Sour Cherry Yellows

You'll see green and yellow mottled leaves with green coloring along veins on sour cherry rootstocks (Prunus cerasifera), followed by premature leaf drop and reduced fruiting spurs. Prune dwarf virus spreads through budding, grafting, and infected pollen. Use virus-tested nursery stock and establish new plantings away from old orchards. Roguing mature orchards is uneconomical; thermotherapy can eliminate the virus in propagation material.

Use nursery stock that has been tested and found to be free of all known viruses. If propagating your own trees, use both virus-indexed budwood and virus-certified rootstock.