Oaks Got Disease

[ShadyStump]

These three oaks in my front yard (not sure the variety) are where our peach tree wants to be. About 15ft/4m high, and I was strategizing how I might cut them back to spur lower growth so I can collect them when I noticed some abnormal swollen areas.

Can someone help me identify this so I can determine if they need potted or burned?
Thanks for everything!

 

[penumbra]

It is a gall. More than likely it is one produced by wasps. Cut out the affected and burn. Plant should be OK.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Those apples look like galls. Pretty common in oaks here in Europe; tiny wasps lay their eggs in acorns and turn them into cradles.

Don't know about the other structures.

 

[Cadillactaste]

If you prune them off. Be sure to sterilize your pruners at each cut. Which was told to me by my local nursery when dealing with gall.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

If you prune them off. Be sure to sterilize your pruners at each cut. Which was told to me by my local nursery when dealing with gall.

Seriously?
Wow. These wasp eggs are pretty harmless, most of them never infect the same tree over multiple generations and some of the adults are predators that eat nasty bugs.
Sterilizing your tools when treating for insects is.. Kind of an overkill.. Lots of extra work to kill larvae that already have a hard time surviving outside a custom tailored plant structure.

It amazes me sometimes how nursery people think.

Of course, do as you please and what you think is best! I just love these galls, as a kid I used to dissect them - how awesome is it that an insect can direct the way a plant grows by simply being there. Some darker ones were traditionally used for inks.

I don't see oak galls as very harmful as they don't spread on their own and they're pretty rare to begin with. As opposed to fungal infections like ganoderma lucidum (awesome antler fungus, cool colors too) which will devastate a tree.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Seriously?
Wow. These wasp eggs are pretty harmless, most of them never infect the same tree over multiple generations and some of the adults are predators that eat nasty bugs.
Sterilizing your tools when treating for insects is.. Kind of an overkill.. Lots of extra work to kill larvae that already have a hard time surviving outside a custom tailored plant structure.

It amazes me sometimes how nursery people think.

Of course, do as you please and what you think is best! I just love these galls, as a kid I used to dissect them - how awesome is it that an insect can direct the way a plant grows by simply being there. Some darker ones were traditionally used for inks.

I don't see oak galls as very harmful as they don't spread on their own and they're pretty rare to begin with. As opposed to fungal infections like ganoderma lucidum (awesome antler fungus, cool colors too) which will devastate a tree.

Well, maybe they aren't what I'm thinking. I'm thinking Crown Gall now that I stop and think it through. I had a nasty spell of it in a shrub. It was in the roots and branches. I ended up digging it out and burning it.

 

[Crawforde]

The only reason I can see for sterilization in gall or other insect caused situations is purely preventative in case there are also underlying fungal or bacterial infections.

 

[LittleDingus]

"Gall" is a somewhat generic term. Most are reactions to insects. Some are reactions to fungus.

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It's always a good practice to sterilize instruments when working on multiple trees...even when the trees are presumed healthy.

 

[Tieball]

I get those on a couple of Oaks around me. They are from a species of small wasps. Those pods are their nests. The nests last....forever....I think. Harmless wasps that are never seen. They have their job to do and mind their own business.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

Figs have good wasps.

 

[ShadyStump]

Thanks all!

Must say I'm a bit relieved it's not something worse. I have no real experience with oaks on any level (except smoking meat on BBQ) and I've not seen this in the native trees often so had no clue.

I'll trim the affected areas when I can, though it might be a mute point if I'm looking to cut them back to collect.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Would seem easier to treat each wound. Then do tool just once.

 

[ShadyStump]

Would seem easier to treat each wound. Then do tool just once.

That's what I was thinking too. I think the concern is spreading whatever is causing it to other parts of the tree, but it's unlikely to make significant difference if you're only trimming affected areas.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

If it's wasp galls, why sterilize the tool? It wouldn't be an infection.

 

[ShadyStump]

I haven't seen any wasps, but after the responses here I was able to narrow my search. Just a bit of concern it could still be something else. Probably just my inexperienced nerves.

 

[penumbra]

I haven't seen any wasps, but after the responses here I was able to narrow my search. Just a bit of concern it could still be something else. Probably just my inexperienced nerves.

It is unlikely you will see the tiny little wasps.
Believe it, these galls a quite common and not a big deal.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

There are galls caused by insect larvae. Ichneumon wasps in particular can cause galls, quite common on oak. No specific need to wipe down the tools per se.

However, there is a second class of malaise called a canker. Superficially galls and cankers can look similar. Canker growths are caused by microscopic organisms, some are caused by bacteria, some are caused by fungi, some are caused by other one celled organisms, one is an amoeba like organism. These can be carried by your cutting tools and can possibly infect the next tree you cut. It is a good practice to wipe down your cutting tools every time you move from one tree to the next. 70% Isopropyl alcohol or 70% ethanol will work. and note the 70% works better than the 90%.

So as a general practice, regardless whether the tree in front of you is healthy or not healthy. It is a good horticultural practice to wipe your tools down with a rag or swab with 70% alcohol before starting on the next tree. And the good news, 70% alcohol will also kill viruses, and while bonsai artists do not seem to be concerned with plant viruses, I am certain there are a fair number of viruses circulating in populations of cutting grown trees. They may not be visibly affecting our trees, but if you every wonder why a certain tree seems to lack vigor, it is possible a virus is in part contributing to the tree's lack of vigor.

So take a tip from the orchid people. WIPE DOWN YOUR TOOLS.
Darlene was right @Cadillactaste

Its a good general practice.