Benny,
Usually it is too early to tell for plums if the buds are just pushing out. But if they are already leafing out very strongly then that is a sure sign of successful take the first year.
In some cases, I leave some blooms on if I can't wait to taste the fruits. The downside is poor growth, but not on all varieties. For example, I left blooms on Beauty plum, it bore 3 fruits which were delicious, but it also grew very vigorously that it almost have taken over the tree, but then I regrafted more to it the following year, so it is now tamed. Some apples are like that too. But most of the time, if you leave the blooms and let it fruit, you will have poor growth. Now that I am a patient man, I just snip off the blooms, so that the following year, it will bear much fruit and will really enjoy them more if I happen to like them. They are pre-evaluated by friends before I added them, so for sure, I am most likely going to like them so have concentrated on making them grow very big and very fast, and taking out the blooms will help.
Regards,
Joe
