so what's wrong with my trees?

Discussion in 'Fruit and Nut Trees' started by candychikita, May 10, 2009.

  1. candychikita

    candychikita Member

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    hello everyone

    we were doing good in the urban garden of eden. birds chirping, flowers budding, leaves shooting up. then i went away. apparently it rained...normally rain is a good sign? then i see ugliness on my trees.

    my 3 yr apple tree, planted early this spring, had lovely blossoms and green leaves and then the leaves got black from the tips. did a search online about black and leaves, wasn't following symptoms of black rot? i picked off the 'baddies'. i return to find almost no blossoms and shrivelled leaves. when i planted the tree i used 'Mikes' mycchrozhia or whatever in the hole...good fungi, makes good roots? given to me by my dad the genius: his apple trees are growing. the gala apple tree previously lived in a 2 ft pot, didn't appear to have any root rot and gave me about 60 small apples last fall (i didn't thin the tree last year and so the tree worked hard to make me lots of small ones?) when i planted, i also gave it some fruit and berry fertilizer around the tree drip line. the remaining blossoms look dark red/pink and are not tightly clustered, looks like they are opening too much.

    my 2 yr pear tree, planted a little later this spring, same deal. lives right next to the apple tree. the pear tree had the same treatment of mikes and fertilizer. great little white flowers, now all gone. not sure if the leaves are coming or going...they're bright mint green but they are closed, not open. the pear is a 'fruit salad tree' with red bartlett, bartlett and anjou pears on the same tree.

    my 1 yr red haven peach (right next to the pear tree) seems to be fine and is starting to open some flowers. my 1 yr lapins cherry tree (on the other side of the apple) is making leaves like crazy, had one blossom.

    now: i'm out looking at my trees every day, not sure if this is what the blossoms look like when they've done their 'thing' but i think not. just drove thru the okanagan and their trees are blossoming still and no ugly shrivelling.

    all my trees are at the front of the house, at the roof line with east and south sunshine. i noticed that the roof line tends to drip in between the pear and apple tree, but the blueberries next to it seem to be fine, which were to be my indicator if the soil got too wet there. the soil is pH 6.5 and is a nice dark well rotted mulched loveliness.

    find pictures attached. anyone got a prognosis for me? i'm hoping it can be fixed, and that we caught it early! the poor things!
     

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  2. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Fireblight Erwinia amylovora?
     
  3. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Fireblight not likely in Langley, it requires spring days above 70 degrees F. Pseudomonas may be part of the problem in this planting.
     
  4. candychikita

    candychikita Member

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    what's strange is it might actually BE fireblight. it's a gala apple tree (quite susceptible) and we had some really ODD weather this year already. hardly any rain for most of april, now warm humid temps (18/19C or 70F) with rain. after reading about fireblight symptoms, it sounds a lot like it.

    i trimmed the bad stuff back, disinfecting the cuts with a household bleach solution. need to disinfect my pruning shears too...didn't do that while i was trimming...hopefully i didn't kill both trees. cleaned up the mess underneath the trees and any blossom/leaf bits that were around. i'll take a look at the local orchard to see if the trees have this ailment too: we're about 1/2 a block away from an unkept apple orchard. anyone know if fireblight can be passed to trees by the wind that far away? just wondering about reinfected trees.

    thanks!
     
  5. northerngrapes

    northerngrapes Active Member

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  6. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    The Okanogan Valley is in the continental climate interior, much hotter than coastal Langley.
     
  7. candychikita

    candychikita Member

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    hey all

    kim: that website is where i found the confirmation that it is indeed fireblight, and the treatment/future prevention info. the apple tree has a canker and i found drips of ooze on the plants around the trees, and the pictures look identical to my trees.

    ron b: the trees are all up against the house, so it makes a microclimate, great for growing stuff here in our cooler area. i guess with the weird weather, my inexperience and the microclimate situation, it made a bad combination this year :( :(

    thanks everyone!
     
  8. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    I've seen the common name false fireblight used for Pseudomonas. I wouldn't be sure I had identified the pathogen in a case like this without confirmation from a laboratory or some flawlessly distinctive and reliable field identification characteristic being seen.
     
  9. northerngrapes

    northerngrapes Active Member

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    There are a lot of diseases and pests showing up now that never used to be found
    in fruit growing areas ie fireblight was unheard of in the Okanagan until a large block
    of Gala apples contracted the disease. I'm glad the website was useful to Candy.
    The BC ag websites have some relevant useful information for the province. Keep an eye on your trees fireblight is quite a serious threat and can cause some real problems.
    Good luck

    Cheers

    Kim
     

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