British Columbia: What is wrong with my Cherry Tree

Discussion in 'Outdoor Gardening in the Pacific Northwest' started by woodstover, Jun 19, 2011.

  1. woodstover

    woodstover Member

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    Location:
    Courtenay, BC Canada
    Hello group, I tried to put this into the Tree Fruit and Nuts section, but I don't have permission to do so.

    Can anyone identify what is happening with my sweet cherry tree. I'm not sure of it's age, but we've lived here for 10 years and it was always a huge producer. The last 2 years we've had a problem with the all the fruit shrivelling up and falling off and dying on the tree. I pruned it hard last January and then used a dormant spray right after. We had tons of flowers in spring and our mason bees were kept very busy. Now, a lot of the spurs are dead and non productive.

    I've also included a picture of the bark peeling off. Is this normal?
    My location is in Royston, Vancouver Island, just south of Courtenay.


    Any help would be greatful, my husband wants to remove the tree because of it's problems and I'd like to save it if possible.
     

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  2. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Probably brown rot of stone fruits.
     
  3. vitog

    vitog Contributor 10 Years

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    Location:
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    The bark, with surface peeling, looks normal. Soutwestern BC had terrible weather during the blooming and pollinating season, resulting in poor fruit set and a lot of diseased flower clusters. This year appears to be an anomaly and hopefully won't be repeated for a long time. I wouldn't give up on the tree on the basis of one bad year.
     
  4. David Payne Terra Nova

    David Payne Terra Nova Active Member

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    Where is your cross pollinator? Has it been removed by a neighbor in the last two years?
     
  5. woodstover

    woodstover Member

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    The cross-polinator tree(s) at the closest neighbours are still there, they are also having the same issue with their trees. Only difference is they did NOT use a dormant spray on their trees this past January.
     
  6. hereandthere

    hereandthere Member

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    Location:
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    I'm a beginner backyard gardener with 10 fruit trees, 2 of which are sweet cherries. I had very similar fruit issues with my cherries for the first time this year, and was really worried, so I sympathize! I came to the conclusion Ron B did: brown rot, though it took me a lot longer to figure that out as a beginner. I was confused for a while because I wasn't seeing fruit with the brown fuzz like in the pictures Google came up with; the fruit was just turning yellow with a bit of red blush and then shriveling and falling off (looked just like your second picture). I kept looking at them every day, and finally did find some cherries just a little further along with the brown fuzz on it just like in the pictures I saw online of brown rot.

    Now I'm trying to figure out what to do from here. First is to keep everything really clean, on the ground and on the tree. I remember we did leave some mummies on the tree last year, bad us. :( I'm going to make sure there is nothing left (leaves, mummies) on the tree or around the base for the winter, and I'm trying to clean up the infected stuff as we go over the summer. We've been pruning pretty open already, but we're going to try to continue this trend, and also prune back some nearby trees for better air.

    Spraying over the winter or in the spring - I am completely confused! Can anyone help? Some web pages recommend a bordeaux mixture, some say sulfur. Some say after blossoms open, some say not. Can anyone recommend what a backyard cherry tree owner should spray, and when, to prevent this? (And I am in a pesticide-restricted area, so it has to be some semi-organic approved kind of thing).

    I also wanted to ask - does brown rot "winter" in general compost, ie grass clippings and kitchen scraps? Our (openish) compost bin is located only a few meters from one of the cherry trees, and I wondered if we really *have* to move it.

    We have no other pitted fruits that are fruiting yet; our peach trees are too young, and luckily diagonally at the other corner of the yard on the other side of the house. I'm trying to be careful not to contaminate the young peach trees from the cherry trees, though I don't know if it helps given the distances involved in an urban yard.
     

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