What's Growing in the Garden

[trc65]

I've been mulching my raspberries and then moved onto my fruit trees. I was a little startled to see this on both of my peach trees. It's only at the bottom of the trunk.

View attachment 290961

What caused this? Is it bugs or critters? It is not weed whip scaring; I don't come close to the trunks? Anything I can do for it? Spray it? Wrap it? Put a guard around it?

I'd hate this to progress and I'd loose these trees.

P.S. Disregard. Internet search says there's not much that can be done.

What you are seeing - oozing of sap - is commonly called gummosis. That's the symptom, not the cause.

I'm guessing the cause in this case was insects, probably peach borer. Gummosis can also be caused by a canker disease.

If very far from an expert, but from what I've read, insecticide sprays on the lower trunks early in June can kill borer eggs/adults before they cause problems.

If those are young, non bearing trees, I would probably apply a soil drench with imidicloprid. That's a systemic insecticide that may control them. Systemics are generally used as a preventative, but may kill an infestation once they've bored into a tree. When googled, some mention probing the holes with a wire to kill the borers, don't know how effective that is. If you try that, I'd be careful to sterilize the wire before each hole to prevent introducing the canker organism.

I've only learned some of this after I've had problems. Peach are the one fruit I really have had problems with, I've lost more of those trees than anything else. I've got one poor looking little peach tree that is full of canker that just won't die, but produces large delicious fruit every year. I've gotten in the habit of spraying it's trunk with insecticide and fungicide every time I spray the rest of the orchard.

When I get another peach tree or two, they will definitely get regular insecticide/fungicide sprays on the trunk.

 

[djg]

What you are seeing - oozing of sap - is commonly called gummosis. That's the symptom, not the cause.

I'm guessing the cause in this case was insects, probably peach borer. Gummosis can also be caused by a canker disease.

If very far from an expert, but from what I've read, insecticide sprays on the lower trunks early in June can kill borer eggs/adults before they cause problems.

If those are young, non bearing trees, I would probably apply a soil drench with imidicloprid. That's a systemic insecticide that may control them. Systemics are generally used as a preventative, but may kill an infestation once they've bored into a tree. When googled, some mention probing the holes with a wire to kill the borers, don't know how effective that is. If you try that, I'd be careful to sterilize the wire before each hole to prevent introducing the canker organism.

I've only learned some of this after I've had problems. Peach are the one fruit I really have had problems with, I've lost more of those trees than anything else. I've got one poor looking little peach tree that is full of canker that just won't die, but produces large delicious fruit every year. I've gotten in the habit of spraying it's trunk with insecticide and fungicide every time I spray the rest of the orchard.

When I get another peach tree or two, they will definitely get regular insecticide/fungicide sprays on the trunk.

I too thought it was gummosis from what little I've read. I do not see any saw dust, like from bugs, clinging to the sap. I did mulch around the trunk already, but I'll pull it back to see if I can find frass. And I can carefully scrap off one of the sap scabs and see If I can see a bug entry hole.

You mentioned spraying the trunk of the tree in June..... with what? These are 2-4 year old trees and the did heavily bloom this Spring until the late frost got them. I did apply Daconil to the whole tree/leaves/branches/trunk this Spring before the blooms popped out.

Is Daconil also the insecticide/fungicide you mentioned in your last statement? If not, with what, when and how often?

I did not find any imidicloprid locally, but Amazon has it. I'll read the instructions and treat the trees when I get it. I'm guessing, pull the mulch back and treat the ground so it soaks in?

It also appears, from what I've read, the sap could be from Cytospora (fungal?) or Bacterial Canker (as you have mentioned). Any ways to determine if this is the case and any treatment?

As always thanks for your help. I've been years without peaches and I thought these two trees would start providing them.

 

[trc65]

The stuff I read mentioned using a pytrethroid insecticide to spray the trunk. Zeta cypermethrin cyhalothrin, or something similar. I think the important thing is to make sure the insecticide is applied before the adult borer starts laying eggs. The blurb I read indicated that is sometime in June. The pyrethroid insecticide should give about a week to 10 days of residual control, but would need to be applied again after a rain.

Daconil won't work for preventing canker infection, it's just to prevent leaf curl. A dormant spray of Captan or fixed copper is used to prevent canker infection. If you already have canker, nothing will treat it just maintain good tree health.

