Re: [apple-crop] Southwest Injury
Years ago we pruned some Red Del in December with similar injury that followed on larger trees. We stapled the bark tight on both sides and the trees recovered but with a permanent seam where the bark had split. The trees were about 12 in diameter. Art Kelly Kelly Orchards Acton, ME On Sun, Mar 16, 2014 at 10:42 AM, Peck, Greg greg.p...@vt.edu wrote: Apple-Crop participants, Like everyone else in the Eastern half of the US, we've had a particularly cold and snowy winter in Virginia. Not surprisingly, I am starting to hear reports about Southwest injury to young trees. While there is a lot of information available on how to prevent southwest injury, I have not been able to find much information on how to deal with the trunks after the damage has been done. Typically, growers in Virginia have do not paint trunks with latex paint, but many will probably reconsider that decision in future years. Many trees are probably not going to make it, but I'm wondering if anyone has experience trying to save some of the less severely injured trees with bridge-grafts. How about wrapping the bark with grafting tape to try to get the wounds to heal? (I'm guessing that this will have a low success rate because the tissue has already dried out.) Depending upon how far into the rootstock the split extends and the age of the tree, we might also try cutting off the scion and hoping an advantageous bud breaks dormancy. Any other suggestions from those who have to deal with Southwest Injury on a more annual basis? Thanks, Greg Gregory Michael Peck, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Horticulture Virginia Tech Alson H. Smith, Jr. Agricultural Research and Extension Center 595 Laurel Grove Road Winchester, VA 22602 USA 540/869-2560 ext 19 greg.p...@vt.edu arec.vaes.vt.edu/alson-h-smith www.anr.ext.vt.edu/tree-fruit/ blogs.ext.vt.edu/tree-fruit-horticulture www.facebook.com/VtechPomology ___ apple-crop mailing list apple-crop@virtualorchard.net http://virtualorchard.net/mailman/listinfo/apple-crop -- Art Kelly Kelly Orchards Acton, ME ___ apple-crop mailing list apple-crop@virtualorchard.net http://virtualorchard.net/mailman/listinfo/apple-crop
Re: [apple-crop] Southwest Injury
Greg, You could use the rule of thumb for canker surgery and if more than a 1/3 of the circumference is interrupted, likely nothing you can do. But if less than 1/3, try to cut the dead bark away using a straight linoleum cut so there is no shelter (under the split bark) that will attract and support the borers. The callus will be more uniform and heal that part of the trunk. There will always be the unknown with wood rotting fungi invading the exposed heart wood. Good luck. Deborah I. Breth Cornell Cooperative Extension - Lake Ontario Fruit Program Team Leader and IPM Specialist in Tree Fruit and Berries 12690 Rt. 31 Albion, NY 14411 mobile: 585.747.6039 phone: 585.798.4265 x 36 fax: 585.798.5191 email: d...@cornell.edu LOF website -Original Message- From: apple-crop-boun...@virtualorchard.net [mailto:apple-crop-boun...@virtualorchard.net] On Behalf Of kuffelcr...@kuffelcreek.com Sent: Sunday, March 16, 2014 12:30 PM To: Apple-crop discussion list Subject: Re: [apple-crop] Southwest Injury Greg; We get the same damage here in Southern California, but from sunburn, not Southwest Injury. But the damage is the same, dead cambium layer and sunken bark. Besides robbing vigor from the tree, here it also attracts borers who take advantage of the tree's inability to sap out the maggot, and exploit the edges of the injury. The wounds will not heal; they may eventually be covered by cambium growing from either side, like a pruning stump is covered over. Bridge grafting is easier on shorter injuries like vole and rabbit damage; the problem with SWI is that the wounds are long and narrow. Cutting the tree off and letting a latent bud sprout may be a viable option depending on the damage, but you will have to weigh the loss of productivity against how long it would take if you just pruned the tree hard and let it try to heal the SWI. Painting trunks white, especially with an airless sprayer, seems way less trouble than any of this. Kevin Hauser Kuffel Creek Apple Nursery Riverside, California Nakifuma, Uganda, East Africa On Sun, 16 Mar 2014 10:42:00 -0400, Peck, Greg greg.p...@vt.edu wrote: Apple-Crop participants, Like everyone else in the Eastern half of the US, we've had a particularly cold and snowy winter in Virginia. Not surprisingly, I am starting to hear reports about Southwest injury to young trees. While there is a lot of information available on how to prevent southwest injury, I have not been able to find much information on how to deal with the trunks after the damage has been done. Typically, growers in Virginia have do not paint trunks with latex paint, but many will probably reconsider that decision in future years. Many trees are probably not going to make it, but I'm wondering if anyone has experience trying to save some of the less severely injured trees with bridge-grafts. How about wrapping the bark with grafting tape to try to get the wounds to heal? (I'm guessing that this will have a low success rate because the tissue has already dried out.) Depending upon how far into the rootstock the split extends and the age of the tree, we might also try cutting off the scion and hoping an advantageous bud breaks dormancy. Any other suggestions from those who have to deal with Southwest Injury on a more annual basis? Thanks, Greg Gregory Michael Peck, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Horticulture Virginia Tech Alson H. Smith, Jr. Agricultural Research and Extension Center 595 Laurel Grove Road Winchester, VA 22602 USA 540/869-2560 ext 19 greg.p...