Brandon : Trees, and I, thank you for bumping this topic up again. I am sorry to admit, I have gotten a bit discouraged by the lack of response to this little discovery of mine. Maybe a brief update. It was 1986 when I first applied this to some really large cuts on various trees at my timberland, including white pines, a large red oak, and a large white ash, among others. Most of the cuts are now covered by callus growth, but not all. Those not covered have the wood in the cut perfectly unaffected by any kind of rot, even after all these years. This winter a moderately large golden weeping willow near my house here in Winchester, VA, was split, almost in half. 40% of the tree was lost. But, I discovered that the split didn't compromise the main trunk, and I could make a cut leaving a nice firm surface. But it is very large, about 12 by 18 inches. Callus growth on this kind of willow is rather fast, but it would take long enough for the callus to cover the wound to allow rot to enter, and that would seriously weaken the tree, and shorten its life. But I am completely confident that my treatment with the original copper fungicide formulation I have been using (by Dragon, made before about 2004 or thereabouts) will prevent any problem. And, golden weeping willows restore lost crown with incredible speed. My tree, which in any other yard would be lost, will be just fine. The new product, the so called "copper soap" may also work, but since I have bottles of the old, which I bought when I saw it would be discontinued, I have not begun to use and experiment with it. I have been frustrated, because I have called universities suggesting research, talked to people at Arboretums, and distributed papers explaining everything, and no response. I even called two of the companies that produced the older product, and suggested that they advertise this new use. All this has been to no avail. So now I am quietly continuing to use my old Dragon product. The last time I checked, the Camelot product was still available, but that may be two or three years ago. And, at that time, it was available, I think, only in gallon sizes or larger. The new "copper soap" may work. If anyone wants to try it, I would recommend not diluting it. Elemental copper is a fungicide, so if it will stick to the wood as well as the old "copper salts of fatty rosin acids," then it may be a good bet. It just seems insane to me that no one will take up this fungal, and bacterial, rot preventer, and save valuable ornamental trees. Maybe the revered Dr. Shigo, who insisted (he is gone now, bless his heart) that rot is not a problem with trees, so no treatment is needed, still holds sway. His idea that trees can "wall off" fungal infections has some truth to it, but in the end most trees eventually get serious fungal infections that spread beyond any "walling off" the tree can accomplish. As a logger, who has cut a lot of timber, and bucked the logs into the best saleable sections, I have seen first hand how rot progresses through the trunks of trees, starting not only with scrapes caused by prior logging, but also by the entrance of fungi into broken stubs of dead branches, etc. It is such a shame to see special ornamental trees destroyed by something so easily preventable. I have even used this fungicide to prevent rot in some of my forest trees. Anyway, thanks again, Brandon--you are a true friend of trees. Maybe your keeping this topic alive will lead to someone, seeing it who might be interested in a very neat little "official" research project. I am absolutely 100% sure of the efficacy of this treatment, if done as I have explained, and done in the kind of situations I have described. --Spruce

Thanks so much for responding! I had some trouble logging in yesterday night, so please forgive my lack of follow-up. Krista, you must have the strength of Job for being able to ignore the BS leaves! I aspire to that! KSGreenman and WinterCat, I should have specified that I used the powdered formulation. I have used the premixed copper soap spray and when I ran out and tried to get more, the options at the shop were the liquid concentrate and the powder formulation both of which were to be dilued in water. Well, the powder is what I went with that left the yellow-blue deposits on the leaves. WinterCat, I didn't get the Kocide; and this thing says that it should be reapplied after it rains as it does wash off. We'll see. Either way, I'm pleased to hear your comments that it is effective. Perhaps my roses will be able to forestall their BS infestation until later in the season. Last year they started altogether too early when I was still in insect combat mode (there is a winter moth infestation in the Boston parts). I'm hoping for a bit better control this year and your comments make me a bit more hopeful that I might have put off the infestation a bit. How frequently do you reapply? Michael, your comment worries me. When you say it is probably no safer than the Tebucanazole, do you mean while applying it or to animal life afterwards? (Either worries me, but I'd just like to know). I did use the micronized sulphur last year but again wasn't sure of either efficacy or general safety and made the assumption that a copper sulphate would be gentler all around to sulphur. It sounds from what you say that sulphur would be the better agent to use when it is still cool and that copper better when it is hot? Is that right? What is your opinion on the Neem stuff? Is it effective against BS? The spray itself says it helps protect against insects and Powdery Mildew which is really not much of a problem for me, so, although I have used the Neem spray a couple of times to combat the insects against which it was decidedly effective, when I saw a few leaves with BS, I thought I'd switch to something that at least explicitly said it tackled BS. Wondering if you agree with this rationale?

Hey Harry, I finally went thru the what everyone is growing list. I didn't want to in fear that I would start looking at a new possibility to add to my indoor tropical fruit collection. I all eady know that I want another mango. I love this fruit, and If I did not have Soursop growing from seed, I might just go with that, but no room for two of a kind except mango! Lychee, sapodilla, OMG I am overwhelmed with possibilities! I was thinking about dragonfruit but I am not wanting to drag that in and out and end up in a blood bath!! I wanted to ask you what you think would be a great edition. I know if I buy another mango, and Nutmeg I can only buy one more after that and that is it until I own a house that I can have a greenhouse. All of the sugar apple seedlings will be sold on ebay or given up for a trade here. I was leaning towards Adolpho or Nam Doc Mai, but I am up for your opinion. what do you think is your favorite mango and why? Same with any tropical fruit, keeping in mind I can't let it grow to huge proportions. I also will send your postage as soon as I can. Thanks for everything Harry. It really helps to have someone guide me with my new hobby! Andrew

"Your best approach would be to put in a lot of flowering plants that are attractive to bees, butterflies, etc. Anything that maintains a high population of pollinators for a long period around the time mangos flower." +1. Go to the local home depot, lowes or garden center and look at the perennials for bee activity on them. Buy some of those. I say perennials because if you buy annuals (if you live somewhere they will survive 12 months) you will be replacing them every year.You I used to have the same problem without fungus issues. Anthracnose is visually identifiable (and sometimes preventable) look up pics of it and if you don't see it you don't have to spray... but if you do need to spray copper do it BEFORE the flowers open, or AFTER the little fruits set. At least that's what I have read, but I haven't sprayed copper yet for unproductive trees, luckily no need to. I did buy a little Pickering years ago that had anthracnose from the nursery, it's first bloom was lost but spraying copper prevented the new leaf flushes from being infected. If you water your lawn at dusk, don't. Mango will not dry well at night leaving them open to fungi growth. Water in the early morning so the leaves can dry thoroughly.