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Last week, I had to transplant a young apple tree, which was grafted onto M25 (very vigorous) rootstock a few years ago.
After I'd dug the tree out of its bed, I noticed a cluster of several rootstock suckers coming from one of the deep taproots.
The suckers were about halfway from reaching the soil surface - they would have eventually surfaced several inches away from the main trunk.
Looking closely at the point of origin of the suckers, I could see a large, knobbly, tumour-like growth on the root.
Looking closer still, this knobbly growth had several nematodes in and around it.
I was aware that nematodes can stunt young trees ("replant disease"), but looking at this rootstock, it also seems as if nematode root damage/irritation may be associated with - and possibly a cause of - root suckers.
I decided in this instance to prune off the offending root.
After I'd dug the tree out of its bed, I noticed a cluster of several rootstock suckers coming from one of the deep taproots.
The suckers were about halfway from reaching the soil surface - they would have eventually surfaced several inches away from the main trunk.
Looking closely at the point of origin of the suckers, I could see a large, knobbly, tumour-like growth on the root.
Looking closer still, this knobbly growth had several nematodes in and around it.
I was aware that nematodes can stunt young trees ("replant disease"), but looking at this rootstock, it also seems as if nematode root damage/irritation may be associated with - and possibly a cause of - root suckers.
I decided in this instance to prune off the offending root.