@vt.edumailto:greg.p...@vt.edu arec.vaes.vt.edu/alson-h-smith www.anr.ext.vt.edu/tree-fruit/http://www.anr.ext.vt.edu/tree-fruit/ blogs.ext.vt.edu/tree-fruit-horticulturehttp://blogs.ext.vt.edu/tree-fruit-horticulture www.facebook.com/VtechPomologyhttp://www.facebook.com/VtechPomology ___ apple-crop mailing list apple-crop@virtualorchard.net http://virtualorchard.net/mailman/listinfo/apple-crop ___ apple-crop mailing list apple-crop@virtualorchard.net http://virtualorchard.net/mailman/listinfo/apple-crop
Re: [apple-crop] Southwest Injury
I would think apples and pears have a better chance of recovering than peaches or other tender fruit. It depends on how deep the split goes as well. In severe cold I have seen trees split deep into the heartwood, but its more common to see the only the bark to the cambium. Before trunk painting became commonplace (as well as milder winters), we used to tack the bark down - which excludes some insects and diseases. I was always surprised to see how much the split was able to join together. With some good TLC this season, the tree will be set back but can heal quite well. At one time, we used to say trees need to be 5+ years, but with nursery trees in short supply, it might be worthwhile to try to save younger trees. As Dave says, if you plan on grafting, the wood needs to be collected and stored soon. Don't throw it in an apple storage - ethylene is very damaging. Also, the grafting wax is very important to get a good seal. I'm not sure what is available on the market, so you should source that now too. Here are some old factsheets we have on grafting and repairs. Funny that we were musing if these are worth keeping :) Orchard Grafting Methods http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/98-005.htm Repair Grafting http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/98-003.htm I'm also wondering how much vole damage we will see when the snow melts. Leslie [cid:image001.gif@01CDC8A7.C95AB0F0] Leslie Huffman 519-738-1256 leslie.huff...@ontario.camailto:519-738-1256leslie.huff...@ontario.ca From: apple-crop-boun...@virtualorchard.net [mailto:apple-crop-boun...@virtualorchard.net] On Behalf Of David A. Rosenberger Sent: March-16-14 10:48 PM To: Apple-crop discussion list Subject: Re: [apple-crop] Southwest Injury Hi, Greg - I'm really curious to hear what others suggest. Old-timers in northern NY would sometimes use shingle nails to nail the loose bark back to the trunks of big old winter-injured trees when the bark split away from the trunks due to cold injury during winter. I'm not certain if it did any good, but it might have helped to reduce further desiccation of the loose bark if it was not already killed all the way back to the point of attachment. Obviously, there is no value in nailing back dead bark. So long as there is still live bark on one side of the trees, you might be surprised to see how well the trees recover on their own if you can avoid crop load stress and drought stress for the next year. The damaged trees will never be quite the same, but my bet is that those trees that are not completely girdled will recover if they can be defruited or at least over-thinned this year. Concerning bridge grafting, it's pretty labor intensive, but I've seen it used effectively. Unless you have ideally placed root suckers already growing at the base of affected trees, you would need to gather the grafting wood immediately and refrigerate it so as to have dormant wood for grafting when the bark begins to slip a bit later in spring. Grafting will be more feasible if you had enough snow cover to keep some bark alive above the soil line. If bark is killed all the way to the soil line, you might instead consider inarch grafting with rootstock liners (if you can find any for spring delivery). These can be inserted next to the trunks with a needle-nose spade, stomped to backfill the spade slot, and grafted into the trunks above the damaged area sometime near petal fall after the liners have begun to grow. We did this successfully with some Delicious/MM.106 trees that were dying from union necrosis (ToRSV) back in the early 80s. In that case, we needed several liners/tree because the union was dying all the way around the tree. A single liner/tree might work OK if you still have live bark on one side. But as noted above, the tree may recover on its own if it is still alive on one side. As noted above, grafting is labor intensive, especially if it will be required for many trees/A as in high-density plantings. In addition to the labor required for grafting, additional attention is required to remove buds that will sprout on the inarch pieces and special care will be required to avoid hitting those tender graft pieces when applying contact herbicides. On Mar 16, 2014, at 10:42 AM, Peck, Greg greg.p...@vt.edumailto:greg.p...@vt.edu wrote: Apple-Crop participants, Like everyone else in the Eastern half of the US, we've had a particularly cold and snowy winter in Virginia. Not surprisingly, I am starting to hear reports about Southwest injury to young trees. While there is a lot of information available on how to prevent southwest injury, I have not been able to find much information on how to deal with the trunks after the damage has been done. Typically, growers in Virginia have do not paint trunks with latex paint, but many will probably reconsider that decision in future years. Many trees are probably not going to make it, but I'm
