Apple trees dying

[bigmike]

Guys, i had one tree break off a few inches under ground. When i pulled it upright, a bunch of earwigs ran out. Another one just died. What the heck?

 

[Turkey Creek]

Pictures? It is nature so anything is possible.

 

[bigmike]

Just a dead tree. This is one of the trees that had the fireblight early this summer.

 

[SmallChunk]

I have noticed a significant amount of dead apple trees in my area this year :( I lost two of them to what I believe was fire blight

 

[Jeff Crawford]

Guys, i had one tree break off a few inches under ground. When i pulled it upright, a bunch of earwigs ran out. Another one just died. What the heck?

Not sure where you're located, but it sounds like a species of apple borers. There are several types, and all can be a big problem. Spraying bottom 3' of trunks every two weeks or so with permethrin seeems to work for me; there may be other more effective approaches. Commercial guys use (or used) "Lorsban" which was persistent pesticide, but I'm not sure it is even sold anymore.

 

[Maya]

Take some pics and post em Mike.

 

[bigmike]

The tree that broke off and had earwigs run out, i tied and staked it and its doing fine. The other, a crabapple, just turned brown. I have a bucket of 10% bleach water i dip after every cut. I'm puzzled. I will take some pictures and post them when i get a chance.

 

[bigmike]

And yes, the bears, don't even get me started on them. I had some catipillers defolate a branch on my chesnut tree. Always something!

 

[Maya]

If trees are stressed from whatever reason, they will have other problems or be finished off by something else. Did it break off at the ground or graft union?

 

[bigmike]

Here's the dead tree.

 

[bigmike]

And here's the tree i staked up. Looks fine

 

[Maya]

Fire blight! Get it out of orchard ASAP and burn it!

 

[Turkey Creek]

Besides the fireblight it also it looks like you are using twine to tie your trees to your stakes. You would be better served by something with more surface area. Twine moving on a surface acts like a saw and it will cause bark damage.

 

[Maya]

Good point TC! Here's a couple good sources for twine and other orchard supplies. http://www.peachridge.com/treetraining/training.htm http://www.oescoinc.com/ You'll be fine Mike, just keep working at it. As they get older they don't need to be babied so much. The minute you see that Fire Blight started cut it out and burn it. Start looking for it at blossom time or shortly after.

 

[bigmike]

I'll dig it out tomorrw. Thanks for all the replies.

 

[bigmike]

Three of my crabs had fire blight. Two of the others are hanging on. Should i get rid of them also?

 

[Lot2Learn]

BigMike, I know you're looking for expert advice and I'm not an expert, but if you have to make a quick decision I've read in a lot of places (including here: http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/tfipm/fireblyt.htm) that you should 'cut out' the FB-infected branches 12 inches +/- into the 'good wood' from where the FB infection is visually obvious.

Also, as Maya mentioned, remove the infected wood from the orchard and burn it!

 

[bigmike]

Here's another. Cut this branch off. In the last two days, had a web over a branch and all the leaves were eaten off. If it isn't one thing its something else!

 

[bigmike]

Guys. can I spray my trees with something to prevent fireblight this spring?

 

[bigmike]

Thanks NH. Just ordered it from Stark Brothers.