Aprium and Pluot: The Modern Apricot-Plum Hybrids
Aprium and pluot are 20th-century hybrids — the apricot crossed with the plum in different ratios. The story of Floyd Zaiger's breakthrough breeding.
The aprium and pluot are modern stone-fruit hybrids — apricots crossed with plums in different proportions. Both were developed by Californian plant breeder Floyd Zaiger and his family from the 1970s onward. An aprium is ~75% apricot, 25% plum (apricot-dominant); a pluot is ~75% plum, 25% apricot (plum-dominant).
Origin and history
Floyd Zaiger's breeding program at Modesto, California, produced both fruits in the late 20th century. Earlier crosses had existed (plumcot, an unrefined 50-50 hybrid, was developed by Luther Burbank in the 1880s), but Zaiger refined the genetics and produced commercially viable fruit. Today over 30 named pluot cultivars and a dozen aprium cultivars are grown commercially.
Where they grow today
California produces the vast majority of commercial pluots and apriums. Other temperate stone-fruit regions are starting to adopt them.
How to grow
Same cultivation as plums and apricots — USDA Zones 5-9. From grafted trees. Some self-fertile; many need a compatible Japanese plum nearby.
Bottom line
Modern hybrid fruits with intense flavor combinations. Plant a Dapple Dandy or Flavor King pluot if you can find one — they outperform classic plums and apricots in dessert quality.