Re: [apple-crop] Southwest Injury
Thanks to all those who responded to my email. Yes, for SWI (and most things in orchard systems), an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. For those who missed it, there was a long discussion on trunk painting last year: http://www.mail-archive.com/apple-crop@virtualorchard.net/msg02242.html From reading all the responses, and considering the lack of tree availability for replanting this spring, it seems to me that it might be worth trying the salvage some of less damaged trunks by closing up the split bark. Debbie's rule-of-thumb sounds reasonable and would give growers some idea as to when to just move on. As Debbie also pointed out, the wounds could be an entry site for borers. The wound sites might also be a location for WAA colonies, which seem to have gotten worse under our BMSB-focused insecticide programs. I guess the exposed tissue could also be an entry point for herbicides. While bridge grafting is probably technically feasible, I'm getting the sense that it may not be worth the time. It's up to each grower to make that decision, but I'd be hesitant to say it's an economically feasible choice for large blocks of high-density trees unless you have a talented grafter on-staff. Greg Gregory Michael Peck, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Horticulture Virginia Tech Alson H. Smith, Jr. Agricultural Research and Extension Center 595 Laurel Grove Road Winchester, VA 22602 USA 540/869-2560 ext 19 greg.p...@vt.edumailto:greg.p...@vt.edu arec.vaes.vt.edu/alson-h-smith www.anr.ext.vt.edu/tree-fruit/http://www.anr.ext.vt.edu/tree-fruit/ blogs.ext.vt.edu/tree-fruit-horticulturehttp://blogs.ext.vt.edu/tree-fruit-horticulture www.facebook.com/VtechPomologyhttp://www.facebook.com/VtechPomology On Mar 17, 2014, at 10:05 AM, Deborah I. Breth d...@cornell.edumailto:d...@cornell.edu wrote: Greg, You could use the rule of thumb for canker surgery and if more than a 1/3 of the circumference is interrupted, likely nothing you can do. But if less than 1/3, try to cut the dead bark away using a straight linoleum cut so there is no shelter (under the split bark) that will attract and support the borers. The callus will be more uniform and heal that part of the trunk. There will always be the unknown with wood rotting fungi invading the exposed heart wood. Good luck. Deborah I. Breth Cornell Cooperative Extension - Lake Ontario Fruit Program Team Leader and IPM Specialist in Tree Fruit and Berries 12690 Rt. 31 Albion, NY 14411 mobile: 585.747.6039 phone: 585.798.4265 x 36 fax: 585.798.5191 email: d...@cornell.edumailto:d...@cornell.edu LOF website -Original Message- From: apple-crop-boun...@virtualorchard.netmailto:apple-crop-boun...@virtualorchard.net [mailto:apple-crop-boun...@virtualorchard.net] On Behalf Of kuffelcr...@kuffelcreek.commailto:kuffelcr...@kuffelcreek.com Sent: Sunday, March 16, 2014 12:30 PM To: Apple-crop discussion list Subject: Re: [apple-crop] Southwest Injury Greg; We get the same damage here in Southern California, but from sunburn, not Southwest Injury. But the damage is the same, dead cambium layer and sunken bark. Besides robbing vigor from the tree, here it also attracts borers who take advantage of the tree's inability to sap out the maggot, and exploit the edges of the injury. The wounds will not heal; they may eventually be covered by cambium growing from either side, like a pruning stump is covered over. Bridge grafting is easier on shorter injuries like vole and rabbit damage; the problem with SWI is that the wounds are long and narrow. Cutting the tree off and letting a latent bud sprout may be a viable option depending on the damage, but you will have to weigh the loss of productivity against how long it would take if you just pruned the tree hard and let it try to heal the SWI. Painting trunks white, especially with an airless sprayer, seems way less trouble than any of this. Kevin Hauser Kuffel Creek Apple Nursery Riverside, California Nakifuma, Uganda, East Africa On Sun, 16 Mar 2014 10:42:00 -0400, Peck, Greg greg.p...@vt.edumailto:greg.p...@vt.edu wrote: Apple-Crop participants, Like everyone else in the Eastern half of the US, we've had a particularly cold and snowy winter in Virginia. Not surprisingly, I am starting to hear reports about Southwest injury to young trees. While there is a lot of information available on how to prevent southwest injury, I have not been able to find much information on how to deal with the trunks after the damage has been done. Typically, growers in Virginia have do not paint trunks with latex paint, but many will probably reconsider that decision in future years. Many trees are probably not going to make it, but I'm wondering if anyone has experience trying to save some of the less severely injured trees with bridge-grafts. How about wrapping the bark with grafting tape to try to get the wounds to heal? (I'm guessing that
