Thanks so much for your interest in my situation. I really should have provided an update already, but I don’t have a lot of new information to tell. Lets start with the legal/financial related stuff. Much to my dismay, the State of TN HAS STILL NOT COMPLETED THEIR REPORT and TESTING! I’ve inquired a couple time, but the investigator always says she is still waiting for the lab results and is expecting them “soon”.
Meanwhile, just as many of you predicted, the farmer who did the spraying (well, one of his employee) has already done everything he possible can to try to distance himself and deny responsibility. For those who don’t remember, it turns out that the offending farmer is the Mayor of the town in which I work as City Manager- so to say the least its a very tricky situation. But in a million years I never would have imagined he would have behaved this way. We used to stop and talk anytime I saw him anywhere. Since the day I told him that his spray had killed a lot of my trees and plants- 2 months ago- I have talked to him a grand total of 2 times, and both of those times were right before mandatory City Council Meetings!!! On several occasions I’ve seen him jump in his truck and leave when I’ve slowed down or pulled into somewhere that he was. He has to cosign checks with me every week, and for the first time in 15 years he has started signing his name when I’m at lunch. So not only has he not offered to do anything to correct his mistake, but he is avoiding me like the plague. Worse yet, on the 2 times I did see him and speak to him (b4 council meetings) he used the opportunities to try and do damage control. Last time I saw him he asked if I got the report from the state yet. I said no and here is what he said…"well, you know, I’ve been thinking, and I will guarantee you that every single farmer who farms around you used 2, 4-D this spring so there is no telling who really got your stuff. I responded by saying “well, they all gave sworn statements to a state investigator saying that had NOT spraying any kind of herbicide by the time of my damage and the state took samples off all their land along with mine so they will know for sure if anyone else sprayed so I doubt they lied to the investigator”, He just grunted and changed the subject. Anyway, you all probably aren’t interested (or surprised) in the story of disappointing human behavior. So lets get to the part you may care about- what are the medium term (2 months) effects of 2, 4-D type sprays on fruit trees and plants.
Overall, I must say it is pretty good news so far, and also quite interesting I think. I have learned a lot from this, so if any of you have any 2, 4-D type exposure, feel free to write me and I’ll answer any questions I can based on my experience. One of the things I’ve learned is that certain kinds of trees are MUCH more susceptible to 2, 4-D type sprays. Cherry, pear, and apricots and most of all grapes are the most sensitive to damage and death. These trees all died or nearly died even though they were spread out all over my property. At the same time, other trees and plants were much more resistant and in many cases they showed very little affect, even though they were 3 times closer to the spray than others. And again, they were dispersed all over the property, so it is very unlikely that just a random gust of wind carried the spray closer or further from a given tree. There were no obstacles between sprayed field and all my trees, and my trees are spread fairly evenly over a 4 acre area, SO, for example, I had some apple trees that were 10 feet from the sprayed field which showed little damage, while I had some apricots and pears that were 500 feet away and were killed or severely damaged. In the end, it looks like I’m going to have 9 dead trees and 6 more that are so severely damaged that I may well just replace them rather than spend the next 5 years nursing it and worrying if it will ever be a good tree. But the good news is that many of the trees I was originally sure were dead or soon will be have ended up not only living, but some have started growing and putting on nice looking bright green growth.
Type of Damage
The 6 that I call “severely damaged” but not dead (yet) are almost all pear trees (and 1 plum, 1 cherry). They still look very much like they did a week after it happened and as they do in the photo at the top of this thread. They put on all that weird, spindly, spiral growth for about 2 weeks and then just stopped all growth. They haven’t died or even lost their leaves (well, maybe 10%), yet in the last 2 months- which has been PERFECT warm weather with plenty of good rainfall (tho not too much) and everything else is growing like crazy- but those 6 haven’t put out a single leave or stem in most cases, and when they have its been a thin, curly spring or two. Its as if they are just frozen in time! The grapes are similar, but have put on some growth. I was almost certain all my grapes had been killed, but they have been among the good news makers. Most of them ended up putting on some new growth, though a lot of that growth is strange looking. The leaves start off curled up and even though they slowly get bigger, they remain curled in on themselves. Also, none of the grapes have put on anywhere NEAR the normal amount of leaves or vines. In fact, they have been among the strangest behaving plant since being sprayed. While they made very few leaves (maybe 30% of normal amount), they did still form about the same- and maybe more- number of grape bunches. You can imagine how strange it looked to see all those little bunches without leaves covering them. But stranger still, even though the bunches formed and started off normally, once they “bloomed” (I guess you call it a bloom-whatever it is right before it becomes a tiny little grape) they would turn brown and die. the bunches had not formed at time of spraying, so to me its strange that they would still form bunches and “bloom” but then die instead of just not forming bunches to begin with. In spite of all this, I do have several bunches of grapes on my vines that formed, “bloomed”, birthed baby grapes, and now have good sized grapes that are just a few weeks from ripening. It still looks strange since most of these bunches exist without any (or many) leaves and multiple vines so I have grapes just hanging on bare vines in many cases. This may lead to those bunches of grapes being sunburned, but almost certainly will result in birds getting them all since they are just sticking out there unprotected.
I should also tell you another interesting fact when it comes to the damage. In several cases, the trees I’m saying are dead actually only died from the original graft point up. In several cases (5-6) the rootstock actually survived and came back in a big way. Now, you all completely understand why I am counting them as dead trees, because the top part that I purchased for its fruit bearing capacity and type are completely dead. But I suspect that the guy who killed them is seeing them and thinking they are going to be fine. Farmer or not, we’ve talked enough that its clear to me that he has absolutely no knowledge of fruit trees at all and certainly not that they are all grafted. ANd for you all, it is rather curious that so many tops would be killed but rootstocks would not just survive but thrive. In many cases the rootstocks had never sent up any growth at all, and now are just thick with bright green, healthy looking sprouts and growth. Its remarkable. One plum is interesting because the rootstock growth is a dark, very beautiful dark purple growth that looks like purple peach tree leaves. You all may know what rootstock looks like that, but I don’t. But I do know none of these rootstocks are probably worth keeping and that’s why I am counting them all as dead trees.
Well, that’s most of what I can think of that I feel you all would be interested to know. By all means if you have any questions feel free to let me know. Thanks again for your interest and moral support, and I’ll keep you posted on how things go, including what the state report says.
But when I do I might just take some of you up on the offers, and either way I’ll sure remember the fact that such offers were made. Thank-you.