I am in Northern Alabama (8a) and have been dealing with some sort of pest in my Santa Rosa plum for the past two year (it is only two years old). Last year, I thought it was bacterial spot. All the leaves got brown little holes and many of them fell off. I started to treat it with Spectracide Immunox (Myclobutanil) about halfway through the summer. Near the end of last summer I noticed the bark was peeling and cracking in many spots. I missed the boat this winter and did not treat any trees with copper/oil. Starting this spring I have done some Spectracide and Sevin a couple times. Things were relatively ok this spring but have started to get bad lately. The leaves are getting holes and the branches on the new growth are getting these large cracks/damage. I cut off one of the infected branches and cut it open. Inside the damaged part of the branch, I found a bunch of these little white larvae things that look like shinny small rice (they don’t really move but they seem like bad news). Any ideas of what this might be? All my googling and searching has left me stumped.
Cicada eggs on stem.
Holes in leaves = Shot hole disease - Wikipedia
5 Likes
Thanks so much! I didn’t realize cicadas could be an issue. I’ve just been enjoying them. That is definitely the eggs. It’s good to have confirmation on the shot hole, I’ve been wondering if they were separate or connected. Well, I guess it’s time for damage control.
1 Like
I guess they just went after the plum and pears. Peach, nectarine, and apple were fine. Not sure if it’s a good idea, but I’m going to spray fungicide in all the damage (I have few trees and it’s doable). I’m already struggling with fungus.