Fixed copper is probably the cheapest dormant spray for canker prevention, you can get it most stores that have home pesticides. Captan is another preventative, it's a great fungicide for fruit, but I've only been able to find it online in larger quantities. I use it mainly for scab on pears and apples and brown rot on stone fruit. Used to be able to find it in small quantities everywhere, but changes in labeling and other issues means it's only available in larger quantities. I just bought a 6# bag for around $60, and it will probably last me for a decade or more as use rate is 3/4-1.5 TBS per gallon. I use it regularly on my fruit trees in rotation with myclobutanil. When spraying fruit trees in a regular schedule it's important to rotate fungicides to prevent resistance.

Imidicloprid is applied as a soil drench and pulling mulch back would be best, or just use lots of water to wash it in. If I'm remembering correctly, the typical rate for imidicloprid is around 0.25 oz per inch of diameter at breast height. I usually mix it in a 5 gallon bucket with 2-3 gallons of water and pour it around the tree. Just be aware of the pre harvest intervals if you use it in the future.

 

[djg]

The stuff I read mentioned using a pytrethroid insecticide to spray the trunk. Zeta cypermethrin cyhalothrin, or something similar. I think the important thing is to make sure the insecticide is applied before the adult borer starts laying eggs. The blurb I read indicated that is sometime in June. The pyrethroid insecticide should give about a week to 10 days of residual control, but would need to be applied again after a rain.

Daconil won't work for preventing canker infection, it's just to prevent leaf curl. A dormant spray of Captan or fixed copper is used to prevent canker infection. If you already have canker, nothing will treat it just maintain good tree health.

Fixed copper is probably the cheapest dormant spray for canker prevention, you can get it most stores that have home pesticides. Captan is another preventative, it's a great fungicide for fruit, but I've only been able to find it online in larger quantities. I use it mainly for scab on pears and apples and brown rot on stone fruit. Used to be able to find it in small quantities everywhere, but changes in labeling and other issues means it's only available in larger quantities. I just bought a 6# bag for around $60, and it will probably last me for a decade or more as use rate is 3/4-1.5 TBS per gallon. I use it regularly on my fruit trees in rotation with myclobutanil. When spraying fruit trees in a regular schedule it's important to rotate fungicides to prevent resistance.

Imidicloprid is applied as a soil drench and pulling mulch back would be best, or just use lots of water to wash it in. If I'm remembering correctly, the typical rate for imidicloprid is around 0.25 oz per inch of diameter at breast height. I usually mix it in a 5 gallon bucket with 2-3 gallons of water and pour it around the tree. Just be aware of the pre harvest intervals if you use it in the future.

I've found sources of all, but still a little confused. I need to spray the trunk with both pytrethroid insecticide and the copper fungicide? Or just one or the other?

 

[djg]

Oh, and when I cleaned up the area around the trees, I sprayed the ground with 5% glyphosate which I know doesn't hurt the ground. I wasn't too careful about avoiding the trunks. They aren't like raspberry/blackberry stalks that are green and will be effected by glyphosate??

This couldn't have caused the canker?

 

[trc65]

Oh, and when I cleaned up the area around the trees, I sprayed the ground with 5% glyphosate which I know doesn't hurt the ground. I wasn't too careful about avoiding the trunks. They aren't like raspberry/blackberry stalks that are green and will be effected by glyphosate??

This couldn't have caused the canker?

Glyphosate won't hurt trees that have hardened bark like yours. It's probably one of the most used herbicides in orchards. Just have to be careful with any small trees that have little to no hardened bark.

 

[trc65]

I've found sources of all, but still a little confused. I need to spray the trunk with both pytrethroid insecticide and the copper fungicide? Or just one or the other?

It wouldn't hurt to spray the trunk with both right now. The pyrethroid to prevent any further borers or other insects, and the copper to take care of the canker organisms. However, read the label, and/ or Google the use of copper fungicides. It can cause problems on some trees if used on the foliage.

In the future, the copper spray (to prevent canker)is best used as a dormant spray. A lot of sources suggest using it twice, once in the fall after leaves have fallen and a second time after pruning/but before buds start to swell. Both those applications need to have good coverage over the whole tree. Remember though, copper doesn't affect peach leaf curl, so you will still need the sprays of Daconil (chlorothalonil).

