Mouse-Ear Can Be Defeated Durham November 22, 2004 Pecan growers
battling a tree ailment called "mouse-ear" can now rest assured
that help is on the way, thanks in part to Agricultural Research
Service scientists who discovered that the condition is caused
by a nickel deficiency in the The ARS discovery has led to a
commercial fertilizer application to control mouse-ear. This
growth and development abnormality, recognized as "little-leaf"
in other crops, is becoming increasingly common in second-
generation pecan orchards where new trees are planted. Nickel
deficiency was pinpointed as the problem by research leader Wood
and plant pathologists Nyczepir at ARS' Fruit and Tree Nut
Research Laboratory in Byron, Ga. A foliar fertilizer, called
NICKEL PLUS, has been developed by NIPAN, LLC, of Valdosta, Ga.
It has been approved by the Georgia Department of Agriculture as
a fertilizer nutrient that can correct nickel deficiency
problems in pecan and river birch trees. Wood assisted with
determining the treatment for