Crown gall?

Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum

Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

dwhill40

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 15, 2013
Messages
242
Reaction score
76
I found a vine with Crown Gall. Rip out the infected vine(s) or leave them and be careful about spreading until they become unproductive?
 
Since it is all around ripping it out isn't necessary. I would let a shoot that grow up from the roots or below the gall to grow (but not more than 1 or 2). Let this grow as a replacement and when it is doing well by next year, carefully cut off the infected vine just below the gall. Disinfect the saw or shears. The new shoot should not be infected and can give you a replacement.
 
Since I'm experimenting, I may take a knife to the burl and cover the wound with neosporin and cellulose just to see how and if it will callous over differently. What the heck nothing ventured...
Thanks for the info grapeman.
 
repairing he wound will not work. the DNA of the vine has actually been changed at the point of infection. crown gall bacteria is in all of our soil. a wound in the vine will allow the bacteria to enter the vine and alter it . the wine will die within two years at the outside. Grapeman suggestion is the best to the alternative of tearing out the vine. I had success of starting shoots by cutting the vine below the gall. since there should be a good root growth the shoots will be very vigorous.
 
This will be interesting to watch the progression. I have Cab growing on 101-14. It seems the gall is/was on the graft union on one side. The vine is in it's 3rd year so the calloused portion of the trunk is large and it's difficult to determine on which wood the gall is growing even after carefully shaving off the corky material. I covered the entire spot with anti-bacterial ointment and wrapped it with cloth. I was able to keep the cut above the cambium layer so I had no leakage. Hopefully a Cab shoot will sprout on the other side of the junction. Thanks for your replies.
 
The shaved and medicated wood wrapped in cloth is slick as a whistle. It's on the left of the photo. We'll see what eventually happens. But, what is really interesting is the 101-14 rootstock putting up a new shoot from deep in the ground like no other vine I've seen. Most sprouts, while very few, usually sprout near ground level.

140727_0018(1).jpg
 
Pulled off the wrapping late around august Reapplied neosporin ans rewrapped. Removed the wrappings early winter. So far the galled wood is still gone and no new gall has appeared. We'll see what happens with the growth spurt this spring.
 
Jury is still out but ... The cambium layer below the gall died down a couple of inches inches but there is no sign of galling left on the vine. This is the second vine that I cut off the gall and smeared with neosporin and covered it with a cloth wrap and the gall is gone and there is no sign of corking a year later. I don't know if it will work long term or not but we shall see.

150426_0006.jpg
 
Well, how is the galling issue this year? I have a horse in this race (now) and am looking for solutions. One is Gallex, but I am having a hard time locating a source. So far, I have been removing galls with a razor knife, and then coating with pruning sealer. I've also read some home solutions others have created (Neosporin and paint mixture is one). I have some conclusions based on observations that I will share:

- Always clean your tools.
- Never pull weeds or dig in the dirt and then pluck off a shoot/sprout with those same hands. This just transfers the bacteria from the soil to an open wound.
- Don't 'rub' off shoots with your hand even if you think your hands are clean. Instead, pick it carefully. Rubbing across a shoot creates an open wound while at the same time grinding in any possible bacteria. If you have galling in your vineyard, then you can become contaminated unknowingly.
- When you carefully remove galls, place them in a container for disposal (burning or trash). Leaving them nearby just aids in spreading the bacteria.

If you catch the galling early, allowing replacement shoots to grow into a trunk is a good strategy, but I would like to find a solution to Agrobacterium vitis. One possible solution would be to inoculate vines on planting. There has been some success using Galltrol-A or Actinovate when soaking roots prior to planting. Even though these are meant as a biological fungicide treatment, there are reports saying this also increases the resistance to crown gall bacteria. So, now that I have opined on the subject, I'd like to hear from others about their experiences and observations.
 
