During the Summer I found two areas of goo on my new cherry tree. (Photos not so sharp, sorry.)
I thought I found one little hole, too, and I stuck a pin in it.
Now I find this.
Then and now, the rest of the tree looks great.
Did something terrible happen? Canker or borer or ? I saw an identical emission on a plum tree and no bad thing developed.
That first picture looks like there is frass in the ooze, indicative of borers.
Do some exploring with a utility knife and piece of wire; do not be concerned about hurting the tree, the worst damage would be to allow the borer to continue to live.
Thank you…I don’t know why I’ve not inspected any closer for quite a while; I probably could have caught this sooner. I’ll get to it.
Wire clothes hanger is a good tool for routing out and impaling borers.
metal guitar strings are another option, being slick and crook-resistant.
Excellent info people! I am going to learn a bit about these creatures because somewhere back in time I thought I heard about using some type of insecticide, (spinosad?) as well as sneaking up behind them with piano wire. This otherwise healthy specimen is a Black Republican (parent of Bing).
You can also spray liberally with organic neem oil.
I have to learn more about Neem oil in the orchard…I have a half liter of the pure stuff…not a commercial mix. It has a lot of uses.
Should I wax/parafilm the wound to seal it up after surgery?
The black goo if you think you need to, I use white paint so I can see if any more frass comes out.
I have that…will do. So much to learn. Thanks.
I found a hole in the top spot and, as is my way, I showed no mercy, cutting into the tree above and below it, followed by thorough routing with guitar wire. The lower spot had a suspect area so I applied the same treatment. Kinda strange that the goo in the second photo, first post, (higher of two spots on the tree) is not where the hole was found.
I went back and looked at the plum (both trees = 1" caliper) and it has a problem, too. I guess I could scrape a bit and look for a hole, though it seems more like just cracked bark. I remember there being no frass, as far as I could tell.
Plum
I’m a little confused Seedy, did you find frass on the cherry, or no. The early pics look like canker to me. I have more trouble with cherry trees and canker than any other trees I grow.
I see the ground saturated with water in the first pics. That can be really rough (cankerwise) on cherry trees depending on the rootstock.
I think the cherry had a borer; maybe two. I found the tunnels and dealt with them. The wet ground was because I had just watered the tree, and it was pretty new in the ground at that time so in a bit of a mud zone. I didn’t look for frass recently but didn’t notice any either. We’ve had heavy daily rainfall at times here, especially just before I noticed the new problem; I guess it didn’t occur to me that there would be anything to look for. The photos with the sap/pitch were from months ago.
Everything about everything I am doing is new to me. Most of the time I don’t even know what I am looking at.
