Plum ripening question.
 

I have 2 Japanese Plums absolutely loaded with fruit that are starting to show colour and are semiripe however they have a tendency to drop right after they reach this stage (and prior to being truly ripe) and split on the concrete that surrounds them.
Will they keep on ripening if I pick them prior to the drop?
There are literally hundreds of fruit and it would be a shame to waste them. Not to mention the mess
As the bombardment of fruit is happening as I write I would appreciate your wisdom asap. Thanks
Regards
Glenn

Glenn,
Do you know the type of plum? We had ume trees in my Grandmother's garden that had the sour type plums used for pickling in Japan. they would drop from the tree seemingly minutes after ripening. We generally picked them a little early and let them counter ripen. But, they never got sweet, they were sour by nature and had only minimal sugar. As I recall, they were quite small, golf ball size or smaller, and with a larger than expected pit.

Have made a big net around them with shadecloth..fingers crossed.
The variety Bob is a New Zealand cross called Hawera (a country town about 50 miles from here). Big red fleshed sweet ones. Thick skinned though. Been planted for 8 years and this is the first real crop.
Glenn

If you picked the fruit ever so slightly underripe, it would probably make good jam and preserves...

Homemade plum preserves...mmmm......:)