Walkerpacman
New Member
I am trying to diagnose a problem with a Pecan and an Oak tree, both within 40 feet of eachother. The Pecan I noticed had vertical splits up one side all the way to the midpoint of the tree and fairly extensive sloughing of the bark up to the crotch of the first branches on one side. Part of the tree has died but the rest has recovered from a near leafless state. The oak presented with a four to five inch vertical wound about the same distance from the ground. It was an inch in width at the widest point, and had rotten wood on the inside that was oozing a black substance. I noticed that the rotten wood was extremely soft so I dug as much as I could out of the hole, rinsed and then dusted it lightly with a bit of mortar powder to help control the moisture temporarily. After a few months I noticed that the mortar powder had pretty much come out and slugs had begun to take residence in the hole. After removing them with a bit more powder, I applied some neem oil to make it unpalatable for them to further hole up in the crevice. It seems to be closing up nicely, but another small oozing wound has developed further up on the tree, on an accessory branch which wasn't trimmed off at an early stage and allowed to grow five or six inches in diameter. It however is oozing and amber fluid with foam appearing at the site. I sprayed the upper wound with a dilute solution of peroxide and water to clean it a few days ago and I noticed some very small what may be larvae come out and die, which were about the thickess of a small needle. I am trying to control the disease in both trees, but if need be I can cut the Pecan down with care.(Its ten feet from a neigbors house almost directly on the property line and if my guess is right, directly in contact with a sewer line which is PVC) however the oak tree is the only tree and source of shade in the backyard and I would prefer to save it if at all possible. I am including pictures of each. I put a picture of the oak leaves as well for help in identification. Please help.
