Spruce canker

[Al Smith]

After 3 yrs of very wet springs,this area of Ohio exprianced an outbreak of spruce canker,that affected mainly the blue spruce.I souht advice by way of my daughter{has a masters degree,in envornmental science],who directed me to the forestry department of Ohio State university.The advice I was given,was to remove the ones that had the canker,on the entire tree,which I did.The remaining 20 or so affected trees,required removal of the affected limbs.The proccedure was to use a standard pair of lopping cutters,and to dip the cutters,before each cut,in a solution of 50% bleach,and water,and afterwards,spray the affected area with this solution.All the limbs,and removed trees were burned.That was 4 yrs ago.I may be premature,but it seems to have worked.A phenonium occured,which I have never seen,the trees are sprouting new lower limbs,which I have been told ,is very rare,so maybe the story has a happy ending.

 

[arboromega]

al,
another imoportant management facet of this pathogen is to keep the soil moist in the 18-24" range of depth during dry periods. also, you may want to have some soil sample mailed off to your extension agent and tested for soil nutrient level, then fertilize accordingly to maintain health. avoiding stress is key.

 

[Al Smith]

re

I did forget to mention the fact I did fertilize,which helped.The former owner of the property,kept all of the needles raked up.Due to the fact that the blue spruce,is a mountain tree,this does not occur in nature.I have since let the needles fall where they may.