Help! My Sandcherry is Oozing Jelly!

[Teddscau]

Okay, so I was checking on my trees today, and I noticed my sandcherry was oozing jelly from his lower trunk. I've had him for a month or so now, and I'm pretty sure he wasn't oozing when I got him. The jelly is opaque and gelatinous, kind of like a pale amber gummy bear. When I took the blob off, I noticed it wasn't sticky, which is odd. When I poked the area (it's right at the soil line), I noticed that it was squishy. Like, I could push my finger into it a bit. I checked further under the soil and I found a couple more spots where it's oozing, and it's right by the roots. I don't think I did anything that would have caused this to happen. I read that it might be a peach tree borer or something. Besides that, his branches, trunk, leaves—everything—looks fine. I have him outside and it's nice and bright out. I gave him some MiracleGro last weekend, but I followed the directions. The temperature outside hasn't been all that consistent, but on average it's been over 80 but under 95, and gets down to maybe 10°C at night? I also read that his trunk might be splitting due to his youthful vigor. Should I spray his trunk and roots with some diluted tea tree oil to ward off disease?

Okay, I dug further and found a copper coloured substance by what might be another ooze spot. I'm not sure because I tried to wash away some of the dirt to see better, but that sort of backfired. The "copper" might be frass. The tissue in those ozzimg spots is dead.

Okay, so the first oozing spot I noticed appears to have a hole in it.

 

[JudyB]

I have several of these in my landscape, not as bonsai, and although they're not as much of a magnet for pests and problems, they rank right up there with wild cherry. They get every borer and pest that is out there. They do have a quick growth rate, but when I had my wild cherry (as a bonsai) I found that it wasn't worth all the problems that it had.
I would imagine yours is an insect thing, or an old wound caused by one. They have soft rotten wood, so you may need to dig out the rot and use a wood hardener. Try using a systemic insecticide...

PS, how do you know your bonsai is a he

 

[thumblessprimate1]

PS, how do you know your bonsai is a he

Only a male would ooze from....
I'll shut up now. I'm 12 btw.

 

[Teddscau]

The sandcherry has a big canker that occurred at least a few months ago, so the problem could somehow be related to that. What insecticide would you recommend? I've only ever really kept indoor plants, so I've never needed to use insecticide. Oh, and what's wood hardener exactly? Well, okay, I know what it does based on its name...

PS, how do you know your bonsai is a he

Ah, sorry! I have a habit of referring to any living organism by a gender pronoun. When I talk about an animal, I refer to "it" as a he (if I don't know zer gender, then I say "he"), since I find "it" kind of condescending. Also, I keep Nepenthes which are a specific sex. I know most trees are both male and female, but I have a hard time calling them an "it". I'll have to practice more (>_<)

Thanks for your advice!

 

[Vance Wood]

Okay, so I was checking on my trees today, and I noticed my sandcherry was oozing jelly from his lower trunk. I've had him for a month or so now, and I'm pretty sure he wasn't oozing when I got him. The jelly is opaque and gelatinous, kind of like a pale amber gummy bear. When I took the blob off, I noticed it wasn't sticky, which is odd. When I poked the area (it's right at the soil line), I noticed that it was squishy. Like, I could push my finger into it a bit. I checked further under the soil and I found a couple more spots where it's oozing, and it's right by the roots. I don't think I did anything that would have caused this to happen. I read that it might be a peach tree borer or something. Besides that, his branches, trunk, leaves—everything—looks fine. I have him outside and it's nice and bright out. I gave him some MiracleGro last weekend, but I followed the directions. The temperature outside hasn't been all that consistent, but on average it's been over 80 but under 95, and gets down to maybe 10°C at night? I also read that his trunk might be splitting due to his youthful vigor. Should I spray his trunk and roots with some diluted tea tree oil to ward off disease?

Okay, I dug further and found a copper coloured substance by what might be another ooze spot. I'm not sure because I tried to wash away some of the dirt to see better, but that sort of backfired. The "copper" might be frass. The tissue in those ozzimg spots is dead.

Okay, so the first oozing spot I noticed appears to have a hole in it.

Sounds to me that you have a bore and if your history follows my Peach it's probably a gonner.

 

[Teddscau]

Do borers also make holes in the trunk beneath the soil? Over an inch of the trunk is burried in the soil, and I found another hole in the part of the trunk that's beneath the soil. The second hole is an inch deep in the trunk, going down. I'll try soaking the yucky areas with tea tree oil (fingers crossed that the oil does more good than harm). That second hole's going to be a real problem as it'll get soaked every time I water it.

Should I take the sandcherry out of the pot to further assess the damage, or would that be too stressful for it?

 

[Vance Wood]

Do borers also make holes in the trunk beneath the soil? Over an inch of the trunk is burried in the soil, and I found another hole in the part of the trunk that's beneath the soil. The second hole is an inch deep in the trunk, going down. I'll try soaking the yucky areas with tea tree oil (fingers crossed that the oil does more good than harm). That second hole's going to be a real problem as it'll get soaked every time I water it.

Should I take the sandcherry out of the pot to further assess the damage, or would that be too stressful for it?

I am not familiar with every species of the critter you should look at Google or something a little more complex but fruit trees and flowering trees are particularly susceptible to bores. Usually they leave holes in the trunk and jelly like excrement.

 

[JudyB]

I use Bayer tree and shrub granular systemic insecticide with good results on my trees that need that sort of protection.
The wood hardener is exactly what you are thinking of, it's found at hardware stores. Follow the instructions if you use it. It can help you keep the rot from spreading if you get all the rotted wood out first. But you need to get rid of the borers if that is what is causing it.
I wouldn't do an actual repot, but you might want to gently ease it up and see if there is more below the soil... Could be that you are fighting a loosing battle with this, but who knows.

 

[Teddscau]

Look what I found (squint, it looks better if your eyes are partially closed. My iPad sucks at taking pictures)!

Thanks so much JudyB and Vance Wood! Judy, if you hadn't encouraged me to get all of the decayed tissue out, and Vance, if you hadn't made me paranoid about it potentially being a borer, Sandcherry would have died

Dang, I guess I'll have to post the links.

http://www.bonsainut.com/forums/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/893/title/peach-tree-borer/cat/500

http://www.bonsainut.com/forums/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/894/title/peach-tree-borer/cat/500

http://www.bonsainut.com/forums/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/895/title/peach-tree-borer/cat/500

Fingers crossed that it was only the one. I didn't find anymore holes.