I have a Bing Cherry tree that has been there now for about 12 years or so. This spring it blossomed more beautifully than it has in any year in the past, and then the green cherries started to form in abundance. It looked like a great harvest was coming. But lately, something has started attacking the tree and I don't know what. I don't see any insects on the leaves, but the leaves and the fruit are definitely being killed. A couple of large branches in the front (the sunny side of the tree) are almost bare now. The back (shady side) still looks pretty healthy. I'm attaching some pictures to show what it looks like. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Alan
hmm. pic # 2 suggest gummosis. pic #3 suggest aphid damage, pic #4 is a fungal leaf spot and #5 looks like a bit of caterpiller damge and some fungal leaf spot.
You may want to look at these two links below. There is no doubt your Cherry is showing signs of having Bacterial Canker. Cherry -- Bacterial Canker Bacterial Canker of Sweet Cherry Jim
Thanks to both of you for your replies. Mr. Shep, after having looked at the sites you posted, I have to agree that the tree has bacterial canker. This is a very unhappy situation. I really thought I was going to get the harvest of harvests this year, but .... I guess I'm going to have to get someone in who knows how to deal with this. At least, from what I read, this doesn't necessarily mean the end of the tree. Thanks again.
There are ways to live with Bacterial Canker but it will require you to apply a Copper based fungicide on this tree every Spring. Cytospora Canker is far worse for the tree as it takes out whole young limbs pretty much all at one time. That is truly dreadful stuff to see happen to any Cherry. The Canker was in the tree all along as it more than likely came from the scion parent that the rootstock was grafted onto. You have no control over that but you can limit how far this disease spreads and the damage it will cause by using a good old white latex paint. Scrape off the amber colored gummosis as best as you can after the fruiting is over with. Cover over the areas where you see any of the amber colored gummosis, trunk, large branches, limbs with the white latex paint. This will help prevent a secondary invader from coming in such as a wood rotting fungus and even borers from coming in and hitting a weakened tree. As long as the Canker has not spread to all of the limbs you should be fine dealing with this disease for many years to come. The tree next door was far worse than your Cherry is now almost 30 years ago. We gave it a major surgery with a pruning, painted what was left of the tree allover with then an oil-based (linseed oil) white paint and made sure it got 2 Copper sulfate sprays each and every Spring and today it still bears fruit. Paint all of the trunk soon if you can. When the tree drops all of its leaves ask us how you should proceed with a pruning or hire a certified arborist to come in an evaluate your tree and do the work for you. Right now the painting of the trunk is what you need to do the most to help your tree. You can paint any of the other areas on the tree if need be when you have access to them A couple of large branches in the front (the sunny side of the tree) are almost bare now. Do you have any photos of those limbs as it may be another disease such as Eutypa dieback that might have caused that to happen? Jim
Jim, Great information. Thanks. Just so I'm clear on this, I think what I'm getting is to paint the trunk now. When the fruiting is over (the fruit is all still green - some with spots), I then should scrape off the amber gummosis and paint those spots. I'll take some pictures of the bare branches tomorrow and post them in the evening. Again, thanks for taking the time on this. Alan
If you are worried about contamination of the fruit still on the tree then hold off on the paint. I would want you to paint as much of the trunk as you can. Preferably the entire trunk, from the lowest branch on the tree all the way around and downward, not just the areas where the gummosis was after you scraped off as much as you can of it,. Even to the extent of covering over the graft union with a solid coat of paint. Perhaps two coats after the fruit has come off the tree. Any of the non-hardened off gummosis that stays on trunk and larger branches makes it tougher to get good coverage with the paint. What we want to do is force some containment of the disease topically and try to keep it from spreading throughout the tree if we can. We should be able to but we need to know how far along the disease is. We may not know that until the leaves have fallen off the tree so we can see where much of the disease is in this tree. It is what I cannot see so far that has me a little more concerned at the moment. If you can please post a photo of the entire tree as I want to get an idea of the size and shape of this tree. Jim
Jim, thanks for the reply. Here are some pictures. One of the whole tree (more or less). It seems like a weird perspective, but hopefully it will give you some idea. You can see part the first story of my house on the left. The other pictures are of the bare branches you asked for. I didn't take any real closeups because I don't know what is of interest or not. One of the pictures is another picture showing fissures in the trunk. Again, thanks.
