30" maple with Hypoxylon and Nectria canker

[ORclimber]

Any suggestions on treating a 30" bigleaf maple with Hypoxylon and Nectria canker. Customer wants to keep the tree as long as possible. They do have children and a swingset near the tree. Tree has 2 major stems dead. Lots of large several feet long cankers on the main branches. I removed the one growing toward the swingset and will get the other in a couple months.

The cross section of the 12" limb already removed was pretty ugly at the trunk. Several foot long canker on the upperside of the limb. Maybe 2" of sapwood alive around 2/3 of the limb. The interior of the limb had been walled off. the upper third was wet and rotten. I could pull out wet chunks of stringy cellulose. The wall was dark when cut but turned greenish after a while.

Here's a pic of the canopy.

 

[ORclimber]

Here's a pic of the Hypoxylon on the trunk. The bark chunked off easily. There was one good white mycellial fan in the center of a canker. the lower cankers were full of the black crispy fruiting bodies. There was some frass but didn't see any bore holes.

 

[ORclimber]

The Oregon disease handbook recommended treating nectria with products labeled for anthracnose, hypoxylon wasn't listed for bigleaf maple.

Would the Agri-phos/pentra-bark combo labeled for SOD be worth considering?

Open to and hoping for suggestions.

 

[wiley_p]

I don'tt know that you could treat for Hypoxylon, maybe boosting the trees rootzone would help by getting water and nutrients, help it wall off.

 

[Ax-man]

I always thought Hypoxylon were big black smooth patches on limbs, usually on dead or dying limbs or just plain dead trees, was host specific to Oaks.

Looks like that tree has seen better days, best to get a new tree started and remove that one some time in the near future.


Larry

 

[Nickrosis]

Alleviate any stress factors, there's no magic spray.

For a theory on nectria: http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15856

 

[BigJohn]

I'd cut it down and leave it in the back yard and tell them keep it as long as they like. You'll sleep better at night knowing everyone is safe.

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Nothing in the pics looked like hypoxylon to me; are you sure of the diagnosis? Re risk, each branch needs a look, and measuring of support wood, and right action taken.

The pic of the base show good growth of woundwood. Remember that it is 40% stronger than regular wood when you assess trunk strength.

Planting a replacement sounds like a good idea, but cutting it down now MAY be the best option, ONLY after an thorough and objective look at risk factors is done. Recommending removal with scant info belongs on the Logging forum.

"I'd cut it down and leave it in the back yard and tell them keep it as long as they like. You'll sleep better at night knowing everyone is safe."

That is fear-mongering at its worst; is that what an arborist should say? Not spoken by a salesman or a business owner thank goodness, though every employee is a salesman of sorts.:alien:

 

[ORclimber]

Originally posted by Guy Meilleur
are you sure of the diagnosis? Re risk, each branch needs a look, and measuring of support wood, and right action taken.

Pretty sure. I went through the list for Acer macrophyllum in Lyons, Johnson, and Sinclair. Looks a lot like the pictures on page 305 of my copy, especially A and B.

"Hypoxylon deustom causes a white rot of the major roots, butt, and trunk of......bigleaf maple.....stromata may take the form of discrete cushions or sheet of undulating to lumpy tissue......stromata...become black and brittle with age, and can be readily attached from the substrate."

Lots of that black crispy thin stuff, easy to break out of the cankers at the base. I had broken quite a bit out and also broken away dead bark before taking the pic.

Somewhere else I read about the white mycelial fans that didn't contact the edges of the cankers. There was one of those up and to the right of the pic. Also, that Hypoxylon could enter through other cankers and wounds like the Nectria.

Suppose I could suggest spending the $40 lab fee for a positive ID. The tree is obviously a mess. The cankers on the upper limbs are several feet long, basically smooth wood inside and new callous growth around the edges.

How would you reccomend non-destructive testing of the support wood on live branches?

 

[Nickrosis]

Originally posted by ORclimber
Suppose I could suggest spending the $40 lab fee for a positive ID.

Probably worth it if you're billing the customer.

How would you reccomend non-destructive testing of the support wood on live branches?

Give it a shot. Post video on AS. Repeat as necessary.

 

[ORclimber]

Originally posted by Nickrosis
Probably worth it if you're billing the customer.

Will be billing for action taken. No bill for diagnosis. Do you think I'm wrong?

 

[Nickrosis]

I would bill for diagnosis, absolutely. If it's costing you money to test it, it seems fair to me to pass that on to the customer. I mean, you're doing a service for them.

 

[Guy Meilleur]

"evaluating every branch on the tree. Not sure if your meaning common sense, or a systematic approach. "

*Both. Rubber mallet followed by a probe with handsaw on all cavities, trunk and big roots too, that's a start. For long cavities you can use a plumber's snake (beware disease transmission?)

"Is there a book that explains how to do this?" Search Urban Tree Risk Management Guide from USDA and Evaluation of Hazard Trees by ISA.

"Told the customer the tree was a mess, but there must be a more professional way to say that"

You must quantify the defects and look at mitigation options. Start at the bottom of the tree to save time, which should be your cutomer's $$. I'm gradually raising diagnose and consult rates; no longer the same $ as climbin, often worth more.

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Originally posted by ORclimber
Lots of that black crispy thin stuff, easy to break out of the cankers at the base.

It may be Hypoxylon but check Inonotus too; it's also black crispy. Sometimes you have to remove a lot of rot to measure the cavities. Check the bottom of the buttress roots.

Re charging, didn't the book cost ~$65.?? How long did you read it before understanding it enough to be useful? All that and more is your expense which you should pass along to the beneficiary.