Specific replant disease
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Specific replant disease (also known as sick soil syndrome) is a malady that manifests itself when susceptible plants such as
previously occupied by a related species. The exact causes are not known, but in the first year the new plants will grow poorly. Root systems are weak and may become blackened, and plants may fail to establish properly.One theory is that replant disease is due to a whole menagerie of
It is good organic
Using trees on vigorous rootstocks which will have a better chance of competing with the pathogens, or plants grown in large containers with a large root ball may also have a better chance of resisting replant disease. The extra time to cropping may be offset if new trees are planted a few years in advance of old trees finally falling over, furthermore, if the old orchard was grubbed— i.e. trees were healthy when removed, it is unlikely that replant disease would be a problem as pathogen levels may never have been high. The malady is worse where trees have died in situ-pathogens are likely to have contributed to the death and therefore be at a higher level in the soil.
Soil fumigation is another common method employed to control replant disease in both apple and cherry trees.[3] Throughout the 1990s, fumigants like methyl bromide (bromomethane) were commonly used in this way to control and treat the disease, through this was later phased out in the 2000s in favour of more modern alternatives such as chloropicrin, which some studies[4] have shown to be an effective method for resolving SARD in apple tree monoculture in Europe.
References
- S2CID 9825627.
- ^ "Plant Disease 1982 | Fungi Associated with Roots of Apple Seedlings Grown in Soil from an Apple Replant Site". www.apsnet.org. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
- ISSN 0022-1589.
- ^ "Specific Apple Replant Disease (SARD) | Leicesters". Leicesters. 2015-06-25. Retrieved 2016-12-20.