Apricots are tender trees that suffer a lot of cambium damage and often show this kind of fungus as a result. The cambium damage deprived the dead branch to its access to root so it died. It is often recommended that trunks of apricots be painted white although I doubt this is very helpful for reasons I won't go into here. Perhaps painting the branches white would work if it delayed budding out in spring. I believe in my area most of this cambium damage occurs in early spring when trees begin to bud out. The tree may or may not survive and thrive. Did I mention that apricots are tender trees? Of course the accuracy of this diagnosis is questionable without actually looking at the tree, but this kind of damage is so common with apricots that I'm pretty sure it's valid.

Sorry Ken, the thing exploded into a bazillion dusty spores and vanished in to the either. If I had a pic of the before I would have shared. All that's left is a discolored mark on the side of the tree. It looked like a single hard mass. I honestly thought it might bust off in a solid chunk. But it went airborne like a bag of baby powder.

The endwalls come up the bottom 2.5 feet and can travel over the inside crops or go over the new crop, as in carrots. Here is a video of moving it. My brother in law is on the other side and they slide right down the track with minimal effort (minimal for me). I have now gotten to point that I move them myself. I just pull it up myself. I just yank one side 2 to 3 feet and then walk over and do the same thing to the other side and just walk it up or down the rails. It takes me about 30 minutes to unbolt, move one space and rebolt it in its new home. It takes about 20 minutes if I have two people. Some people show how they can move their high tunnel, much bigger with just 2 people. Those systems are extremely high priced and in my mind aren't worth the expense. Why spend $1,000's of dollars in tracks and wheels to move it "Easier" 3 or 4 times a year. About the plastic and PVC interaction, I haven't seen it. I have replaced my plastic after 4 years due to seam failures, not plastic/PVC interactions. I have never painted them either. I am thinking I will get 8 to 10 years out of it, or more. However, my first tunnel, I did a minor replacement of the soft 2 by 4's after 4 years. The funny thing is the 2 by 4 hip boards were in worse shape than the baseboards. Both were untreated pine. Jay Here is a link that might be useful: Moving our movable high tunnel

Hi Moonchinka I could only post 1 picture so it was the one with the white fluff I opted for. I don't think it's mealy bug because the appearance and distribution of the white fluff is very regular in shape and place. I've come across them on other things before. I was wondering about a fungus infection? Here's another image that should show the browning of the needles. I have been concerned that the whole tree looks less green than before. As I said, I haven't actively been watering the tree since it's been a wet winter. I've even tilted the tree's bowl to help with drainage. I don't have a green house to over-winter and I don't believe stagnant indoors air circulation is good for the plant. So what else might I be able to do please if water is the problem? Thanks for your opinion.