Iowajer: You do not need Orbit or Bumper or much of anything else to successfully grow tart cherries in Iowa. I am from Iowa so know the climate, and believe me Virginia is worse for just about every insect and disease. Yet I have grown tart cherries for 35 years with no problems -- except for the following: The normal lifespan of a tart cherry tree like Northstar or Meteor is about 20 years, give or take 5 years, but it is not age alone that kills them. It is the bacterial disease that develops with age that does it. I have had 2 Northstars, 2 Meteors, and 1 large Montmorency, all planted in 1979. The Northstars were finished before 20 years, one Meteor lasted 22 years, the Montmorency about the same, and the last Meteor was removed more recently at the ripe age of around 25 years. All of them were victims of bacterial disease and nothing else. All of the symptoms you describe can be attributed to one or another of the signs of bacterial disease. In advanced stages, the disease, which develops cankers on the limbs, eventually kills those limbs which should be cut off promptly. In the meantime, cherries become smaller, and often rot on the tree, though the trees will continue to produce. Leaves begin to look punky. At 15 years of age, and showing the symptoms you describe, your tree may have about 5 years of useful life left. None of the cocktail of chemicals you applied to your tree would have much, if any effect on bacterial disease, even expensive products like Orbit, and most particularly the useless combo sprays sold by Bonide. The best tactic against bacterial disease is to delay its onset, and that is done with one or two thorough dormant sprays of a copper product like Kocide that has some real copper strength. You should begin dormant spraying with copper while the trees are young, well before any evident signs of disease appear, just as you would with any stone fruit tree. With foresight, you may be able to hold off this disease for an additional 5-10 years, and you should apply dormant copper to your existing tree as well, although you are conducting a rearguard action that cannot cure the disease at this stage. Rather than putting a lot of money into expensive chemicals that will do your tree no good, I suggest you put the bucks into a new Northstar or Meteor tree that will be ready to take over when your existing tree checks out, as it surely will do. I planted a new Meteor 5 years ago when the handwriting was on the wall, and a new Montmorency this spring. The new Meteor is covered with fruit and ready this season to take over from the last old tree I removed. Both my climate and yours, BTW, are ideally suited to growing tart cherries. Some years I have had so many that I made 20 gallons of wine from pure juice. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Thank you so much hoovb for posting this picture at the perfect time for me at least. This is my first year trying to go "no spray" for insects and I saw some of these the other day and figured it was a "bad bug" but let it be until I tried to figure out what it was. Soooooo glad to hear its one of the good guys or girls. Thanks for keeping us informed. Judy

Sue...I think you need to get your westie a widdle steering wheel...remember those for kids? Our doggies love to stick their heads out the window...I drove them to the airport last week to get hubster...of course I had to wash the slobber off the windows when we got back...They start barking when I turn into the terminal...it's like they know where I'm going and who's gonna be their waiting for them!! Everybody just laughs when they see us pull up...I still need a lap puppy...that little guy with the bankey just made my heart melt...

this is not interveinal chlorisis. this is not what Slender Silhouette usually looks like...usually, it's just green. What you have is a lack of chlorophyll. It could be a random chimera split, where it just occurred, will never occur again. If stable, someone may be interested...but that's a ways down the road, so don't get antsy. it could also be the result of exposure to an environmental stimulus...ozone, ammonia, or gas, for instance. Ozone usually presents with more of a perimeter burn on the leave, ammonia is usually more white. So the leaf burning is this case is just scorch. there's practically no way you're going to avoid some kind of sun burn or scorch in this type of situation. Use your green portions of the plant to guide you...if they are doing well, you're fine, the plant is fine. If they go chlorotic, then worry about it.