Pluot Can Have Sap Oozing Like Both of its Parents

Q. We planted a pluot this past spring along with four
peach trees of different varieties. The pluot just started oozing sap or
gumming on the lower truck. All of the trees were planted as bare root trees.
The trees have a bermed area for holding water with wood chips for mulch. I am
watering two to three times a week and frequently check soil moisture around
the roots with a very long screw driver.

A. In peach, gumming or sap coming from the trunk or
limbs, is frequently due to borers. In both plum and apricot (the parent trees
of pluots) gumming can happen without borer problems. Frequently it is a sign
of stress.

            Make
sure that the trunk and limbs are in the shade of its own canopy to reduce
sunburn from direct sunlight. Sunburn damage can cause this as well. Paint the
trunk and limbs with diluted white latex paint to reduce sun and heat damage to
these areas.

            Dilute
white latex paint with an equal amount of water and either spray it or brush it
on. This will reduce the surface temperature of these areas about 5 to 6
degrees. We normally do this in the winter when we don’t have to fight with the
leaves and after pruning is done.