Hello Everyone.
I'm very new here, and I have a question I'm hoping someone can help me out with.
We bought our first house last December, and in our eagerness to get planting (we have 2 acres after years in a city apartment), we went out an bought 4 bare root fruit trees - 2 sweet cherries (Black Tartarian and Stella Sweet), 1 Superior plum, and 1 Reliance peach. It's still cold here, so the nursery is holding the trees until May 1st.
Anyway, we've discovered a plum tree on our main lawn and several more trees in a slightly wooded area just off the lawn that are severely infected with black knot. This weekend, we started taking down these trees and burning them, but we'll still be at it for another 2 weeks or so.
I'm looking for general advice on planting new trees where black knot infection has been, and specifically if anyone has any idea how long the released spores can "survive" in the air or surrounding area. We're planning to plant the new trees within 500 ft of the old infected trees that we've cut down, and we'll probably get them in only a few days after we've finished burning, which is after bud break on the infected trees. [FYI: it was below 50 and rainy until this weekend, when it just barely hit 60. It's supposed to drop back down into the 40s and rain this coming weekend.]
Thanks for any info you can offer!
-
MaineDesigner
- Green Thumb
- Posts: 439
- Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2006 11:17 am
- Location: Midcoast Maine, Zone 5b
Hopefully someone will step up with a more optimistic view of you situation as my opinions on this subject tend to be rather dark. I strongly discourage my clients from planting any Prunus species here in 5b/6a coastal Maine because of the litany of disease and insect problems these trees are vulnerable to. Black knot is just the tip of a very large iceberg.
If you can remove all sources of inoculum within a several hundred yard radius, be vigilant for signs of black knot and promptly prune out any evidence you see, and possibly apply fungicides as well if you see it you should be able to keep it at bay. It sounds like you have taken the right steps so far.
Speaking only for myself I would see if the nursery would give you credit toward different trees.
If you can remove all sources of inoculum within a several hundred yard radius, be vigilant for signs of black knot and promptly prune out any evidence you see, and possibly apply fungicides as well if you see it you should be able to keep it at bay. It sounds like you have taken the right steps so far.
Speaking only for myself I would see if the nursery would give you credit toward different trees.
Thanks MD. We may try to exchange the trees - at least the plum. We already have 3 50+ yr old apple trees and a beautiful old pear that seem to be in great shape, so we know they'd do well...
Do you know how small orchards keep their Prunus trees in good health? We live in an area of Western New York that has a number of small farms, many of which provide beautiful plums, peaches, and cherries to our local farmer's markets. We have 2 within a mile of our home. Is it just a matter of close monitoring and early detection to control black knot?
Do you know how small orchards keep their Prunus trees in good health? We live in an area of Western New York that has a number of small farms, many of which provide beautiful plums, peaches, and cherries to our local farmer's markets. We have 2 within a mile of our home. Is it just a matter of close monitoring and early detection to control black knot?
-
MaineDesigner
- Green Thumb
- Posts: 439
- Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2006 11:17 am
- Location: Midcoast Maine, Zone 5b
It might be that the disease pressures are simply lower in Western N.Y. as we have a huge number of wild Rosacea (the family that the genus Prunus belongs to) trees and shrubs here. My hunch, however, is that commercial orchards, even small ones, are on a heavy spray program. In addition to black knot many Prunus species are also troubled by cytospora canker, brown rot, bacterial blights, root & crown rot, borers, plum curculio, scale, fruit flies and a few other less common or less serious pests and diseases.
Black knot control is, as you note, mostly a process of close monitoring and quick response.
Cornell has one of the best fruit programs in the country and should be a great source for regionally accurate information for you. [url]https://www.fruit.cornell.edu/fruittre.html[/url]
Black knot control is, as you note, mostly a process of close monitoring and quick response.
Cornell has one of the best fruit programs in the country and should be a great source for regionally accurate information for you. [url]https://www.fruit.cornell.edu/fruittre.html[/url]