Strong wind, especially wind associated with tropical storms that saturate the soil, can cause fruit trees to lean and sometimes be totally uprooted. Due to small and brittle root systems, dwarfing rootstocks tend to be prone to wind damage.
Susceptibility to wind damage appears to be related to the combination of rootstock and scion cultivar. Some brittle cultivars, such as ‘Gala’ and ‘Golden Delicious’, when propagated on brittle rootstocks, such as G.30 or M.26, may snap at the bud union. …
Tree death or decline may be caused by several factors. For new trees, roots can dry out or freeze during shipping, or after shipment or purchase, they can become desiccated if not planted, healed-in, or watered immediately. In this case, trees generally fail to produce any new growth or develop only a few leaves and subsequently collapse. Lack of water after planting, usually greater in areas with higher soil temperatures during the growing season, will result in foliar wilting and/or …
Hail can injure apple fruit, shoots, and limbs. The extent of the injury usually depends on the size and shape of the hail and the duration of the event. Injury can range from torn or shredded leaves and small dents that don’t break the fruit skin to effects so severe that an entire crop is lost due to physical damage. In some cases, replacement of trees is necessary, especially when young trees have significant bark injury. Fungicide protection of injured …
One of the most common causes of tree decline or death is imbalance of water demand and supply.
When water demand of a fruit tree is higher than supply, drought stress occurs. Drought stress causes wilting, yellowing of the leaves, advanced leaf fall, and premature fruit ripening or fruit drop. Often, drought stress is associated with heat stress during the hot summer months. When drought stress and heat stress coincide, scorching of the leaves occurs in addition …
