What’s this lump on my new juniper?
Potawatomi13
Imperial Masterpiece
Seems to be gall
. If not needing branch then trim off. If wanting to keep then trim off gall down to level of branch neatly. Personally would also apply fungicide and insecticide to open spot.
. If not needing branch then trim off. If wanting to keep then trim off gall down to level of branch neatly. Personally would also apply fungicide and insecticide to open spot.Wires_Guy_wires
Imperial Masterpiece
I would investigate it a bit further.
Are they truly galls or could it be apple cedar rust?
Are they woody? Soft? What's with the whitish layer? Is it resin, fungus?
I've never seen juniper galls myself, but I know they exist. However, some dried up rust fruiting bodies can take the same shape. The wood doesn't look as wrinkled as one would expect in the case of rust.. But better to be safe than sorry.
I would definetely do a bit more digging just to be sure.
Are they truly galls or could it be apple cedar rust?
Are they woody? Soft? What's with the whitish layer? Is it resin, fungus?
I've never seen juniper galls myself, but I know they exist. However, some dried up rust fruiting bodies can take the same shape. The wood doesn't look as wrinkled as one would expect in the case of rust.. But better to be safe than sorry.
I would definetely do a bit more digging just to be sure.
PA_Penjing
Chumono
What species of juniper is it. That looks a lot like apple cedar rust. If the answer to my question is virginiana then it defniitely is. those hard nodes will sprout bright orange spaghetti noodle lookin things when it rains in the spring and infect the rosaceae family. Only way to get rid of it is to cut the infected limb off an inch or more bleow the gall. That's important, because the fungus will be in the limb itself near the gall. If you cut the branch off and see yellow in the wood you need to cut more
Dav4
Drop Branch Murphy
- Messages
- 13,098
- Reaction score
- 30,140
- USDA Zone
- 6a
So, Eastern red cedars (J. virginiana) are Cedar/Apple rust magnets... if your juniper is an ERC, then that's what it has. It tends to be a life long maintenance issue that requires constant removal of infected branches to stay ahead of and ultimately, results in a poor bonsai subject. Shimpaku junipers, in my experience, tend to be pretty resistant to rusts, fwiw.
Wires_Guy_wires
Imperial Masterpiece
After I saw some Monterey cypress with callous growth, I did some digging. There are juniper galls out there! They exist!
But to my knowledge those grow on the tips of branches, mostly. That's why I raised an eyebrow. Still, it seems dormant for now even if it is rust. It usually sporulates in spring or fall.
Rust needs an intermediate host, so if you disinfect (ethanol will do just fine at 70%) your tools to kill living material, spores from one juniper shouldn't be able to infect another juniper directly.
The rusts I've seen discolored the wood to an orange color.
But to my knowledge those grow on the tips of branches, mostly. That's why I raised an eyebrow. Still, it seems dormant for now even if it is rust. It usually sporulates in spring or fall.
Rust needs an intermediate host, so if you disinfect (ethanol will do just fine at 70%) your tools to kill living material, spores from one juniper shouldn't be able to infect another juniper directly.
The rusts I've seen discolored the wood to an orange color.
Dav4
Drop Branch Murphy
- Messages
- 13,098
- Reaction score
- 30,140
- USDA Zone
- 6a
Don't cut yet!! I don't know how susceptible J. rigida is to rust, and I'll agree that it's in an odd place. If that's the only gall on the tree, I'd leave alone other then monitor, as it's possible something else- trauma or other infection- caused the gall.Thanks everyone. This juniper is a Japanese needle juniper (Juniperus rigida). I always thought galls and apple cedar rust were the same thing... I think I will need to cut the branch and apply some neem & insecticide.
Fwiw, Cedar-Apple rust presents itself as galls on juniper growth... they explode in the spring in a orangey gloppy mess as the galls sporulate.
Wires_Guy_wires
Imperial Masterpiece
Neem and insecticide aren't going to help against a fungus unfortunately. If it is rust.
I got rust under control by cutting away infected material, treating wounds with undiluted lime sulphur, then pro-actively spraying with copper sulphate and dosing trichoderma viride every three months during the growing season as a bioprotectant.
It's that or the burn pile in my yard - but I've only had one minor case. I still have the blowtorch ready, even though one juniper can't infect another directly and there are no apple trees in a mile radius.
I got rust under control by cutting away infected material, treating wounds with undiluted lime sulphur, then pro-actively spraying with copper sulphate and dosing trichoderma viride every three months during the growing season as a bioprotectant.
It's that or the burn pile in my yard - but I've only had one minor case. I still have the blowtorch ready, even though one juniper can't infect another directly and there are no apple trees in a mile radius.
PA_Penjing
Chumono
Yes I suppose I should have emphasized the IF it's cedar rust a little harder. In one of the pictures it appears to have an ornage cast where the bark was rubbed a little. Further POSSIBLE evidence. Also should've mentioned sanitizing your tools with alcohol. WGW got you there. You can spread it to other junipers if you are rubbing the creeping cruds right into a wound. ALSO ALSO apple cedar isn't just apple to juniper, like I mentioned many in the rosaceae family will act as the host instead of apple trees. AND there is a quince-cedar rust AND hawthorn-cedar rust. I have zero experience with the second two and it's possible that's what it is. I can tell you from experience stopping the cedar-apple cycle is really tough to do and spores travel 2 miles (they say) but the other two possible rusts would be much easier to control (i speculate)
PA_Penjing
Chumono
what country are you from?
