Current issue: 58(4)
The Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) pruning experiments were established in different geographical regions of Finland. The pines were pruned in 16 different times during the year. Half of the trees were inoculated with conidia of Phacidium coniferarum (Hahn). Annual cankers were produced in the inoculated trees pruned during October–December. The safe pruning season ended in autumn when the five-day mean temperature decreased below +7°C. The unsafe pruning season terminated when the temperature remained permanently over 0°C. Dry-pruned branches were infected only if the phloem had been wounded. The mycelia of the fungus were pathogenic in the phloem in the inoculations made from October to March. The fungus occurred commonly in slash and in pines wounded during the autumn. The fungus has a one-year life cycle.
The PDF includes a summary in Finnish.