In the past week I noticed that the leaves on one branch of my cherry tree are dying (circled in red). Some leaves are turning pink/yellow. The other branches have not shown this problem, but I am worried. Cherry is not easy to grow here because of the heavy clay soil. What could be the problem? Is it caused by root rot, or some disease? To prevent root rot, I planted it above ground as a mound. Also used sand/perlite/peat as the mix. But I did not change anything 6 inch below the ground, which is still heavy clay.
I am debating if I should just remove this branch.
root rot. probably waterlogged. feel the dirt if it’s unusally wet. dig down and check too.
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That is what I was worried. How to solve this problem? Should I dig it out and replant? Thanks!
I have the same thing happen to mine today, after looking closer i noticed a rabbit had dug a hole under the leaves that im mulching with. I believe in my case some of the roots got damaged.
Only that top branch is bad, and it is right below the cut on the main trunk. I have a strong suspicion there is a bacterial canker infection that came into that old cut; I would cut back the trunk below that now, and also paint it immediately to keep canker out of the fresh wound.
Bacterial canker is super common on cherries, and it makes exactly that kind of look. The one other completely defoliated small branch also shows that the problem is back by the trunk.
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Only that top branch is bad, and it is right below the cut on the main trunk. I have a strong suspicion there is a bacterial canker infection that came into that old cut
probably correct
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Thank you both!
I will try to remove the affected branch first. If the issue is contained, perfect. If not, I will dig out the tree and take a look. Does it sound a good plan?
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Probably first signs of cancer. Nothing to worry about - just remove the branch.The rest looks healthy so no worries. Spraying with organic fertiliser would help tremendously.
Cheers
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Good to know. Thanks!