What is wrong with my Cherry Tree? - Ask Extension
My dwarf graft cherry tree is sapping at various spots. Also the bark is splitting on the trunk, and one split is peeling. Having read about cherry sh...
Knowledgebase
What is wrong with my Cherry Tree? #870431
Asked May 28, 2024, 1:37 PM EDT
My dwarf graft cherry tree is sapping at various spots. Also the bark is splitting on the trunk, and one split is peeling. Having read about cherry shot hole and Gummosis, it appears my tree may have that? I pruned 2 branches off with riddled leaves and withering fruit from a graft branch. After pruning I noticed a stink bug on the branch and have sprayed the tree twice with tree soap. Should I consult an arborist or let it take it's course this year?
Multnomah County Oregon
Expert Response
The gumming sometimes happens as a response to environmental conditions. Other times it is the tree’s response to disease or pests. If this is a high value tree in your landscape, hire a certified arborist, who can make a site visit, which we can’t do.
To follow up with us, describe how you care for the tree. Irrigation? Fertilizer? How is the soil drainage? How much sun?
Then describe how the blossoms looked last year and this. How has fruit crop been? If there are fungal or bacterial diseases, treating those can reduce the gumming.
Provide a couple photos of the overall tree, including neighboring plantings.
Lastly, do not treat for pests or insects unless the infestation requires it. The stink bug you saw was likely long gone when you treated your tree, as they fly away.
To follow up with us, describe how you care for the tree. Irrigation? Fertilizer? How is the soil drainage? How much sun?
Then describe how the blossoms looked last year and this. How has fruit crop been? If there are fungal or bacterial diseases, treating those can reduce the gumming.
Provide a couple photos of the overall tree, including neighboring plantings.
Lastly, do not treat for pests or insects unless the infestation requires it. The stink bug you saw was likely long gone when you treated your tree, as they fly away.
After consulting with an arborist, the diagnosis was not so straight forward. Now tilting more towards the Bacterial Canker possibility. Have cut the branch that was showing distress.I don't think it would have been wise to leave it. You be the judge...
I was asked to comment on this question. The images do show stone fruit gummosis where a sappy resin oozes from the tree in various places. As mentioned before there are a lot of reasons. The newer images show that the gummosis is occurring at the edge of a sunken area of the removed branch. That sunken area is what we are calling a canker. Although it is difficult to see it is likely that the vascular cambium is dead in that sunken area,
In western Oregon these symptoms are typically due to bacterial canker. There is a lot of information on this disease that you can find here: https://pnwhandbooks.org/plantdisease/host-disease/cherry-prunus-spp-bacterial-canker
We have seen several other cankers due to fungi. The symptoms are very similar. That information is here: https://pnwhandbooks.org/plantdisease/host-disease/cherry-prunus-spp-fungal-cankers
The management of these cankers will be very similar. There is nothing other than a saw to remove them from the tree. I might have said you could wait until after harvest to remove the branches but you have already made the cuts and it did not sound like there was much fruit on those limbs anyway. Pruning in the summer when it is dry is good overall especially if you have too much growth. Keep watch on the tree to see if any more develop on the tree next year.
In western Oregon these symptoms are typically due to bacterial canker. There is a lot of information on this disease that you can find here: https://pnwhandbooks.org/plantdisease/host-disease/cherry-prunus-spp-bacterial-canker
We have seen several other cankers due to fungi. The symptoms are very similar. That information is here: https://pnwhandbooks.org/plantdisease/host-disease/cherry-prunus-spp-fungal-cankers
The management of these cankers will be very similar. There is nothing other than a saw to remove them from the tree. I might have said you could wait until after harvest to remove the branches but you have already made the cuts and it did not sound like there was much fruit on those limbs anyway. Pruning in the summer when it is dry is good overall especially if you have too much growth. Keep watch on the tree to see if any more develop on the tree next year.
Thank you for your assessment. I agree and will monitor.
