Understand plant communities in order to avoid the pitfalls of replant syndrome and to develop a generational succession plan for your perennial crops
Perennial crops, both woody and non-woody, are defined as plants that survive many growing seasons to yield crops for many years in a row — some for a few years (strawberries, raspberries, etc.) and some for a century or more (walnuts, pecans, etc.).
But just because a crop is a perennial doesn’t mean it’s eternal! Many newer growers seem to overlook this in their farm enterprise planning, and they end up in a bind when their plants get older and begin to go into decline. Just as planting corn after corn after corn eventually causes declining yields, declining soil health and increased pest and disease management costs, planting a monocrop of apples or cherries after a 25-year monocrop of apples leads to agronomic problems. This is the phenomenon known as “replant syndrome” or “replant disease”: it’s quite difficult to re-establish a perennial crop in the same place as the previous perennial crop.
What Is Replant Syndrome?
Replant syndrome of fruit and nut trees, cane fruits and vines can cause total crop failure in replacement plantings. Milder cases lead to reduced tree vigor and crop yields that seem to straggle along at low levels forever. Both situations can result in significant economic losses.
Support authors and subscribe to content
This is premium stuff. Subscribe to read the entire article.
