Oak Tree Pests - Diagnosis and treatment

[somebodyhepme]

I have a tree which appears very healthy -- good crop of leaves, no stippling, no scales, no yellowing, no leaves dropping -- but the bark continues to suffer splits and die on the tree, and I have found several new bark damage areas which, when peeled back, send dozens of tiny gray bugs scurrying for cover. They're so small, I cannot even tell what shape they are.

I'm afraid if I don't get this treated quickly, its will kill my tree. I don't know whether to spray or treat systemically, nor do I know whether or not the "pests" are cleaning up the dead bark, or causing it.

The tree is a Red Oak, 14" multi-trunk 20' tall

I would appreciate a quick response.

 

[Stumper]

Is thebark actually splitting to the cambium or are there scales of bark which you are peeling? Is there any sap weeping? Can you post a picture?

 

[somebodyhepme]

RE: Is thebark actually splitting to the cambium or are there scales of bark which you are peeling?

The tree is splitting to the cambium layer and the bark layer is "raising" along the split line up off of the cambium. There are no "scales." The splits are 1/4 - 3/8 inch wide. However, if I then take my finger and begin splitting off the dead bark along the split line, the dead spot can be as much as an inch and a half, sometimes two inches, wide along the entire length of the split. Once "cleaned" of the dead bark, the area looks like a wound, although there is no "greenness" to the cambium at all at that spot. I thought it might be old wounds from sun scald, but some of these splits are on the insides of the trunks, under the canopy, and facing north, so they'd never get direct sunlight. Moreover, new ones seem to be appearing now that its Spring.


RE: Is there any sap weeping?

There is no sap at the wounds. The cambium layer for the split I peeled today is gray and dry underneath (so the split may have been there a while I suppose). Its only mottled light green where the loose bark ends (i.e., where I "peeled" to at the edge of the wound).


RE: Can you post a picture?

I don't have a digital camera yet, but I can take some pictures right quick and scan them.

Thanks!!

 

[Stumper]

I look forward to seeing the pictures. Does this tree recieve a lot of water and has it been growing VERY fast?-Sight unseen I'm thinking growth splits may be a possibility.-The bugs i don't know about -a lot of things like to "hide out" in shelters of opportunity.

 

[somebodyhepme]

I keep it well watered - once a week in the winter months, every three days in the summer, about 1/2 inch per watering time. I can't tell if its growing fast or not... I look at it every few days 'cause its the only thing in my back yard (I bought a big tree and I'm out of money!). I can tell you that it put out some new trunks (from the ground at the base of the tree), and I decided to let them grow because its a 5-trunk red oak, but used to be a 7 trunk. The three "new trunks" (replacement trunks) I allowed to grow are two years old, about the size of a thumb, and over 6 feet tall each. The tree was planted in 2000, and struggled the first year a little bit, but the last two years (and especially this year), its put out great leaf crops... thick... large..., almost no "die back" except the smallest of branches over the winter. But I look at it so often, I don't know if the trunks are any thicker or not. It started at about 20' and hasn't put on much height at the top, though. I know that.

I'll get the pictures done quickly...

Thanks again, Stumper.