I was wondering, since bacterial blight causes blockage in the trees arterial system, can that force gummosis? Or is that caused only by bacterial canker? Just that it looks like that tree has had a serious infection of bacterial blight for many years. Jim.
Very observant, yes, this tree has had some signs of Bacterial Canker for a long while which is why I was hoping to see the damage to the other side of the trunk. The gummosis exudes outward through small slits in the bark. I would have passed along this link below earlier but the photos did not correspond well to the damage seen on the tree but now the link will provide a better look at what it is going on in the wood underneath the bark. Blossom Blight to me is something altogether different but we can see visual proof how the blast has caused the limbs to become blighted. Cherry Bacterial Canker As a notation: The fumigants listed are not warranted for established trees with the Bacterial Canker disease. Methyl bromide can come in handy for non infectious bud failure also known as Crazy Top in Almonds and Cherries and as a pre-plant fumigant for known Armillaria root rot and nematodes that exist in the soil but this tree does not show signs of having them yet. The fumigants are used for seedlings grown in the ground prior to them being grafted. We have systemic fungicides that will provide better protection along with cultural suppressing of the disease but we have to remind ourselves there is no cure for the Bacterial Canker. We just make amends for us to better live with the disease and try to cut down on the affects this disease has on the tree. Treated early enough this tree will probably not die due to this disease but if borers come in or we get Eutypa dieback or worse yet Cytopsora Canker, then the end will be near for us. It is the secondary invader that can and usually does hurt us more than the primary disease does. A second note: If it were my tree I'd use a systemic fungicide at some point in time but I've seen enough posts in other threads to know that how we do things here from the production and home gardener end is looked down upon in other areas that choose to risk losing someone else's tree rather than offer a meaningful means to try to take care of it. In the case of the recommended controls for Ontario in one of the previous links, the use of topically, dormant and popcorn stage applied Copper sulfate sprays will probably be best for this tree grown in that home area. Jim
Well, I guess I'll be out painting the trunk this coming weekend. The only thing that worries me is that I just know the neighbours are going to be watching and whispering, "It's the crazy guy with the cats. He's acting weird again. Get the kids inside!"
You will still want a certified arbortist to come in very soon after harvest and take out the dead branches. The painting of the trunk may seem unconventional in some areas but it is a well used practice here, mostly for production Fruit & Nut trees. What is a better borer preventer than a good solid painting? Far better than using a Lindane or a Kelthane spray after the fact when some borers are already in the tree. Cultural control and tree maintenance along with well timed fungicide sprays are still the best means for dealing with Cherries. The latex are and the old oil-based white paints were one of the most effective tools we have in Integrated Pest Management. When we see a 20-100 acre Apple orchard get hit one year with Pneumallaria (spelling?) Canker, see several of the trees die out the next year and then realize those trees would still be alive today if they had only been painted three years previous, we then can better realize just how important a tool the painting of the trunk and branches can be for us. Jim
Thanks for all the help, Jim. Yes, I'll call an arborist pretty soon, but the painting will happen this weekend. I really don't want to lose this tree. Alan
Please have a look at the attached pictures of my three year old cherry tree. Am I also dealing with bacterial Canker? I would appreciate any kind of advice. (Sorry-I've trying to download the pics but can not seem to figure out how to attach the small pix. I have to do some more reading about it and will try again later) The trunk of my tree is ozzing gold color sap and two of the lower branches are dying fruit leaves and all... I am worried that my tree will die.
