limbs that have a strong, nearly 90-degree angle with the trunk and are evenly spaced around the tree. Remove other limbs to prevent crowding and shading. Prune suckers, dead wood, diseased wood or damaged growth.