I have a mystery apple tree in my yard I got as a 2 year sapling from some friends. A few years back I noticed a long fissure in the bark, almost perfectly straight. It was calloused over so I never worried much.
But this little tree has struggled for years, and hardly grows at all no matter what I do. Maybe its just the rootstock? I don’t know!
But then this year, the fissure grew even longer. What in the world could possibly be causing this? The old fissure is black, almost like someone drew with a market. The new fissure is still orange/brown near the silver tag.
There is a reason for painting tree trunks a light color…or wrapping them in a white wrap. Yet, splits in bark only happens once in awhile, seemingly at random.
I, too, have a frost crack on the southwest side of a young apple tree. Is there anything you can do about frost cracks after they’ve already happened? The MSU link above only says they’ll keep coming back and that they can be an entry point for disease.
I would use some Doc Farwell’s Heal and Seal that I use for grafting. A little goes a long way, it is elastic, long lasting, holds tight, & “promotes healing.” Not sure, but there are two types of Doc Farwell’s. The other is more of an orange/yellow color, and may have the same attributes pretty much, but a different color(?)
