Please advise on Bacterial Canker on Interspecifics

Here is a pic of some serious borrer damage in my own backyard. This tree has suffered as many in my backyard from under irrigation. Drought has been tough on these trees but the fruit is fantastic! I will cut this out today! It’s a mess!!

2 Likes

My operation was a success. The tree is slowly closing up the wound. I’ll try to remember to post pictures tomorrow. After I cut out the infection on mine, we’ve had hail so many times since and the trees have ended up pockmarked and oozing gum. I know it’s a defense mechanism. It’s hard to tell what yours is exactly. It could be borer or canker or a bad union as Alan suggests. I’d recommend at least doing a copper spray.

2 Likes

sounds brilliant. any genius of the obvious is a natural gardener.

An update:

This is the same cut, one year later. Coming along nicely.

We’ve had hailstorms here way too often resulting in pockmarks all over the trees, like this one. I kinda want to cut it out. ~1" across.

This second tree was partially girdled by rabbits last year (also a Flavor Grenade). About a third of the way around the tree.

This is the same girdled tree one year later. As you can see it’s almost completely repaired the damage over one season.

I still need to repaint the trees this year.

4 Likes

That first pic is creepy! Looks like some dude is inside the tree. Look at that nose!

It’s not his nose, it’s the hoodie that looks threatening.

1 Like

@dwn How is your cankered tree doing now?

Canker is fine but I have no pictures. I need to find a fertilizer regimen that works. Lots of vegetative growth but not much fruit set. Partly due to low pollination and flowers being freeze killed. Greatest disease pressure is black knot now. Funny that I have pollination problems with Flavor grenade. I have also a Peacotum and it managed to set a couple fruit this year despite I would expect more problems from it than the Flavor Grenade.

3 Likes

"Petrolatum, latex paint, shellac, and asphalt compounds did not promote wound closure’

This is from the article Scott posted. I don’t believe you are correct to suggest paint doesn’t hold in moisture- pruning compounds dry out just as much as paint. What is new in the info is a couple of very specific diseases that may be blocked out with paint or shellac that probably aren’t going to be an issue with the vast majority of growers on this forum (certainly doesn’t affect my orchards).

Instead of trying to cover all the angles on what has a chance of being of use, I think for anyone without a whole lot of spare time on their hands the best bet is to follow the guidelines provided by the nearest land-grant university, or the one most similar in climate to you- or just ask a knowledgeable commercial grower, if any are producing fruit near you.

1 Like

Sorry to make a zombie of this thread but I could use some more seasoned eyes on these wounds and keeping the information in a related thread seems like the best course of action. Do these wounds look like canker or something else? Its the end of the growing season (late august) so if it is canker is there anything that I can do prior to the next growing season?

Note: The white tone on the Montmorency is residual surround

Montmorency Sour Cherry:

Arctic Glo Nectarine:

Cherry probably has some kind of canker. There’s the main crack but also the 3 dead? spurs below. I thought dead spurs can indicate infection sites? If the tree is otherwise healthy it should grow around and eventually heal. I’d leave it alone and see how it does. Others might prune it out. Your call. I think cankers are to be expected with stonefruit. If you notice branches above this site start dying at that point you have nothing to lose by pruning it out. I tended to baby the trees too much when I made OP. I’d spray with copper in any case.

I cannot tell the difference between cankers caused by cold injury and those caused by disease from a photo or even directly at the tree. Sometimes a plant pathologist with a microscope is helpful. One should be available through your land grant college and forms and instructions can be obtained at your county cooperative extension if not on-line.

That little damage on your Artic Glo is the kind of thing I don’t even pay attention to- the tree is barely oozing resin.

Did you get crazy cold on the last week of March like we did? I lost every cherry tree in the coldest part of my nursery- hit about 19 degrees and trees were only just beginning to have buds swell. There were cambium injuries to trees that survived as well.

Thank you both. I’ll have to keep an eye on them. It seems like a fine line between freeze thaw damage and a canker. The contrast of the white clay and the expansion from a years growth makes it look even worse. Thankfully neither injury has shown any oozing that I’ve noticed. Both of the trees seem healthy otherwise.