This is good to know. I have some Cab Franc vines on 101-14 root stock that had some galling also show up on the graft union. I also had one die, but the root stock sent up a shoot and I let it grow last year and have plans of grafting a cutting from one of the other vines to it this spring. But back on topic, I have tried your technique for the last couple of years and it seems to work better on some varieties (mostly own rooted ones) than others. I have one variety that seems to be more prone to galling than the others (Buffalo). But this technique seems to work best on the America variety that I grow. The next couple of years will tell me more. I also have some vines that I let second and third canes to grow while cutting out the infected one. The basic goal for me is to save the established root structure.
 
I am about to replace 36 Baco vines due to crown gall. I tried to start new shoots, but they all came up stunted and with a lot of leaf curl. Im tired of fighting it. Discussion with Triple A led me to believe Baco suffers to much frost damage each spring here in Utah and the reason for crown gal. I have no problem with the 36 seyval planted right along side it. Im leaning to replace with Cab Franc.
DF3CB098-92F3-4B8F-976D-E2DD722055D7.jpeg67C9615B-AAC9-43A3-8D56-02CA7B24EFCF.jpeg
 

Attachments

  • E096ABBA-F3F2-4B25-BD10-46C3948AF74E.jpeg
    E096ABBA-F3F2-4B25-BD10-46C3948AF74E.jpeg
    2.5 MB · Views: 15
  • 8FD9DC61-BC3F-4298-977D-325B72200E2F.jpeg
    8FD9DC61-BC3F-4298-977D-325B72200E2F.jpeg
    3.5 MB · Views: 15
Just as a note, I thought that Cab Franc would be ok here in Zone 6a, but I lost some to a late freeze (May 12-13 @ 22 degrees 2 nights) this year. Not sure what your weather cycles are like, but the Cab Franc seems to be a 'quick out of the chute' type of vine, and that early freeze caught mine and killed the canes back. These where 2 year old vines and may have been a little tender due to their age. Had to start new canes and it was slow to recover. Will be able to tell more this next year, and I hope we have no more late freezes as this lasr one wiped out all my fruit this year (even the pears).
 
One other note: I planted about 18 bare root vines last year that I pre-treated with Actinovate (via root soak). This product is an anti-fungal inoculant, but I've read some research that says it may help decrease the chances of galling due to increasing the competition in the soil for other bacteria. This product is a bacterial agent and, according to the product literature, colonizes the soil, thus dampening the growth of other soil borne diseases (ie, fungi). The company does not advertise it for use against galling, but other research says it may help for galling. You can also treat the spoil by using a soil drench method, which I may do this year. I figured what do I have to lose, it's useful in fighting fungal problems, and if it knocks out most of the galling, then it's a win win situation. I'll post more when it seems to have made an improvement in the galling situation.
 
Bought it thru Amazon for about $118 (Actinovate Fungicide -18 oz). Just looked and the price has come down to about $112. The mixing instruction are on the bag for both soil drench and root soak methods. The 18 oz bag goes a long way and should last a while, unless you are doing several acres. It only takes a little. Attached is the label.

 

Attachments

  • actinovate-lg-label.pdf
    144.7 KB · Views: 10
Thanks Dennis. I had crown gall on two second year vines. Oddly one was Cab Franc. The galls were on the graft union so I opted to kill the vines rather then let it go and try to salvage.
Please keep us posted on the effectiveness.
 
The galling I had on Cab Franc was on the graft union as well. I did not opt to cut it off like I did on other vines. It is only on a couple and I want to see what happens this year. I think I'm going to contact the company that makes Gallex and Galltrol-A and see if it's cleared for my state yet. It is specifically designed to crown galling. One is a topical application (after shaving/removing the galling) and the other is a soil treatment.
 
If I think a new "solution" is risky or questionable I will experiment first. With that word of caution I'll share a crown gall solution I heard from a grower in North Georgia. He matter of factly said, "diesel fuel and a steel brush will kill it". He grows twenty acres of grapes so I'm sure economy is his primary concern. I haven't tried it myself.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top