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Extension > Garden > Diagnose a problem > What's wrong with my plant? > Fruit > Grape > Malformed or unusual growths (canes and trunk)

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Grape > Woody Vines > Malformed/unusual growths (canes/trunk)

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  • Image: Crown Gall 1

Crown Gall
Agrobacterium vitis

  • Galls first appear on the trunk near the soil line
  • Young galls are soft, light green in color, with no bark
  • Older galls are brown to black and are hard
  • Poor shoot growth and fruit production may be seen on severely infected vines
  • Vines suffering from winter injury due to cold winter temperatures are more susceptible
  • More information on Crown Gall
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  • Image: Eutypa Dieback 1

Grapevine trunk diseases

  • The cordons or trunk lack live shoots or buds
  • Shoots are stunted (shortened internodes)
  • The grapevine gradually dies back over several years, rather than all at once. If an entire vine died within one season, it is more likely due to winter injury than trunk disease.
  • The wood inside the trunk or cordon has brown discoloration in the shape of a V, circle, or a random form. These are called “cankers”
  • Cankers often form near old pruning wounds
  • One trunk disease, Eutypa, causes young leaves to appear smaller, cupped and chlorotic, with stunted shoots. However, this has not been commonly observed on Eutypa-infected vines in Minnesota.
  • Symptoms can appear on vines of any age, but the damage is more common in mature vines over five years old
  • More information on Grapevine trunk diseases

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