Sweet Treat Pluerry is a groundbreaking interspecific hybrid developed by legendary breeder Fred Zaiger, combining the best of plums and sweet cherries into a single, remarkable fruit. Hardy across zones 6-9, this tree reaches 18-25 feet at maturity and produces distinctive ping pong ball-sized fruit with deep red skin and golden amber flesh. The flavor delivers rich plum character with surprising cherry sweetness and complexity, all from a clingstone variety with a remarkably small pit. Perfect for fresh eating, freezing, dehydrating, or baking into pies and cobblers, it's earned top marks at tastings for three consecutive years and thrives in low-chill climates.
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Full Sun
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6-9
300in H x ?in W
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High
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Fred Zaiger's first pluerry to carry that name, Sweet Treat stunned the tasting circuit by winning top fruit honors three years running. The fruit clings to the tree even when fully ripe, growing sweeter each day without dropping, giving you the luxury of harvesting at absolute peak ripeness. Cherry sweetness wraps around bold plum flavor in a way that feels almost impossibly balanced, and the small pit means more flesh to enjoy in every bite.
Sweet Treat excels in multiple culinary applications, from eating fresh off the tree to transforming into preserves, frozen fruit, dehydrated snacks, and baked goods. Its balanced flavor profile and firm flesh make it exceptional for pies and cobblers, where the plum structure holds its shape while cherry sweetness brightens the filling. The small pit and clingstone nature make it convenient for fresh snacking and fruit salads.
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Plant bare-root trees in late winter while dormant, or container-grown trees in spring after the last frost. Choose a site with full sun exposure and well-draining soil. Space according to the mature size of 18-25 feet, allowing room for canopy development. If planting multiple trees for cross-pollination with Asian plums like Toka or Shiro, position them within 50-60 feet of each other.
Pick fruit when the skin turns deep red and the flesh yields slightly to gentle pressure. Unlike many plums, Sweet Treat does not drop when ripe; instead, it clings to the tree and grows sweeter with each passing day. Wait for the sweetness you prefer, as the flavor continues to intensify on the tree. The small pit and clingstone nature make harvesting straightforward, and fruit will keep well in the refrigerator once picked.
Prune Sweet Treat during late winter while dormant to shape the canopy and remove crossed branches. The tree naturally grows quite large (18-25 feet without management), so annual pruning helps maintain size and encourages fruit production. Head back vigorous shoots to lateral branches to promote a compact, productive form.
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“Sweet Treat Pluerry represents a pivotal moment in modern fruit breeding. Fred Zaiger, a prolific California hybridizer, created this variety as the first of his interspecific crosses to bear the 'pluerry' name, announcing a new category of fruit that blends plums, sweet cherries, and genetic material from apricots and peaches. This wasn't random experimentation but intentional breeding to capture the sweetness and complexity of cherries within the familiar form and flavor of an Asian plum. It emerged from Zaiger's decades of work crossing distant relatives within the Prunus family, proving that seemingly incompatible fruit types could produce offspring that transcended both parents.”