Strong fermentation smell from red oak

[TheFoldsmith]

I have been "lurking" here for several months and been very impressed with the quality of answers so willingly provided.
We live on a forrested mountainside and have a mature red oak, about 22" DBH and over 60' tall, in our yard, close to our house. Yesterday morning I noticed a strong, sickly sweet smell, like fermenting wine, close to the tree and found streaks of fluid apparently leaking through the bark. Some of these streaks have patches of whiteish foam on them. The leaves appear normal.
I took some pictures of the tree and the streaks but have been unable to shrink them enough to stay under the size limit for posting.
Do any of you have suggestions as to what might be happening to our tree?
Many thaks for your help.

Colin

 

[S Mc]

Colin, welcome to the site.

To post your picture, here is what I do. Open them in paint, select Image, then Stretch/Skew. Opt for 25 % each on horizontal and vertical. Then save. This reduces the photo to a size that you can post and yet large enough for us to see detail.

Be careful if you have already reduced them however. Hopefully, you have a saved copy that is the original size. If not, the above reduction amount may be too great.

As for what is wrong with your tree, this sounds like alcoholic frothy flux. Slime flux would have a very sour smell, alcoholic frothy flux has a yeasty smell. They are not one and the same thing. White flux appears on the bark and persist only through the summer months; slime flux originate from wetwood from the entire.

"White or alcoholic frothy flux" occurs where microorganisms ferment sap in cracks and other wounds in the bark and cambial region. Alcoholic flux is acidic and nearly colorless, sometimes appears as a white froth, often eits a fermentative odor, and persists only a short time in summer." (Sinclair)

Although not considered a problem in some areas, some state this is a concern on oaks. This condition appears from wounds on the bark, so could be an indication of other issues; although could be from an innocuous source as well. An onsite arborist would be a good option in this case.

Let's see your photos, though, if you can get them posted.

Sylvia

 

[TheFoldsmith]

Thank you

Many thanks, Sylvia, for your response.
I'll try to get the pics up shortly but have no doubt that your thought of alcholic slime flux is correct, given the smell.
Is this usually a terminal illness? Is there any way to fix our tree?

 

[S Mc]

Alcoholic frothy flux is not considered a severe or terminal illness in and of itself. What it can be is an indicator of a stressed or injured tree and it can attract injurious agents.

This is why I would recommend an onsite arborist. To take a look at the entire tree to see if there is anything else going on that needs addressing and possibly mitigate the circumstances of the frothy flux that can draw these other vectors.

Many times we see the secondary or even tertiary problem and not the original, and prevailing issue.

As a side note: slime flux and frothy flux are two different problems with two different points of origins and different attributes.

Sylvia

 

[treeseer]

As usual I agree with S, except for:

"As for what is wrong with your tree, this sounds like alcoholic frothy flux. Slime flux would have a very sour smell, alcoholic frothy flux has a yeasty smell. They are not one and the same thing. White flux appears on the bark and persist only through the summer months"

Commonly, yes, but I've seen it flow at Thankisgiving.

"White or alcoholic frothy flux" occurs where microorganisms ferment sap in cracks and other wounds in the bark and cambial region. Alcoholic flux is acidic and nearly colorless, sometimes appears as a white froth, often eits a fermentative odor, and persists only a short time in summer." (Sinclair)

Although not considered a problem in some areas,

&The disease is noticed in some regions more than others; but reported in CA and AZ and NC and OH etc.

" some state this is a concern on oaks."

Yes, primarily.

"This condition appears from wounds on the bark, so could be an indication of other issues; although could be from an innocuous source as well. An onsite arborist would be a good option in this case."

True, but these "wounds" are often self-inflicted, included bark between buttresses. It can be terminal, if it kills enough cambium, but yes often stability concerns and aesthetics are reasons for preemptive removal.

see Attached. Your pics will help a lot.

 

[TheFoldsmith]

Thank you, Treeseer, for the additional information.
We will be contacting a local Certified Arborist, hopefully today, and will let both Sylvia and you know the outcome.
Once again, many thanks to both of you for sharing your knowledge.

Colin

 

[M.D. Vaden]

."

see Attached.

Do you pick the "Ooze" font yourself? Or do you get help with the article once you write it.

Liked those dripping letters.

Articles like that sure show the value of accumulating years worth of photos.

 

[treeseer]

"Do you pick the "Ooze" font yourself? Liked those dripping letters."

Yeah that was a cool graphic; that's all done on the editorial level. no changes in the text during review, as i recall. I'm glad they kept the suggested title.

"Articles like that sure show the value of accumulating years worth of photos."

Absolutely; I'm revisiting UNC campus this week for a followup survey; will be interesting to compare with past images.

Speaking of images...sure would be interesting to see this PA tree...:deadhorse:

and hear what the arborist says.

 

[TheFoldsmith]

Pictures of Alcoholic Frothy Flux

It looks like your instructions worked, Sylvia, and I have managed to attach a few pictures.
We contacted a local Certified Arborist and he agrees with your diagnosis and suggests that we take a few soil samples from around the tree for analysis and recommendations on any additional nutrients that may be required to reduce the stress on the tree.
Additionally, we have been washing, with a low pressure garden hose, the "bad" areas to reduce the attraction for the bugs in the hope that this will prevent any spreading of the problem.

Once again, many thanks to you all for your help!

Colin

 

[treeseer]

good job with pics! :yourock:

yup that's the same stuff as in the ooze article. does your arborist agree about the treatment including bark removal?

High pressure is better to rinse the stuff away; use a tarp to move it away from the trunk.