Greg, My "gut" tells me grafting tape will not help. I think an open wound
will heal better. I suppose the SW side thawed and quickly refroze.
Somewhere I have seen adhesive backed insulation that has a peel-off
coating. If this were white and had UV protection, strips a few inches wide
and a foot or two long could be stuck to the south -southwest side of trees
to prevent this from happening. As far as bridge grafting, this is beyond
me. Seems like a replant would be cheaper/faster, I don't know. I paint
newly planted trees with a cheap 2 gallon hand pump sprayer. 3 or 4 to 1
paint with water, and I can spray 1000 trees in 3-4 hours.  I walk the rows
on the S.E. side and then the S.W. side. I use the Ace Hardware sprayer on
sale for $9.99 (reg 12.99) and just toss the sprayer after the job is done.

Hugh Thomas
Stevensville, MT


On Sun, Mar 16, 2014 at 9:30 AM, <[email protected]> wrote:

> 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" <[email protected]>
> 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
> > [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
> > 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-horticulture<
> http://blogs.ext.vt.edu/tree-fruit-horticulture>
> > www.facebook.com/VtechPomology<http://www.facebook.com/VtechPomology>
> _______________________________________________
> apple-crop mailing list
> [email protected]
> http://virtualorchard.net/mailman/listinfo/apple-crop
>
_______________________________________________
apple-crop mailing list
[email protected]
http://virtualorchard.net/mailman/listinfo/apple-crop

Reply via email to