Bark Condition on Gleditsia

[Nickrosis]

A homeowner asked about this tree today. Any clues on what this might be? It looks like animal damage towards the bottom, but I was wondering if it might be Netria or some other canker that's just festering away.

You're looking at about DBH of an 18" honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos).

 

[Nickrosis]

Here's a close-up of the lower portion.

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Nice job on the pictures; the 2nd one seems to show a depession surrouded by flaky wood in a cankerish pattern.

If you can get on the customer's clock, you can find out a lot more by carefully tracing the outer bark and dead tissue. Can you do that and send another picture?

TGRs are definitely called for with these type infections imo.

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

looks like an injury or canker ..with some extra animal damage.a combination of the two


ah or was this an area where a bracket fungus/fruit was !!!

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Looks like some kind of phisical injury first, possilbly canker, then some animal chewing on the bark. They'll do that looking for a home or food.
I recommend wait and see if it progresses.
Let us know.

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Originally posted by Mike Maas
I recommend wait and see if it progresses.

Mike I think you're right about the progression of pathogens (the first one probably being a bipedal nonsapient) but wrong about stepping back. If you had a dirty infection on your leg would you wait and see if it progresses?:Monkey:
Excavation and sanitation can only do good as long as you don't break boundaries. It's time to get the (low-impact) tools out of the bag, man.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I think a tissue sample to see if there is there is a pathogen would be in order.

My experiance with necteria in Gleditsia is that it leaves exposed wood. Are there any little orange/red fruiting bodies visible in this moist weather?

http://www.forestryimages.org/cgi-bin/searchthumb.cfm?searchparam=Nectria

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Guy, what would you have him do if it is Nectria Cancer?

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Originally posted by Mike Maas
Guy, what would you have him do if it is Nectria Cancer?

From previous posts: "you can find out a lot more by carefully tracing the outer bark and dead tissue... Excavation and sanitation can only do good as long as you don't break boundaries. "

For most infections, invigorate root system and apply TGR.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

If I understand you then, you would not cut into this injury or canker, just invigorate the tree.
If so, I concur. If this is a canker, it's grown over and the tree appears to be staying ahead of it, or even compartmentilized it.

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Mike, "tracing the outer bark and dead tissue... Excavation and sanitation" is certainly cutting into the injury, to better diagnose the cause, so I'm not sure we agree. Where and why would you not remove dead tissue?

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

I don't see dead stuff. It looks like it's being disturbed from the outside, to the inside, and hasn't broken into the cambium. Either that, or the cambium was broken into and has grown over.
That's how I see the photo, I could be wrong. Perhaps Nick could shed more light on the subject.

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Outer bark is dead stuuf, and if it conceals an active pathogen or decay it's gotta get out of the way for a diagnosis to be made.

 

[Nickrosis]

Not having the tools I wanted, I used a flathead screwdriver to remove some of the loose, spongy material to send to Madison's pathology lab. I went too deep once (more than 1/2") and did gouge live, green tissue. Oops. Otherwise, it was pretty easy to get under some of the tissue and pop it off the trunk, so to speak.

 

[Heidel House]

Painting the area with Subdue or like product has had some effect for me and others I know.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Hey Guy, I'm not sure about using a PGR that reduces cambial production on trees with cancers.

They don't say much about reductions of woundwood production.

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Originally posted by John Paul Sanborn
Hey Guy, I'm not sure about using a PGR that reduces cambial production on trees with cancers.

I'm not either; my thought is that TGR use may firstfree the tree's resources to better codit inside, and the tree may be able to seal the outside with new growth later on.

But I'm guessing--I'll ask the TGR guys to look at this.