Comments on: Apple Tree Question

By: Patrick

Patrick — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 05:30:35 +0000

Hi Alice,

I’m an organic gardener and don’t usually spray my plants with anything. With apple trees you can use horticultural oil, which some people consider organic, and should be applied in early spring as the trees start budding.

If you’re using something besides this oil, I’m afraid I have no idea when you should spray it.

By: Alice Via

Alice Via — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 20:06:16 +0000

I have a question when is the best time to spray apple trees for bugs

By: Patrick

Patrick — Mon, 18 May 2009 21:23:45 +0000

Hi Nancy,

Thanks for stopping by and leaving the comment! I’m really learning a lot about fruit trees this year, and I really appreciate all the input.

By: Nancy

Nancy — Sun, 17 May 2009 22:19:42 +0000

Hi, I’ve had similar cankers to this on a few of my apples & wasn’t sure if it was European canker or fireblight canker …..I’ve cut it out completely, most of the time. But when that wasn’t possible (Young tree & the canker was low….near the graft union) I opted to leave it & see if it would heal itself. I just brushed a DILUTE copper solution (it prevents bacterial growth, as well as fungal growth) over the stem on & around the canker. I repeated this a few times after rain. The tree healed itself & bark gradually grew back around the stem. I can’t say if the copper treatments did the trick or if it would have healed without my help. But I figured I had nothing to lose, I couldn’t cut below the diseased section or I’d be down to rootstock. Copper is available at any garden centre & it’s quite cheap. I use it at “green tip” to prevent fireblight on my susceptible apples & pears..that’s how I got the idea to try this. Has anyone else tried this????

By: Another Apple Tree Question | Bifurcated Carrots

Another Apple Tree Question | Bifurcated Carrots — Sat, 16 May 2009 14:51:32 +0000

[...] smaller, healthier looking tree on the left is the same tree I posted about several days ago that has the canker [...]

By: Apple Tree Canker | Bifurcated Carrots

Apple Tree Canker | Bifurcated Carrots — Sun, 03 May 2009 10:11:54 +0000

[...] is a fungal infection that often infects apple and I think other fruit trees as well. I did a post on this a few days ago. What I understand is the infection tends to enter the tree through damaged spots, as well as the [...]

By: Jo

Jo — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:42:21 +0000

Awesome Patrick. We have a few apple trees and with your help, we will keep them healthy! Nobody told me ANY of this stuff in kindergarten… =o)

By: Patrick

Patrick — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 08:20:47 +0000

Thanks everyone!

The Dutch word for cancer is canker (or kanker), so it seems the English name for this tree disease is borrowed from Dutch. I guess there was no need to translate it…

Jo: From the pictures Michelle linked to, I would guess the white stuff is the dormant fungal infection. We’ve had a long hot and dry period, and the article mentions this is only active in cool wet periods. It’s actually a little green in color, and does sort of look like moss or lichen, so I’m not sure really.

It’s really interesting to hear everyone’s ideas of the best way to treat it! It seems like there’s not one clear answer.

If Frank agrees, I’ll make a post from the pictures he sends. His approach sounds like a good one, and I’ll probably give it a try too. Now I need to find some tree paste…

By: Frank

Frank — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 06:44:21 +0000

Patrick,
this is indeed cancer. It’s not really very bad right now, but things can get worse. What you can do is cut the sick parts away, using a sharp knife, and use some (organic) tree paste to cover the wounds. Just don’t cut over half the diametre of the branch.
This is not a 100 % reliable solution, but in many cases it works, lots depends on the global health of the tree. I’ll try and take a few pictures one of these days on how to do it, and send them shortly.I have some branches that need a bit of treatment as well.

By: Jo

Jo — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:09:54 +0000

What about the white stuff? Would that be part of the canker or is it a moss or lichen growing on the wounded tissue? I tried to find pictures as well but didn’t see anything that quite matched. Good luck Patrick!

By: Søren

Søren — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:12:32 +0000

Looks very much like apple canker (Nectria galligena/Neonectria galligena). It is an fungal disease located in the area of the wounds. When it eventually gets around the trunk of your little tree it will be fatal for that part of your tree, but the healthy branch can go on living for many years. It is rather slowly progressing. I have it in one of my appletrees, in a spot where my appletrees always seems to get this disease.

The good thing is, that a little appletree like yours react on the infection by increasing the appleproduction, until it has no more energy to produce apples.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:06:27 +0000

Your apple tree problem brought out the old master gardener in me – I didn’t know what the problem was right off, but I wanted to find out! I went to the spot where I nearly always start when researching a garden problem – UC IPM Online, the University of California pest managment website. From what I read there and then doing a google image search I’m wondering if your apple problem could be Nectria galligena – European Canker, a fungal disease. Here’s the UC website about it: http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/GARDEN/FRUIT/DISEASE/europeancanker.html