Hi Folks,
I transplanted two European style plum trees from my front yard to my back yard today. These trees were planted in the ground last winter and spent one year in a soil that is a mixture of sand and clay. Last year a few deer decided to use one of the front yard plums as a abrasive material to clean the felt off their antlers and did quite a bit of damage to one of them. Since there is no fence in the front yard I decided to move these trees to my backyard where the bulk of my orchard trees reside. The backyard is fenced in and patrolled regularly by my German Shepherd. His scent is all over the backyard orchard and that seems to drive away the deer. As I uprooted these trees I saw some rather large woody balls in the roots that I had never seen before. Just to be clear those knots were not there last year when I received the plants. So they developed during the one year in the ground. Please see the youtube video links I provide below. They were taken with my cell phone camera so the quality while not great should be enough to see the lesions clearly. These two plums (Stanley Prune and a D'Agen Prune aka French prune) are grafted to Marianna root stock. I was wondering if these knotty lesions look like the effects of root knot nematodes?
Thanks!
It might be bacterial galls which also are not friends to plants unlike the beneficial nitrogen fixing bacterials are that form friendly root nodules.
My idea is to go shopping for listerine or any other mouthwash that lists thymol as the ingredient. Buy enough to mix about 4 parts cold water to one and enough to submerge all the roots for a few hours. Nematodes nor any traces of bacterial life will remain alive, but then again neither will the good fungals.
If you do follow this advice, if I was you, I would also shelter temporarily from rain and at least a week after the final planting. Maybe even until as long as some green emerges. Because it seems reasonable to me that friendly fungals that were present in the roots that are now depleted were there as a function to what is above-ground. Although this has not been proven yet, same case the mystery of compost tea. -I think the case will be made some day.
If rootknot nematodes are in effect on your rootstock then bear in mind these pests are resposible to the unbalance of apical fauna, it will then be important to note that you must restore lost root cultures (as far as the good fungi) from underneath other sources, clean trees etc.
I learned through locker room talk about listerine after some of us regular swimmers decided we had been spreading brown toe nail fungus to each other which foot soaks similar to the above worked.
caseroj,
That looks to me like a classic case of crown gall -- Agrobacterium tumefaciens. It often enters susceptible plants through fresh wounds. It's possible that the rootstock was already infected, or it's just as possible that the bacterium was already present in your soil and took advantage of a broken or damaged root. It is worldwide in distribution and there are some plants that appear particularly susceptible to it. Sadly, pome fruits and stone fruits are among them. 
. These galls can sometimes be found on trunks or branches, but often are the result of spread between plants when using unsterilized pruning shears or grafting materials. You should be able to find good information on it with a google search.
The traditional recommendation is to take infected material and toss it on a bonfire. However, you may want to search the web and see if there are less drastic methods that might work for you. 
Good luck!
Tim
Oh dear! I planted those two trees next to my goldkist apricot and shiro, starking delicious plums. I have emailed the vendor who sold me the trees about it but it may be I have that bacterium in my soil. One of my santa rosa plum trees that has been in my back yard all along had some of the same funky growth near the graft union. Only I was able to pull it off with my hands and I read online just now that often happens with old crown gall canker growths. They root and are easily ripped off. Supposedly Marianna 2624 root stock which these new trees are grafted to has good resistance to crown gall. I am waiting for the vendor to get back to me and confirm.
Thanks,
Juan
Hi Juan,
I didn't want to mention anything to you about the fact that you had already transplanted your trees to the backyard. I figured that you'd already be bummed-out enough just by the diagnosis (--but, as they might say in an advertisement, "please consult your own reputable phytopathologist..."). I've only rarely encountered it myself, and I think that it tends to be opportunistic and sporadic.
When my wife and I moved to our present location 20 years ago, I worked briefly at a fruit tree nursery for a winter and the ensuing spring. While I handled a lot of bare-root material I only once encountered a bare-root tree with a crown gall on its roots. I discarded it and added it to the "remove from inventory" sheet outside the office. I don't know how it might have been handled by another employee.
