Xtremehorticulture

Xtremehorticulture of the Desert

Apple Tree Seeping Water

Leave a Comment / seeping, shrub, slime flux, tree, weeping, wetwood /

Q. I noticed my Anna apple tree is seeping fluid and a white patsy substance from a previous cut done last year. What shall I do to help it? Anna apple seeping fluid from old pruning wound A. Smell the fluid. Take your finger and wipe it against this wetness and judge your nose whether the smell is “yeasty” or not. If there is a strong yeasty smell, there might be a bacterial infection going on. If it does not smell “yeasty”, then there is probably no infection.  Wetwood or slime flux disease on older tree from a reader. Slime flux is caused by bacteria “feeding” on inner wood of tree and causing the fluid to smell “yeasty”. Often times this liquid attracts flies and has a foul odor. This “disease” is not fatal to the tree but can be unsightly and create a nusiance.             I would not do anything to the tree regardless. The yeasty smell is caused by a non-lethal infection.             The inside of a tree has a central core of dead wood. The living part of the tree is an outer cylinder of living wood that enlarges year-to-year. The inside of the living cylinder increases the diameter of this dead, central core each year.             Growth in the length of branches is called primary growth. Growth in width or diameter is called secondary growth.             Secondary growth is responsible for “rolling over” pruning cuts and they can no longer be seen. When this secondary growth rolls over a wound, it surrounds or engulfs the wound, covering it, but the wound doesn’t “heal” like it does in animals. The  cylinder of living “wood” of a tree is alive and can “roll over” a wound, even a large one, and “bury” it in the older dead wood inside the tree.             The central core of the tree is dead. This dead wood can “rot” due to different microorganisms. This rotting caused by microorganisms can cause the “seeping fluid” you are seeing.             I would do nothing to the tree at this time unless you see other problems developing in its overall health. Judging from the picture you sent, the old wound seems to be healing and rolling over the pruned cut very nicely.             I would not disturb it in any way but let the tree heal on its own. It should stop weeping when tree growth begins in earnest in the next few weeks.

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Branches Dying in Elm Probably Not Dutch Elm Disease

2 Comments / branch dieback, desert landscaping, lm leaf beetle, sap oozing, Siberian elm, slime flux, wetwood /

Elm leaf beetle damage Q. I have about 10 elm trees and my neighbor has 4 or 5. The branches seem like they just die. This pass year I lost 2 complete trees. I have been told there is a elm airborn disease. Can you please tell if that is true and what can I do about it? A. There is no airborne disease of elms that you have to worry about. I think there is some confusion about Dutch Elm Disease and these trees. Siberian elms are not as susceptible to DED as some other elms which are not planted here anyway.             Most of the elms here are Siberian elms, an inferior elm for landscape purposes. By the way, one of my favorite large trees is Chinese or Evergreen elm, a very nice tree that grows well in our climate with very few problems.              The usual disease problem we see on Siberian elm is a relatively harmless disease called slime flux. This is a bacterial disease which invades the wood and causes basically fermentation inside the trunk and large limbs. ooze from the bacteria is pushed out of the trunk or limbs and weeps down the side of the tree frequently from a pruning cut. If you get close to this ooze it will smell like fermentation or yeasty. Wetwood or slime flux comig from pruning cut             This smell frequently attracts flies to the ooze. It is thought that the flies can pick up this bacterial contamination and spread it to new wounds on several trees besides Siberian elm. If we see this particular disease on the tree we usually ignore it since it really does not cause any long term ill effects.             As far as insects go the worst problem is elm leaf beetle which skeletonizes the leaf. We usually ignore this too since it usually does not cause severe damage to the tree but does cause the leaves to become unsightly. These trees are tall/large with the leaves very high in the air so damage to them is usually ignored. It would be very costly to spray these trees to control this problem.             The last problem we have had with Siberian elm is when older landscapes with these elms growing in lawns is converted to rock landscapes. Frequently there is not enough water applied for these trees to continue to be healthy and the branches die back due to lack of water and a poorly designed irrigation system for the elm to survive.

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Mesquite Tree Can Bleed Profusely When Cut

22 Comments / bleeding, dripping sap, slime flux, wetwood /

Mesquite tree with sap running down from a pruning cut Q. This is about mesquite trees of which I have two in my front yard. Last fall I had both trees trimmed quite drastically by a recommended tree service. They are coming back very nicely except one limb is dripping what I thought was oil; a dark stain looking like oil or tar.              At first, I thought the gardeners had dripped oil over the rocks and over my lantern with their equipment.  Then I looked up!  I don’t know what to do about this; I clean up the area as best I can and within a week, it looks like it had never been cleaned. Is this something I should worry about, or should I just keep on cleaning?  Only one limb on one tree is doing this. A. Mesquite trees can bleed quite profusely when they have been cut. This is nothing to worry about and it should stop by now.             Out of curiosity you might just take your finger to this sap and smell it. If it has a strong yeasty smell and it attracts flies it’s possible it could be a relatively minor disease problem called Wetwood or slime flux. I just mention this because it is more of a curiosity than anything else.             There is really not much you can do about this disease and it should not have any long-lasting effects on the health of the plant. This is not true of this disease and a couple of others but mesquite it should be no problem. It is going to be unsightly.             If the liquid persists, it is possible to drill a hole at the bottom of where it is leaking and    tap in a 2 or 3 inch tube into the hole so that the liquid runs down and out the tube, not down the side of the tree. Make sure all is sterile when puncturing or putting a hole or cut into plants.

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