Crown gall can spread between walnut trees in nurseries and reduce future yields
While walnut trees on Juglans hindsiix J. regia ‘Paradox’ rootstocks are highly susceptible to crown gall, it is unknown whether this bacterial disease is acquired in the nursery or the orchard. We selected two groups of gall-free trees in nurseries, those adjacent to tree...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources
2008-05-01
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| Series: | California Agriculture |
| Online Access: | http://calag.ucanr.edu/archive/?article=ca.v062n03p111 |
| Summary: | While walnut trees on Juglans hindsiix J. regia ‘Paradox’ rootstocks are highly susceptible
to crown gall, it is unknown whether this bacterial disease is acquired in the nursery
or the orchard. We selected two groups of gall-free trees in nurseries, those adjacent
to trees with and without galls. Two years after being transplanted in the orchard,
trees in the group adjacent to those with galls had significantly greater — more than
four times more — crown gall incidence than those adjacent to trees without galls
(14% versus 3%). In addition, trees in prolonged (17-day), bare-root, unrefrigerated
storage before transplanting were associated with higher crown-gall incidence. We
also found that crown gall can decrease walnut tree productivity. For every quarter
of trunk circumference that was galled, there was a 12% decrease in cumulative nut
yield over the first 4 years of production. |
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| ISSN: | 0008-0845 2160-8091 |