Modeling the vegetative and reproductive growth of plums

The first version of PLUM, a carbon budget computer simulation model was developed by modifying the existing PEACH model (DeJong et al., 1996). Although peaches and plums are closely related, some architectural, anatomical and physiological differences can be observed between these species. Modifications based on these differences were made in the main parts of the model, the carbon supply and demand modules. The results of the first simulations showed that PLUM was able to predict fruit and leaf mass accumulation well throughout the season, but stem mass accumulation was clearly underestimated by the model. More work is needed to re-parameterize the PLUM model according to the vegetative differences between peach and plum trees.