Here on our property, I had many plants that I had brought with me on our move and I planted-out an Amelanchier alnifolia 'Regent' which I had already grown for many years. It didn't have any observable evidence of crown gall when I planted it. However, a few years later when I dug it up to transplant elsewhere in the yard, I found some crown gall development on roots toward one side of the clump. That portion I discarded, but the remainder of the plant (multi-stemmed) looked fine and I planted those elsewhere. I must admit, however, that when I look at that area where it got the Agrobacterium I look upon it as though it is "cursed soil."
I'm aware of one other crown gall on our property, and it is on a native bitter cherry in our woods (Prunus emarginata var. mollis). This gall is about 18' up the trunk. I presume that somehow a wound occurred and an insect bearing the bacteria landed there and spread it. The tree broke at the gall site in a windstorm a couple of years ago, but the recumbent top (about 20') is still attached by the "healthy" portion of wood. There are several trees in that area that I need to cut down this year so, when I get to that one, the gall area will definitely be cut away and put on a fire. I figure that "an abundance of caution" is the way to go, and plant disease disposal by fire always seems the most satisfying and final to me.
Tim
[I can't help but remember my plant pathology professor back in college. He really thought that I should be a plant pathologist, but I felt more comfortable as a dinosaur field botanist. RIP Jerry Dimitman. 
I hope he can forgive me for just how much I've forgotten.]
I purchases those two plum trees from Trees of Antiquity in Paso Robles, California. They looked at the video and they thought it might be scar tissue from nematode activity in the ground. I live in Florida where we do have problems with nematodes. He said I could remove the scar tissue or just leave it because it appears to have girdled that root but the tree has other roots so it won't hurt it. Here are his exact words
"The existing gall, as I understand, is simply girdling the root. The trees have plenty of other roots not associated with the gall so I think it'll be fine."
They said they never encountered any problems with crown gall and marianna root stock in their growing site in northern California. I am going to leave the trees there because if I have the bacterium in my front yard soil then it is going to be present in my backyard soil also. So no harm no foul and nothing really to be gained by destroying the trees. It is why I tried to buy these trees only from vendors who can clearly tell me what the properties of the root stock are.
Hi Juan,
Glad you heard back from the source. Given the size of the gall, or "knot", in your video, I'm sticking with my first impression. Root knot nematodes tend to produce "root knots" that are more "beaded" in appearance along the roots, more like pea-sized or perhaps shooter marbles at best. I'm quite aware that I could be wrong, but I still think that what appears in your video looks like a classic Agrobacterium tumefasciens "tumor". Like I said, its distribution is world-wide, so no-one is to blame. It is where it is, and it may, or may not, find a way to infect a plant.
Wishing you all the best, 
Tim
I agree with you Tim. I went digging around online after my most recent update and noticed exactly what you are saying. The root knot nematode causes much smaller lesions on the roots sort of like a string of pearls. I am torn about whether to throw to uproot those trees and remove the tainted soil or just leave them there. Supposedly Marianna root stock has some resistance to crown gall and most my my valuable plums near those two specimens are on Marianna root stock. Plus some research papers say that if the tree survives the infection it can go on to produce fruit just like an uninfected tree. That's why I am so torn about what to do. I want those plums and it takes so long to order replacements. I also believe it is a crown gall tumor and I don't fault the vendor. It's like you say there are bacteria all over this world. They were here long before humans arrived on the scene and they will be here long after we are gone!
Cheers!
Hey Juan,
Don't take my word for it. In a situation like this, I would only consider myself "a stranger acting as a consultant," and certainly not a professional. I'm just trying to be helpful. If I were you, I'd go ahead and leave things as they currently are. As I understand it, the nearly-worse case scenario is that the plant will become "unthrifty" (--gawd, I love the ambiguity of that Britishly useful horticultural word!--). Keep an eye on your trees and see how they are developing, and how vigorous they are. They may continue on their merry way without much interruption. Generally, crown gall will reduce the vigor of the tree (or shrub) and result in a poorer performance. I suppose it's largely a matter of just how much the tree's vigor is reduced. If, with time, it is found that the trees are "unthrifty," you might consider replacing them.
