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| When I bought this place 3 years ago, it had an old dying apple tree. There were multiple 5"+ trunks, all of them with areas of peeling and cracked bark. Some even peppered with woodpecker holes. I cut off the worst trunks, and this year it's down to only one. It has some apples on it, though the bark is gone on one side. I plan to replace this trunk with the most vigorous shoot from the roots. At present, there are 5 or more to choose from. I planted a Gala apple about 20' from this tree, and it developed cracks on its trunk and branches, but otherwise grew normally. This year it's loaded with friut (which I've thinned) and the bark damage is healing itself. I also have an Elephant Heart plum tree, about 100' away, which has been a mess with cracking bark as well. I just cut off half a dozen long branches where the leaf growth was stunted, several had dead tips. Any idea what this all is? I'm thinking that the Elephant Heart came with bacterial disease, and that the old apple has some local version. What treatments would be advised? thanks. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by scottfsmith 6B-7A-MD (My Page) on Sun, Jun 2, 13 at 20:21
| Cracking bark can be caused by sudden temperature swings, say up to 80F then down to 20F in one day. The fact that it is on both plum and apple makes me think that is what is happening, they don't share many common diseases. It could also be some other environmental reason. Scott |
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| In a way, I'm glad that nobody else seems to be seeing this problem. It's definitely NOT a temperature swing problem, as It rarely gets below 32 degrees here, and only one of my 5 plum trees has it. There are even cracks at the base of many ot its new growth shoots. Just one apple tree of 5 I planted in 2010 got the cracking bark thing. As I said, it's healing. Unlike the Elephant Heart, which I'm tempted to cut down and burn. Or spray with some kind of antibiotic, if that would help. |
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