I have a weird problem I haven’t encountered before and I am not sure if something bad is going on with my tree or it’s normal and I am overreacting. It’s a young crabapple and when taking a look at it today, I noticed 2 holes where lateral branches connect and one hole lower in a random spot. Tree looks healthy and vigorous otherwise but I am worried if something is killing or compromising it; and if yes, can something be done about it? Or is it just a thing crabapples do?
1 Like
Doesn’t look normal to me but my very limited experience with boring insects has only shown under the node or at a tip. Have you tried probing the hole with a paperclip?
1 Like
It’s not a thing crabapples do. They are oozing sap -right? How old is the tree?
I can’t figure out the top picture. Are the bored holes right above the branches?
Thoughts:
-
boring insects. I googled “apple borer” and there is lots of info. This page lists a bunch of possible insects that make holes in apples and there’s a key at the bottom.
https://extension.unh.edu/resource/borers-new-hampshire-apple-trees-fact-sheet-0 -
The one by your finger looks like the holes sapsuckers (woodpeckers) make on my apple tree. I don’t know if they would do it to a tree that small and I don’t think the holes would appear right above a leaf like in the first picture.
1 Like
I tried probing and couldn’t find any insect inside but I did find what looks like fine “sawdust” and in general, upon the closer look, the shape of the hole doesn’t look like it formed naturally, it must be some insect 
1 Like
It’s not oozing now but yeah, it does look a lot like RHATB. Man, so many things are trying to kill my tiny backyard “orchard” 
That website says that it’s often fatal but the tree looks super healthy, hopefully it will push through.
Well, the mystery is solved I guess
The only pending question now is whether it’s something that trees may recover from or they are permanently damaged now and will eventually fail.
1 Like
If its not along the main trunk I’m sure the tree will be fine. You may want to trim the affected limbs and burn them to mitigate the pest population. I’m not sure if it would be worth it for a boring beetle like that but surround has worked wonders on mitigating bug interest/damage for me.
Most of them are along the main trunk unfortunately, with the only exception being the espalier tree. It doesn’t look the trees care for now, and of course I’ll examine them much more often now to prevent further damage. I am only worried if it’s something they can heal over time or if it’s going to be an inevitable entry point for fungal disease.
I’ve also noticed a few holes in my European plums but unlike apple trees, it looks like plums put out an aggressive response and filled those holes with a lot of gum.
1 Like