Cherry tree, sticky issue

[outofmytree]

Pfft.

Ya niece aint in the know.

Its gremlins. FFs I thought everyone knew this!~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[BlackenedTimber]

I tried to argue the gremlins side of things, but that lil girl tore me apart, she is insistent that it is Gnomes...

 

[pdqdl]

Sounds expensive, what does the whole tree look like?

It is leaning toward the south, away from the austrian pine that no longer overhangs it on the north. (we removed it last year.) There are almost no branches on the north side, but all the branches on the south side are fully leafed out with no signs of disease. No dead branches, and the crown is full and appears to be growing new shoots toward the thinner areas.

The bark is nearly perfect, except for the lesion and hole in the pictures, and a 8" mechanical damage on the south side of the tree at about 3' up from the ground. It too, has the same gummosis seeping out the bottom of the injury, but there is no hole and the amount of gum present is much smaller than the one in the pictures.

 

[BlackenedTimber]

Ok we are pretty certain that insects are/were involved, and that it is not a bacterial condition, right?

Check this link out, may help you in your diagnosis:

http://www.ces.purdue.edu/extmedia/FNR/FNR-229-W.pdf

T

 

[pdqdl]

Ok we are pretty certain that insects are/were involved, and that it is not a bacterial condition, right?

Check this link out, may help you in your diagnosis:

http://www.ces.purdue.edu/extmedia/FNR/FNR-229-W.pdf

T

That is a good article, and seems to address my exact problem. Thanks!

I will return to the tree with a ladder and a magnifying glass, and look closer at the problem site.

 

[Mike Van]

I've sawn into some tennis ball size pitch pockets on otherwise nice looking cherry logs. They have a darker color wood that outlines the pocket. It's not as sticky as spruce, but will gum up a bandmill blade quick. On most, there was nothing showing outside the log that would make you think it had defects. So, maybe given enough time, that hole will heal over, adding new wood around it while the pitch remains gooey inside?

 

[pdqdl]

Healing over the hole seems possible. Pitch pocket: I doubt it. The hole inside was bigger than my finger. I suspect the gum comes from evaporating sap; It wouldn't evaporate until it got outside the cavity.

But then again, the pitch pockets you found got formed somehow, didn't they?