Chokecherries seem to be prone to black knot. Depending on your climate, it could be a problem to you. I've got chokecherries that grow among pie cherries and plums in a bit of a jungle. Many of the older chokecherries have some cankers, and on occasion it will show up on a cherry. I don't recall seeing the plums showing any signs. But--I am in a very dry climate where moisture to aid in the spread of the disease is fairly uncommon. Since it has never bothered me, I've never done anything about it--didn't even know what it was until fairly recently. So, depending on your climate and the specific susceptibility of your trees, you may or may not have a problem. Still, if it is present in your area, you may want to take preventive measures. Otherwise, you could risk an infection, remove it as soon as you find it, then start treatments going forwards. Kocide is used as a foliar spray as a bacterial disease preventive/inhibitor on some crops, though it may be used at a lighter rate than when you dormant spray. Kocide doesn't cure an infection, so you must apply it before the infection takes hold to inhibit the initial infection or slow its spread. This means it is usually applied earlier in the growing season or just before the time the tree is most susceptible to infection. Nude Gardener: Many of the names listed are the trade names you would purchase the product under. Often they are capitalized. The chemical names are usually not capitalized, and sometimes, though not always, sound more "chemical-like". Many of these chemicals are sold in the garden sections of your favorite local stores and the big box stores, plus at garden centers/nurseries. If in doubt, do an internet search on the term and you'll find out pretty quickly whether you have a trade name or a chemical name, and you can quickly get the other name. Also read the label to see what crops and uses it is registered for. Unlike medicines, if the use you have planned is not labeled, it is illegal to use it for that crop/purpose. The blue stuff is copper sulphate, which is the active ingredient in Kocide. The crystals are not as easy to dissolve in water, but they do work in drains to kill tree roots. Kocide is formulated so that you can easily get the proper concentration of copper sulphate in water and to ease application. Some of these products are not sold for the home market. Sometimes they present a greater safety risk, so they will not be sold to homeowners who are not expected to have any knowledge in proper use and safety with pesticides (I'm not saying home users don't use them properly, but nothing says a home user HAS to know how to use the product, so mis-use is more likely). Others will not be sold to the homeowner because the companies deem the market to be too small, or the EPA is trying to limit exposure potential to the general public. Commercial formulations will be packaged in larger quantities and concentrations for use by commercial growers. However, if the product is labeled for the crop you have and will use it on, it is perfectly legal to purchase it from a farm supply. The main drawback is that it will generally come in packages that will treat a number of acres, which means a 20 year supply for the home gardener. If you are purchasing a commercial grower's product, you may need a private applicator's license, depending on your state's laws. If you do, the cooperative extension service in many states handles the training and/or testing for these licenses, so you can check with them to get certification and a license. The private applicator's license where I am is pretty common. It takes about a half day of classroom instruction on the safe use of pesticides, calculating application rates, reading labels, etc.

@jean001 Thanks! As for the cherry tree, there has not been any hail but we have had crazy rain for the past month and we always seem to get a ton of wind. Regarding the golden delicious, I have anchored the branches down but none of snapped or what not. They are very flimsy almost whisp-like.

Hi Journalist- I think we still need to figure out what's going wrong with the bark on your apple tree. Any chance you can post a pic? (I post mine to another site like photobucket or webshots and then just paste the html code that they give you in these posts). Or do a Google Image search for "apple canker" and see if it fits. As for spraying everything with Immunox... You need to be a bit careful when spraying fungicides. You really want to follow the instructions on the label. If the label doesn't specifically say that it's ok to spray certain things, then you should not spray. If you spray your apple with Immunox, I don't think it will matter that there is quite a bit of other rust-infected things near by. For example, across the street from me, my neighbor has 2 neglected apple trees with plenty of rust, yet I got complete control on my property. Spraying at the right time isn't trivial though, so make sure to do lots of research now... when spring comes, you won't have time to figure it all out. Good luck, -Glenn

It sounds like it is yet a small tree. You can try an exclusion barrier - something like mosquito netting - one layer wrapped loosely around the stem to cover the area under attack. The material must be degradable and not tight. You may also sprinkle products like lime or sulfur on the ground around the stem. Please be sure that you obtain these products from a garden supply source. There is a systemic product 'Imidacloprid' which can be taken up through the roots and translocated throughout the plant. Any pest feeding on the sap will take up the product and hopefully die. The problem is (and this would have been true of Diazinon, Lindane etc.) that one cannot be certain that it will not also get into the fruit. My experience has been that if you observe all the label precautions ESPECIALLY the re entry statement and double it, no harm will be done.