This Eu Plum… Rosy Guage… is 5 yr old this spring. The past two falls I have found some black knot on it and removed it. I removed a rather large scaffold branch last time far below the BK… hoping to be rid of it.
It had first blossoms this spring… 15 or so and then leafed out.
I have a Mt Royal planted right next to it and it had its first few blossoms this year too.
I checked them 4 days ago and noticed the RG had a small limb low on the tree that the leaves looked limp and wilty on…
We did a short vacation and back home today and I find the RG is much worse.
The MR looks great… no sign of trouble there.
Is this fire blight ? or does black knot do this ?
I see no sign of black knot on it now… but it did have some last fall.
This looks pretty serious to me… like may have to take it out serious.
It looks to me like something NASTY may have entered thru that open wound where i removed the scaffold branch that had black knot.
If you look at the trunk in that pic that shows where i cut that branch off… there is one large limb that comes off the tree below that cut… that is really the only limb that the leaves still look normal on.
Everything above that looks bad already or semi wilted already… headed for bad.
Perhaps i should cut it off just above that one limb that still looks healthy… and hope the rest lower than that is healthy and can be grafted over next spring.
That would be extreme… but it looks like it needs something extreme to possibly save it.
If it is v. wilt, it will kill the tree eventually. It took 3-4 years for v. wilt to kill two of my red bud trees. It started with a branch or two each year and finally it was over.
I was pretty quick in cutting it off and was able to salvage the tree. From what I saw it was pretty fast. Like one day nothing and then whole branches with issues.
I think I just ran into the same problem with a bare root plum I planted a few months back. It bloomed nicely and leafed out. I noticed today that all the leaves are wilting. I feel your pain, though my tree is only a few months old vs your 5-years old tree.
Fish that’s more likely a lack of roots on the bare root. I’m not a fan of bare root and have seen that too many times. You may be able to get a replacement from the company after it is completely dead.
Hmmm, I didn’t think that was the problem as it bloomed and leafed out. But I’ll keep an eye on it and try to get a replacement if it dies completely. Thanks for the suggestion.
They have stored energy that gets the season started. When that energy is expended and there are not many roots to support the plant that is what you see. It may yet survive though. Most bare root plants you buy have lost more than half the roots in the harvesting process. Some companies cut off even more to fit them in their boxes.
Next year you could cut just under the black to the green and re-graft another variety to help pollination. I would go with french petite. It’s a great tasting euro.
