Terminally ill Sango kaku?

gallina1594

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This has been a landscape tree for about 15 years. It was having lots of environmental problems so I dug it up in the spring and put it into a recycling bin. I also emoved all the dead branches to open it up for some light to get in

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Once it was out and I could really see the tree from every angle, I realized this tree was in really bad shape. A few years ago it looks like a canker killed off the main trunk, most of the bark fell off of that side

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Upon even further inspection, I found a white fungus on the trunk. I've been doing research but can't find anything that looks like it

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I'm not too worried about scars at this point, I just want it to survive, I gently removed the layer of fungus about a week ago, and treated it with a diluted peroxide solution, it doesn't seem to have helped. Any ideas?
IMG_20180614_121000427_HDR.jpg
 

cbroad

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Sango's are really susceptible to something called Pseudomonas syringae, and after talking to the owner of a wholesale j.m. nursery, she said all coral barked varieties are highly susceptible.

One way to tell if they are infected are if branches start turning black. I noticed in your first picture that some younger stems are, but I don't necessarily think that means they have exactly Psuedomonas.

Do a little bit of reading, if I remember correctly, it can be spread by some bugs and takes hold in damaged/open wounds. Also I think by not cleaning pruning tools after cutting infected wood and cutting another branch. Good luck though!
 

0soyoung

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@gallina1594 have you ever noticed little orange thingies (dots, say) on it? Say around August.

One way to tell if they are infected are if branches start turning black.
That is not a good diagnostic. Blackening bark is simply indicative of cambium death which can occur due to a number of causes. When it happens may be indicative of certain pathogen(s).
 

cbroad

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It is one symptom of Pseudomonas, but I also said it doesn't necessarily mean that's the case. I've heard and seen many examples of sudden branch death in landscape specimens, from sango's specifically, working in a nursery for over 12 years. I've also had to send samples of sango's to Virginia Tech for testing and it is very common in my specific area. I was only trying to give one possible avenue for the OP to start troubleshooting his tree's issues.
 

0soyoung

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symptom of Pseudomonas,
What time of year do you notice pseudomonas? I understand it to be a 'winter disease'. It is reported to be common in my area too, but I am not certain that I have ever seen a pseudomonas infected tree.
 

papymandarin

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usually you notice it in early spring when the tree wakes up, it's thriving in humid/fresh weather, but infection happens mostly in automn, through wounds, and preferably on young/weakened trees. Given our climate here it's very prevalent. Best things to avoid it so far (from my experience i don't have more cases since i do these measures) are 1) keep strong trees 2) keep maples protected from rain during wintering and on a dryer side for the substrate compared to when the tree is active 3) don't do cuts when the tree is not active, i only do cuts on wood older than a year between may and end of august, particularly no cuts or wiring or any work on branches in automn.
 

cbroad

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What time of year do you notice pseudomonas?

Early spring to early summer, but I suspect that's only because that's when a lot of people are concerned about their gardens and they stop by the nursery for help, and by the time the real heat and humidity starts, they're outside less and not noticing landscape issues. They probably notice it more as the new growth pushes and they see branches fail to flush, or see leafed branches suddenly wither.

I definitely didn't mean to scare the OP and you are right that it could be a multitude of other issues than a pseudomonas infection, but being a Coral Bark variety I thought they should be aware of their susceptibility.
 

0soyoung

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Early spring to early summer, but I suspect that's only because that's when a lot of people are concerned about their gardens and they stop by the nursery for help, and by the time the real heat and humidity starts, they're outside less and not noticing landscape issues. They probably notice it more as the new growth pushes and they see branches fail to flush, or see leafed branches suddenly wither.
That sounds like the same behavior as verticillium - distinction being verticillium doesn't cause visible (external) black oozy areas?

I've had too many experiences with nectria canker which manifests itself with a similar foliar 'flame out', but in late summer to early fall - it also affects a black oozy area of bark AND expresses its definitive little orange fruiting bodies shortly afterward (hence my query to @gallina1594).

Something blew into my neighborhood in the winter of 2015/16 that did serious damage to two special a.p. cultivars (I have 10 different ones) and nothing else. A neighbor's Sango Kaku was similarly affected - buds disappeared from branches and corresponding stems and sides of trunks died, but I never saw blackening/oozing, just dry white bark that later flaked off. Appearances were much like a maple recovering from severe drought stress (that occurred a year or two previously). I think something got in the buds, but have not found any descriptions of pathogens that do this. Such stuff, however, also seems possible to have affected @gallina1594's tree - until we know more.
 
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papymandarin

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verticillum wilt cause blackening of wood inside the stem, and the drying of entire branches is sudden and it's also more a summer thing, Pseudomonas only blackens bark and cambium but not wood , the wilting is more progressive and is early illness (weather changing for more dry and warm is what you must hope for when a tree has Pseudomonas as it slows it very much allowing the tree to better recover when it's possible)
 

cbroad

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@0soyoung

Unfortunately now my store just directs people to the county's extension office, so all I can do is help answer some questions and send them there; I don't ever get any follow up to what the diagnosis is for anything anymore. The biggest thing I see now is about boxwood blight and a lot of people freak out about it if they see their boxwood going south, it was pretty bad 2-3 years ago.

I think it's odd that only specific j.m. cultivars are susceptible or highly susceptible to certain bacteria and viruses, while other are not so much. They're all technically the same plant, so what is it that makes certain varieties different??? What were the two cultivars that you had damaged? Was there something different with these two varieties or were they possibly stressed or weak?
 

0soyoung

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Mine were an Higsayama and Tsukushigata. Higi is about 13 feet tall in an exposed location by a driveway. It was beautifully healthy, prior. Tsuku is in very protected (both sun and wind) location in my backyard and had a few serious problems (draught stress and then nectria) in the prior years. Both are now growing vigorously and overgrowing the damage from the episode I described. Both trees have at least one more a.p. less than 10 feet away that was unaffected. I am confident that I did not do anything to transport a pathogen from one tree to the other. I've thought about it possibly being a virus since it was so variety specific, but viral infections generally seem to manifest themselves as witch's brooms, AFAIK.

I agree about it being 'odd', @cbroad

Sorry to hijack your thread @gallina1594, but this often happens when one is slow responding to questions. ;):)
 

Paulpash

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Pseudomonas syringae is a disease that manifests itself in freezing (crystalizing) conditions. It essentially invades the cells during Winter conditions.
 

gallina1594

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@gallina1594 have you ever noticed little orange thingies (dots, say) on it? Say around August.


That is not a good diagnostic. Blackening bark is simply indicative of cambium death which can occur due to a number of causes. When it happens may be indicative of certain pathogen(s).
I have not seen any of the orange dots you speak of, that doesn't mean they weren't there tho!
 

gallina1594

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Update: Yesterday, I gave the whole tree a good spray of some gardensafe fungicide. Today, the white fungus/mold looks to be drying up and changing color? Hopefully dying?
 
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