My Deshojo got Verticillium

ajm55555

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I never thought I would write a post like this but now I'm pretty sure my loved Deshojo got Verticillium from an unsealed small pruned branch.
I didn't think it was so easy for this fungus to enter a susceptible species.
All the leaves of this branch, after leafing out fine this spring, suddenly became limp from one day to another.
Below you can see the unsealed cut. I thought the fungus would mainly come from the ground or infected tools.
The buds on the secondary branch on the right never leafed and I thought that was just the tree deciding to channel the energy elsewhere.
The secondary one on the left is the one in question.

20170514_1.jpg
In this photo you can see the other side. It doesn't seem that the part below the point of entry is affected but I'm pessimistic about having removed it all.

20170514_2.jpg
Here you can see where that branch was attached to the tree. Now I sealed the new cut.

20170514_3.jpg

My questions are:
  • Do you think the disease already spread below the cut branch even if I can see no sign elsewhere?
  • How fast does Verticillium spread in a tree?
  • Would you cut the rest of the main branch up to the trunk? (the leaves are healthy there)
  • Would you use some antifungal to try to stop it?
  • In a few words what would you do?
Thank you all!
 

Smoke

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Where is the tree currently, and where was it when you found this?
 

ajm55555

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Where is the tree currently, and where was it when you found this?
The tree was and is on a balcony where it gets sun in the morning and shade in the central hours. Occasionally I leave it in the rain.
I repotted it in the Spring of 2016.
This winter it went through a very cold January with many days of temperatures in the mid 10F. A few buds died but not many.
The Spring was fine, no major branch lost.
Now suddenly the leaves of this smaller branch start to loose energy and wilt. Just this little branch. And then I notice the black spot on the bark.
 

0soyoung

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I cut the branch above and below the point of infection but I can't see any dark ring in the xylem. Could it be something else other than Verticillium?
Good thinking --> NOT verticillium. Verticillium is most active in the spring and goes dormant when temperatures are above 70F. This much would fit, but as you recalled after thinking about it, verticillium gets in the wood/xylem - good thinking (and there's no dark streaks/rings in the wood). The sap flow is upward in the xylem, hence verticillium infections progress upward as well as affect things upward from the point of entry.

You've got a confusing (enigmatic??) case. If your tree really is a deshoho, the leaves you show must be fairly old as new deshojo are coral red and 'fade' to green - yours are quite green. Further, they look to be well hardened. Either way, this would seem to say that its roots got through the winter just fine (they would have never hardened otherwise). The fact that only specific (secondary, tertiary, etc.) branches are effected is contrary to this being a root problem.

If I am understanding the symptoms correctly, this may be some other kind of fungal or bacterial infection. I don't know, really. I'm having strange wilting troubles with a shin deshojo and ukigumo in a couple areas of my garden (their common symptom is different than yours, a necking of the petiole and blackening leaf margins). They seem to be responding favorably to peroxide sprays (2 tablespoons of 3% hydrogen peroxide in a quart of water). You might give this a try. Keep applying the peroxide spray every day or so until it is abundantly clear that it is having no effect. It is an effective antibacterial in addition to being antifungal (old Boy Scouts know that hydrogen peroxide is a decent antiseptic).
 

ajm55555

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are coral red and 'fade' to green - yours are quite green
They were coral red a month ago. This year Spring came earlier even though it went away for a while.
this may be some other kind of fungal or bacterial infection
Hopefully. Thanks for the tips and I'll post updates.
 

ysrgrathe

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If it was vert all of those leaves would have wilted.
 

0soyoung

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Do you routinely sterilize your cutting tools before/after use, @ajm55555? I mean wipe/dip them in isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol or a bleach solution (tends to pit the tool).
 

ajm55555

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Do you routinely sterilize your cutting tools
I'll first say I don't have many trees. What I do is I do not use the same tool to cut the roots and the branches.
On the other side I don't sterilize them very often. Usually I just clean them with hot water.
I'll start using alcohol more frequently. Thanks for the suggestion.
 

Cadillactaste

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I spray them with Lysol between trees and wipe them down. (Tools that is.) and if I suspect an issue with a tree. I disinfect at each cut so not to contaminate a branch that may be healthy. I started this when we found gall on a shrub in our landscape years ago. The nursery explained the process...of handling a diseased tree...and to clean when you move to the next tree. In case it's diseased and you just haven't seen the effects show the signs. I carry the same rule of thumb for my bonsai. Hope it's not Vermillion wilt my friend.
 

just.wing.it

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I'll first say I don't have many trees. What I do is I do not use the same tool to cut the roots and the branches.
On the other side I don't sterilize them very often. Usually I just clean them with hot water.
I'll start using alcohol more frequently. Thanks for the suggestion.
I use the Lysol wipes before and after each use, or if I'm finished one tree and moving to another.
Hasn't harmed my tools yet, seems effective.
s0418086_sc7.jpg
 

Cadillactaste

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I use the Lysol wipes before and after each use, or if I'm finished one tree and moving to another.
Hasn't harmed my tools yet, seems effective.
View attachment 146220
I would waist to many lysol wipes I kill those in Sunday school after cleaning up tables from our craft before snack. I never use the same paper towel when it comes to the tools...and I spray the dickens out of the tool for good measure. Lol making sure every crevice is disinfected. But if one could use them in moderation a good choose to grab.
 
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