On another note, if you're in Florida, I assume that you must be farther north or inland in a less "tropical" area. If not, I'd be recommending growing some of my childhood favorites like mangos, chocolate persimmons, and jaboticabas.... But, then again, with climate change and local climates "wiggin'-out" and unpredictable, who knows just what to plant in anticipation of future weather. We're all engaged in local experimentation in our climates and microclimates. Whatever fruit succeeds in your yard and from which you can harvest and eat is always a victory! I'm still p*ssed that "Adam and Eve" screwed-up a really good thing.
Tim
"On another note, if you're in Florida, I assume that you must be farther north or inland in a less "tropical" area. If not, I'd be recommending growing some of my childhood favorites like mangos, chocolate persimmons, and jaboticabas.... "
Tim,
I am in East Central Florida in the Space Coast. The climate here is considered sub-tropical however, I grew up in South Florida (Miami-Dade County) where the climate is classified as also sub-tropical but leaning more toward tropical. Mangoes were a staple for me growing up but here in East Central Florida I find them to be marginal at best. What little cold we get here is really pushing the limits of what trees like Mango, Sapote, and Soursop etc can tolerate. In addition to low chill apples, pears, and stone fruit I also have two Glenn Mango, a Alphonso Mango and a Kent Mango tree. I had to move them this last spring to a less exposed area of my yard next to a concrete wall of my house. All of them had frost die back last winter as it dropped to below freezing for a few hours one day and hovered around 32 oF for nearly an entire night. We get on average about 100-200 chill hours in my zone and that has proven to be very problematic for these tropical trees and shrubs. Sometimes I wish I had purchased a house in Northeast Florida or just moved to the upper midwest instead. The climate here in East Central Florida is kind of a no man's land. It is too cold for the tropical fruit trees commonly seen further south but not cold enough for most of the decidious fruit trees of the northern climates. I am stuck with a very limited number of choices about what I can grow as a result.
Those two European plums that started this whole thread are an experiment. They are rate at 800 chill hours but I have my doubts about that so I decided to give them a try. If they fail to grow and produce I will uproot them and will just have to be content with my Santa Rosa plums and Goldkist apricots. I also put in two blue damson plums this year that are European style plums but not freestone. I know those will do ok here because they are very low chill and are in fact rated for zone 10 whereas I am in zone 9. So even if I lose out on the Stanley and D'Agen prunes I have hedged enough with other varieties in my orchard that I should get something to eat :-).
Cheers,
Juan
Hi Juan,
Sorry to hear that you're in one of those "no-man's-land" areas. I must say that it can be frustrating having tasted and loved a broad diversity of fruits, but they can't all be grown in the same area. We do what we can where we are. I love Japanese plums, but, in my microclimate, there are only about four cultivars that do well, climatically, but just like the European plums they are also quite susceptible to "Northwestern Anthracnose," which also attacks apples and other Rosaceous trees and shrubs.
I sometimes fantasize about having a huge greenhouse where I could grow tropical fruits, or having a "summer property" in south America,... but a fantasy is only a fantasy. In the meantime, given that I don't plan on moving again in my lifetime, I'm trying to trial various fruits and vegetables in our local microclimate so that we'll always have "enough" to eat as we get older and the future continues to be unpredictable. A hundred years ago, there were many self-sufficient farmsteads across the land, but so many of the basic rural, traditional, sustaining methods, and the accompanying knowledge, have been lost as America "progressed" to a more urban, consumeristic, wage-slavery model.
Sorry. I think I'm being something of a downer.
Keep experimenting, and stick with those things that you can grow. Research the low-chill "temperate" fruits, as well as the "hardier" subtropical fruits. With time, you should be able to identify a few that do well for you in your local climate.
All best wishes for success,
Tim
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