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Fruit & Orchards

What's wrong with my new grafts???

14 years ago

Did some cleft-grafting and chip budding this Spring and last Fall with Northern Spy apples and Asian Pear varieties. I usually keep them in pots 'til the following year before planting them into the orchard.

Most of the potted plants grew out nicely about a month ago, and some shoots grew vigourously to several inches long with healthy green leaves. But - for some reason the tips of the new growths are shrivelling up and turning brown and black! Tried off-shelf insect sprays with no effect.

Any ideas what may cause this shrivelling just after the new growths are getting established?

buyali in Ontario

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Comments (5)

Konrad___far_north
14 years ago
It could be fireblight...post some pictures

Konrad
jean001
14 years ago
Or it could be failed grafts.
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Since you have only had the plant a short time, what caused this is probably over now. It doesn't look like bugs. My guess is one of the following, maybe even both. It looks like cold damage. Did it go from the store out into cold air, and ride in a cold car. It's hard to believe this can cause such damage, but it can. If that is the case, it will grow new leaves eventually. It looks like a strong plant despite the leaf damage. It could also be that it got too thirsty in the past. The kind of leaf damage it has makes me think this is a response to watering mistakes made before you got the plant. I believe you would see some lower leaves yellowing too, if overwatering were the issue. Look closely to eliminate bugs. Don't get the soil soaking wet when you water. They don't want the kind of water a spider plant wants. They also like to dry a bit between waterings. I would let it go dry about half way down the pot, before I watered. Is it giving any new growth. That would make me think it'll be fine. Good luck.
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buyali
Original Author
14 years ago
I'd like to post some photos but dont know how, can someone explain the process?
thomis
14 years ago
someone posted this a while back, it helped me:

(img src="A") but replace ( with , and A with the web address of your photo.

When choosing from photobucket, use the direct link (for layout pages)

If you don't have a photo sharing account (they're free) you need to create one. I'm not sure how else to post pictures.
Axel
14 years ago
Your grafts definitely took if they grew a bunch. If a graft didn't take it will just leaf out a little then wilt and die, it wouldn't turn brown or black. Also, a graft that didn't take would not have the energy to push several inches of new growth.

So I think Konrad is right, sounds like fireblight. Look for the tell tale little orange droplets on green tissue.

I had a similar issue where I made a pruning cut without sterilizing my sheers. The result was fireblight. So you may have infected your grafts. You should always sterilize in between grafts, it's highly recommended. I use lysol. Also, it's a good idea to clean the incoming grafting wood first by scrubbing lightly under running water, then treating with copper fungicide. I actually spray copper fungicide in the bags to keep the scions moist and clean.

For now, your best bet is to cut off the wilted parts, and watch for continued die back. Northern spy is susceptible to fireblight, so you want to watch closely. If the die back continues, you will end up having to cut off the entire graft and start over.

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