What killed my plum tree and is killing my peach tree?

6 years ago

I live in Southern California (Near Riverside) and have several trees that are planted on a side of my property on a 6 foot tall but pretty steep slope. These trees have been here longer than I have. The trees get water from regular sprayer irrigation about every 10 feet. SoCal had a fairly wet winter year - I don't know if any of this helps.
Anyways, the plum tree was doing great, it had a bunch of fruit on it, for the first time since I bought the house in 4 years...I didn't know it was a plum tree until it produced fruit. Left the house for a month for work trip, sprinklers were on (etc) but when I got back, the tree looked really bad. Most of the leaves had fallen off and the branches were a black color. When you bent a branch it would crack and a faint dust would come from it - there was none of the green material under the bark, and it was clearly dead. It also had sap coming out in several places. In an effort to save the tree, I heavily pruned the tree, and sprayed the black tar on the freshly cut spots. I did see what looked like a lot of damage on the trunk with tons of ants moving up/down under parts of the bark (I peeled the bark off and saw them). I sprayed that as well with the black tar spray and gave the tree more time, until everything was dead. I cut it down and the branches were very dry and light.
Now the peach tree (next to it) is doing the same thing. I've done the same thing (Cut it back quite a bit) but didn't have the tar spray for where I cut it back. I looked very closely at the branches and can see lots of very small holes. Much smaller than a pencil lead, maybe 1mm in diameter. I remember I had this problem with a nectorine tree at my old house (little holes, leaves falling off, oozing sap) and that tree died. The peach tree was doing great and had TONS of fruit, but it was pretty small.
What gives? I see some stuff that says it's a peach tree borer, but I only see the holes on the branches. Other stuff says it's a canker infection. Could it be from the ants? As far as the bugs go, the only thing I've noticed this year was an overabundance of spider webs.
Thanks for any advice!

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Comments (5)

Jean
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Post some images.

And/or contact your county's Extension Service office.

this is the page for Riverside County's office - http://ceriverside.ucanr.edu/
campv 8b AZ
6 years ago
Sounds like you got attacked by borers Plum/peach. If the peach makes it, the best thing to do is spray it during dormancy with Horticultural/Dormant spay(NOT Neem), @ least 3-4 times during winter, (this will kill over wintering bugs in the bark)..... Leaf fall or now, then about Dec, then again before bud break(blooms) That's when we did it when we lived in Carlsbad. Paint the trunk, borers don't like the paint. Note: anytime you see sap it means ..damage of some kind/borers etc. Google Borers, I believe right now is the time they lay eggs to hatch in spring. Good luck and keep up the spraying.
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redblossom: Please don't do that again to a fruit tree. You removed all the buds capable of growing new leaves as well as fruit. I hate to use this word, but that tree is as close to butchered as I have ever seen. When a tree has too much fruit, the solution is not to cut off all the branches, but to thin the fruit. Peaches should be thinned to about 8 inches apart, and a minimum of 6, and if the branch is still overloaded take off some more. Fish emulsion or any other type of fertilizer will have no effect on your tree, so don't bother with that. I guess there is an outside chance there is still some life in that tree, but in your climate zone, where it should be fully leafed out, I think that chance is pretty slim. Do you have another tree, plum or peach, planted next to the peach tree in practically the same hole? That one apparently didn't get any pruning at all. It was a lot luckier than your peach tree. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA
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Tunneling large animals didn't kill a tree. If you found active borers in the trunk when you cut it, that is the cause. They are probably not termites, although I really wouldn't stake my life on it, we don't have termites here so I'm not familiar with their habits. My money would be on some kind of borer. If you have other trees of same species, you should treat them annually with a product to control borers. What product may depend on the type, so you may need to do more research on what your tree is and what commonly attacks it. Here is a link that might be useful: Good brochure on borers from Colorado State
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
6 years ago
We really do need to see photos to determine what is going on, otherwise we are just guessing and you then may be following advice that is not appropriate or could even prove harmful.

FWIW, horticultural oil is NOT a suggested treatment for borers.......if that is what you have. Because the larvae tunnels (bores) into the wood of the tree, any sort of topical approach has to be carefully considered and timed to have any effect. The bugs are not inside the bark....they are inside the tree and it often requires a systemic (seldom recommended for edibles) to ensure effective control.

And the appearance of sap - aka gummosis - can arise from a multitude of conditions, not all of them serious or requiring treatment.

Photos, please!!
campv 8b AZ
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
This man lives in So. Cal not in Oregon or Washington and the weather is very different. The dormant oil is preventive measure and we have been using it in So. Cal for over 40 years and never had a borer or bug problem. I do agree that once the larvae enter into the tree the dormant oil will not work and the best thing is to remove the infected branch which he has done and maintain a spraying program through out the mild winter to prevent further infestation. Unlike other parts of the country, bugs do not die off in winter.
Jean
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I lived, gardened and grew several different kinds of peach trees, and a plum tree,for 30-some years in SoCal. Long Beach, to be more precise.

I do not provide info that would be inaccurate for the grower's zone.

Neither does gardengal.

Beyond that, nothing was said about how the tree was managed, especially water. Except that "regular sprayer irrigation about every 10 feet."

If stressed from lack of sufficient water -- extended severe drought -- in an arid climate (all of SoCal including Riverside), the trees were sitting ducks -- easy victims -- of disease and/or borers, both of which attack stressed trees.

Then, too, without images of the damage, we're all guessing as to why and/or how.

What killed my plum tree and is killing my peach tree?

Comments (5)

Jean

campv 8b AZ

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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

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Jean

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