# Red Oak trunk is turning black



## murryc (Jun 16, 2007)

Red Oak in East Texas has large area of the trunk that have turned black. Leaves are green and tree seems to be growing. Tree is only 2-3 years old. Black started at the base of the tree and has slowly spread. Any ideas?


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## BayouTree (Jun 19, 2007)

If you can get a picture of it that would help. Otherwise it would only be a guess.


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## murryc (Jun 27, 2007)

Attached are pictures of the tree trunk. I created a high quality PDF slideshow to give you up close pictures. The download is small. 

The black areas are medium to large in size and cover various areas below the 4 foot mark. There are no black spots above 4 feet. The leaves are all green.


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## Themadd1 (Jun 28, 2007)

From the pictures I would think it is sooty mold. Secondary issue, looks like some open wounds, how old are the wounds on the trunk? 

Maybe a fungal disease, causing open wounds. Sooty mold grows on the sugars from the seeping wounds.

In hind sight I think you have a bigger problem.

Right from the start this tree was not doing well, it is planted too deep, no root flare, probrably girdled roots. It looks like the bark is falling off, good sign of decay. Best thing I would recommend is proper watering, not on the trunk, digging down to the flare and checking to see if there is any bark on the flare, remove the plastic ring on the trunk?? (not sure from pictures but looks like there is a plastic ring around the base of the trunk. 

Plant the new tree after you have washed off the top of the root ball to be sure you are planting at the proper depth. Dont be fooled by the small roots that grow on the trunk because of the dirt piled too high. 

Look for a new tree plant it nearby and lose this one in a year or two, if there are no targets it can hit.


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## murryc (Jun 29, 2007)

thanks for the reply...

The plastic ring is just a retainer to hold the mulch in and keep 'most of the grass out. It sits about 24 inches from the tree. Do I need to remove it? It also helps to retain water when watering. The wounds look like they started when the 'mold' started, but looks can be deceiving in this case. What is the 'flare'?

Any suggestions on what I could treat the mold with?


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## treeseer (Jun 30, 2007)

murryc said:


> What is the 'flare'?
> 
> Any suggestions on what I could treat the mold with?


Read Buying and Planting and Insects info in the links below.

the black stuff is a symptom; you must find the cause.


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## Kneejerk Bombas (Jun 30, 2007)

Whoever planted that tree did not read and understand the link in Treeseer's signature!
It was planted too deep. 
After two years, it does not need guy wires. 
Watering just the ball will invite the roots to stay there, you want roots to grow out. The lawn looks like it is heavily irrigated, is water hitting the tree? The lawn also looks heavily fertilized and herbicided, which affects trees.
Texas is being hit hard with Oak Wilt, is a Red Oak the best choice?
Did you buy that tree from Home Depot?


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## Castenea (Jul 23, 2007)

The green plastic ring is not what has people concerned, it is the <?>Landscaping cloth<?> under the mulch. An inch of mulch is plenty for a year or two. Check to make sure that the tree is not getting water sprayed on the trunk, or standing in the ring. Some types of mulch can actually impede the flow of water to the root zone. Dig into the mulch and soil to find the root flare, this tree was probably planted improperly.


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## Ed Roland (Jul 23, 2007)

treeseer said:


> Read Buying and Planting and Insects info in the links below.
> 
> the black stuff is a symptom; you must find the cause.




Treeseer, do u suspect insect activity as the cause of the fungal activity on the outer bark?


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## treeseer (Jul 23, 2007)

woodweasel said:


> Treeseer, do u suspect insect activity as the cause of the fungal activity on the outer bark?


No my guess is that deep planting led soilborne organisms to infect the tree, having seen hundreds that look like this I have not found a bug to blame.


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