I recently found a area of concern on my Osakazuki. My friend is a urban forester for the city of Olympia WA and texted me it might be Sooty Bark Disease? Looks like there have been infections in Acers up in the Seattle area and it could be spreading around the Pacific Northwest. The Sooty Bark Disease might not be 300 miles south yet... hopefully. What are your thoughts on this? The effected branch is showing a late summer flush of new growth, which seems like a good sign.
I had not heard of this before, but it isn't new to our region, nor to Europe. So, I have my doubts. Spores can cause some serious human respiratory issues: Maple (Acer spp.)-Sooty Bark Disease
Hi, I'm sorry to say the maple looks really poorly, the color of the bark above the lesion indicates sap flow is very poor. It has a bacterial infection, I can't say what kind. Doesn't look like pseudomonas. The only thing to do is spray with copper. I'd do it every day for a couple of weeks, to see if you can knock it back. I don't think it will survive surgery, because of the state of the bark generally. Sorry. -E P.S. I followed the youtube link, and really enjoyed your work, assuming that's you.
Information for french gardeners. Forêts - Maladie de la suie de l'érable sooty-bark-maple = Crystostroma corticale = maladie de la suie de l’érable (in french). La maladie est présente dans le centre-ouest de la France, quelques cas sur Acer cycomore jusqu’à Poitiers environ. Pas de panique .
Enter maple in the dialog box for immediate return of relevant results. Host and Disease Descriptions | Pacific Northwest Pest Management Handbooks (pnwhandbooks.org)
