I planted this “Starkling Delicious Pear Semi-Dwarf” last spring. zone 6A. There was next to 0 N in the soil so I amended with aged chicken droppings.
I didn’t touch it for the rest of the year and this showed up at some point in the summer. I had the tree wrapped during the winter to prevent further sun scald damage.
Can anyone identify what went wrong here? I know light years more now than I did at planting last year. Could this happen from wet roots? We had a ton of rain last year and the soil around here has a lot of clay.
Ok, after doing my research, I’m fairly certain this is sun burn. I’d like to do 3 things to this tree prior to spring. I’ve got my strategy below in order.
Dormant Oil when buds swell
Copper (same time as dormant oil)
Wait a week and apply white wash (1:1:1, white latex paint:drywall compound:water)
This will allow the dormant oil and copper to do their thing to clean up the tree before I put a coating of paint.
Any opinions on the order of operations or timing?
If the damage is only on one side, it might recover. My guess is more likely than not it will. Pears are tough. If it was a cherry tree, I’d say less likely. My wife is from Western Pa. We’re in Ohio now, not too far from the Pa. border. I have Starking Delicious grafted on a seedling pear and it is very vigorous.
