Orange goo indicates an injury like say borers. The tree puts out sap trying to close the wound and repeal the invaders. In wet weather the sap swells with water. Do you think the tree has borers? Maybe someone else has a better idea. But your trunk isn't melting.

The Fruitnut

Bart, sounds like Peach Tree Borers. Search this site and read up on the peach tree borers. They are moth larvae and they eat cambium. They are munching now and will emerge in spring as moths to lay eggs. You want to spray Permethrin on the tree trunk so this seasons PTB eggs don't reenter the tree. Look at it this way, PTB is a lot better than orchard killers; canker, fungal root rot or nematodes. Test for certain you have PTB by sticking a thin stiff wire into the bark ooze hole to find a trail. Some folks can puncture the larvae this way most times.

I wouldn't say borers aren't killers. The ones that hit me tend to hit so hard that I've lost whole trees and bushes.
I'm lucky if I just lose a branch.

I get either Lesser peach tree borers or shothole borers. Hopefully I won't be able to look and see which for a very long time.

Bart:

Go to Wal-Mart or Target and buy a box of mothballs. Place them all around and close to the trunk, imbedded in the soil -- a dozen or more, depending on the size of the tree. Mothballs will stop trunk borers, and will last in the soil for a year or more.

Do this even with your stone fruits that are not infested. If you have borers around, they soon will be.

I have used mothballs for years, and don't know of any downside, but it wouldn't surprise me if someone thinks of one. Lindane used to be the recipe for borers, but is so toxic it isn't even sold any more. Borers take strong medicine.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Hi Don-
Do you use them around your apple trees to stop apple borers as well? I havn't noticed any apple borers around here yet, but I'd prefer to keep it that way. I was also thinking of painting my trunks with 25% white latex, 75% water. Thanks as always,
-Glenn

Glenn:

No, I have not used mothballs around apples. I have never had apple borers. Knock on apple wood.

My impression of apple borers is that they are active well above ground level. Mothballs work only on borers that are at or close to the soil.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Bart:

I hope you're not talking about my "foster tree"! :)

Anyway, UC Davis also says you can use parasitic nematodes to fight borers, if you want an organic alternative.

Carla in Sac

Here is a link that might be useful: Peach Borers UC Davis

Thanks everyone!! I did find a small hole in one tree and I poked a stick into it, but I'll spend more time looking for other holes and borers.

Don - Thanks for the tip on mothballs.

Carla - "Your" Indian Free is doing fine, but I'm still going to give it the mothball treatment.

Thanks again everyone!
Bart

Well guess what I found for the first time yesterday evening after seeing this post? Apple tree borers. Two had gotten on either side of a half inch diameter M7 I was planning to graft this Spring. There was "sawdust" at the base and they appeared to have entered just at ground level. I guess I'll be trying Don's mothball treatment. Unfortunately it's too late for this little tree. With the two working both sides they killed it outright.

swvirginiadave-
Actually, Don's treatment is only for peach borers, not apple borers. I asked him the same question. See above.
-Glenn

Glenn:

Actually, I think the mothballs would work for any borer that is close to the ground. I have never tried them on apple borers because I have never had apple borers. But if I did, and they were at the base of the tree, I would probably try mothballs before anything else. I have seen them work very well on peaches. And, as with so many other things, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Ahhh, ok, got it. So, I guess the question for swvirginiadave is... were the borers close to the ground? -Glenn

Bart, your posting is timely because I just discovered that one of my apricot trees had borers that had entered via the prior seasons deer rutting damage. I found two borers that were near the surface when I removed my spiral trunk cover. There was a lot of damage underneath (I might use mesh protectors and white paint next year, so that they don't go undetected for so long).

I've read that you're definitely not supposed to use the napthaline mothballs and, as jellyman correctly predicted, some say not to use standard PDB mothballs. Are orchard specific PDB mothballs still sold?

Also, Edible Landscaping recommends using wood ashes:

'In June, young peaches can be girdled at the soil line by the larvae of the peach tree borer moth. Our prevention is to mound fresh wood ashes saved from last winter's wood heat at the base of the tree. This should be done to young trees especially. It deters the adult from laying her eggs. Timing in our area is about June 15th for the application of ashes or mothballs. Mothballs also work for control. Place mothballs around the trunk and cover with sand.'

Here is a link that might be useful: Goospert link

The plastic spiral trunk covers were my downfall too. I removed them from all my trees and may switch to wire mesh.

Is there a point when you no longer need trunk protection? I was under the impression it was to protect young trees, but I'm not quite sure what "young" means.

Bart

My understanding is that if you've got a chance of deer, rabbits, and/or rodents girdling/rutting then you should use something regardless of the age of the tree.

I put some mothballs around the bases of four of my trees. I can tell you ants don't like them. The ants walking down the trunk turn around and go back up when they get to the mothballs. Maybe that will stop them from bringing aphids onto my trees.