The pyrethroid application on the trunk should be applied before peach borers start to lay eggs, probably in late May. I think there are some Illinois extension bulletins that talk about this a little more in depth.

Also, many universities have published quick guides to spraying home orchards. They can direct you when and what to spray based on stage of development of most fruit trees.

 

[djg]

One last question. I have a sweet cherry tree with canker and two 1 year old sour cherry trees that are unaffected yet. Will they benefit from the two trunk sprays and the root drench? And treat NOW? I'm treating the peach trees tomorrow and thought I'd do the cherry trees at the same time.

Just a quick yes or no is all I'm looking for. I know your getting tired typing long replies, which I do appreciate, lol.

There is an U of I extension office in a neighboring town, which I didn't know about. I'm going to contact them for further details, etc.

 

[trc65]

Yes

 

[trc65]

Yes

Although to expand a little, sweet cherries as a whole are much more susceptible to problems with canker than sour cherries. My Montmorency has had no problems and is maybe 10 years old. The sweet cherry is a couple years younger and has numerous spots, but continues to thrive.

My experience is if you can get them (peaches, cherries and apricots) to bearing age, they may have/get canker, but will produce for a long time.

In peach orchards, they do try to protect from getting canker, but the reality is they will never be free from it and manage tree health so the trees keep producing.

 

[trc65]

Realized we are getting low on pickled beets, so fired up the tiller and planted a row. Only grow the beets every couple of years, and make enough to last 2-3 years. Forgot to check how many we had when I ordered seed this spring.

Also about time to plant the Chinese cabbage and daikon radishes to make some Kimchi this fall. It's also a reminder to get more broccoli and cauliflower seed started for a fall crop.

 

[sprucegum]

I've been playing beetle whack-o-mo. The Japanese beetle season is about mid season, the second generation of stripped cucumber beetles is in full swing, and I have a few potato beetle larvae. We have been having rain every couple of days so my spinosad spray although effective doesn't last long. I've been spot spraying every evening to avoid killing the pollinators. I seems like the bugs are moving to whatever isn't freshly sprayed. The weather forecast is saying about a week of dry weather so I got up early and mixed up a 2 gallon batch of spray. I sprayed almost everything in the garden. I think I will do it again in a few days because spinosad breaks down quickly in bright sunlight.

 

[sprucegum]

The potatoes and buttercup squash have more than occupied their allotted space. Safe to say they have outgrown the weeds. I've dug almost all of the red norlands for baby potatoes, it was a pretty poor crop. I'm hoping that the Kennebec and Yukon gold do a little better. The squash are just starting to make some little ones so they should be ripe before we have a killing frost.

 

[sprucegum]

I only planted 8 cabbage, we've used a couple and the ones that are left are going to split open pretty soon. I made a couple of gallons of sour kraut and used up almost 3. The ones that are left are a little smaller so maybe we can get them used up.

 

[trc65]

I've been playing beetle whack-o-mo. The Japanese beetle season is about mid season, the second generation of stripped cucumber beetles is in full swing, and I have a few potato beetle larvae. We have been having rain every couple of days so my spinosad spray although effective doesn't last long. I've been spot spraying every evening to avoid killing the pollinators. I seems like the bugs are moving to whatever isn't freshly sprayed. The weather forecast is saying about a week of dry weather so I got up early and mixed up a 2 gallon batch of spray. I sprayed almost everything in the garden. I think I will do it again in a few days because spinosad breaks down quickly in bright sunlight.

Our season of beetles is mostly done, a few stragglers here and there, but not enough to warrant spraying. They emerged during our heat wave, pressure was heavy, but short in duration. We had nothing in flower, so I hit them with bifenthrin instead of spinosad and followed up with malathion to prevent resistance.

 

[sprucegum]

Our season of beetles is mostly done, a few stragglers here and there, but not enough to warrant spraying. They emerged during our heat wave, pressure was heavy, but short in duration. We had nothing in flower, so I hit them with bifenthrin instead of spinosad and followed up with malathion to prevent resistance.

I have a patch of poke weed growing behind the shop. They seem to love the stuff and it isn't in bloom so I sprayed it with bifenthrin. Hopefully it helps reduce next years population. I use it to spray around the house for earwigs a couple times every summer, it kills them dead and lasts a long time.