MasterBlaster said:
Just wait til the bugs come; Japanese hornets as big as your thumb. That long drip is pretty obscene; does remind you of something else in a totally gross way;
up to a billion bacteria swimming around per milliliter, dividing every twenty minutes:
OOZE IN THE NEWS
“Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer; those days of soda, and pretzels, and beer!” as Nat King Cole sang way back when. Summer is also the time for other foamy stuff, the kind that has certain insects singing songs of cheer. However, this is not good news for the unfortunate older trees that serve as taverns for moths and hornets and other imbibing creatures. Tree owners who find these frenzied congregations on oozing lower trunks of their older trees often call arborists this time of year. But insecticide is not the answer, because the insects are only a sign of trouble underneath the bark. Oozing slime is a symptom of bacterial infection, and “…warm temperatures are favorable for the development of some bacterial diseases…” as John Lloyd notes in Plant Health Care for Woody Ornamentals.
A coating of polysaccharide, which is called a “slime layer” for obvious reasons, surrounds bacterial cells. When the bacteria multiply, they are forced out of the host plant and ooze down the bark. Dividing as fast as once every twenty minutes, they quickly build up their numbers to as high as a billion per milliliter. A cocktail of bacteria--Pseudomonas, Enterobacter and others--, yeasts and other organisms causes slime flux disease. Whether any of these organisms is particularly pathogenic, or it is simply the physical pressure caused by all of them multiplying that kills the bark, is not clearly understood. Fermentation produces gases such as methane and carbon dioxide, which increases the pressure that ruptures the bark. Many different microorganisms grow in the flux producing an indescribably foul or alcoholic odor that is hard to miss.
Different species of trees have different types of slime flux disease. The type that is found higher up in wounds and crotches of elms and poplars are considered relatively benign. They seldom seem to aggressively damage the bark. What damage occurs is well above ground level and considered correctable. They are located in Zones 2 and 4 as defined in Dr. Kim Coder’s Hazard Tree Evaluation form, published in 1990. On older oaks the disease is quite different; it is typically found between buttress roots. This is Zone 1, where damage and disease are considered critical. Previous physical damage or previous insect injury is seldom noted at infection sites on the trees studied. Like included bark in a crotch, the bark between buttresses seems to be squeezed. One theory: the tree opens itself up to infection by wounding itself when bark is included, and the bacteria enter from the soil. This is confirmed by Dr. Alex Shigo in Modern Arboriculture: “Included bark between roots and root stubs are common underground infection courts.”
TO ACT, OR NOT TO ACT (is that the question?)
Re appraisal mtg, no, 3 in front was enuf for them, and I got hot irons in the fire here. It's tomorrow, isn't it? Wish it was close; I'd go.
