Small Stem Assays at our Mendel’s Way Greenhouse
A few weeks ago, this awesome crew conducted small stem assay inoculations at our Mendel’s Way greenhouse. Lake Graboski, regional science coordinator led the efforts with Noah Vincent, orchard manager. Lake and Noah were joined by our summer intern, Persephone, and volunteers; David, Briana, Kingston, and Ed. There was an easy sort of camaraderie in the air and sense of accomplishment as more and more seedlings made their way through this process, which helps weed out those inferior trees shown at this early stage to be more susceptible to the blight. Conducting these inoculations and assessments before planting and moving forward in our breeding program allows efforts and resources to stay with the stronger trees.
The first step is to scrape a small (3mm or so) vertical opening in the stem of a seedling. This is often aided with a stencil of sorts to keep the size of the wound consistent. Then a dab of fungal innoculum is applied to the incision and wrapped with a plastic strip to seal against dehydration. Next, the seedling’s height is measured and recorded for future growth comparison. Watch a clip on Lake walking us through this process here. You can see what a difference having a team of people working together makes, versus leaving all of these steps on so many trees to just one or two individuals! With this, let us give a big thank you to our amazing volunteers!!
Would you have liked to have been a part of this important work but missed it? Good news- you can still participate in our upcoming PSU Arboretum orchard inoculations 9/1-9/5! Sign up here, or contact Noah Vincent if interested at nev5073@psu.edu. Schedule subject to change, so confirm with Noah prior to the date. Light duty work with outdoor clothing and durability required. You must be 18 years old or accompanied by a guardian to attend.
