Q. I have murdered my 5 year old Santa Rosa plum. The borers
have finished it. I treated the tree for iron twice earlier in the spring, and
It never seemed to help, I now see why. They are in every branch, and looks like
the main trunk. I had white washed as you suggested, but I should have
reapplied every year, since it faded some, and of course the tree grew. I have
learned a valuable lesson, and I feel terrible for the loss of my tree. Thank
god, I had a bumper crop last year, hopefully I have enough jam to hold me a
few years until a new tree takes shape. Thank you so much for years of tips and
tricks for our garden.
Santa Rosa plum ripe |
A. So many borers as you stated is an indicator that
perhaps the branches were getting overly heated and burned by the sun. Always
keep a full canopy to shade the limbs and trunk. Pruning fruit trees in the desert is an art. It is finding a fine balance between removing enough and removing too much wood from a tree.
Sap oozing from cut limb on plum. Sap oozes freely from damaged limbs on plum. This is a defense mechanism and when working properly drowns any infesting insect with sap. |
Never prune so much that it
opens up the canopy for sunburn to the limbs. Mulch the soil which helps keep a
full canopy and dig out borers as you see them causing sap oozing from
the trunk or have limb dieback. I will do this in the winter time when all the leaves are gone and it is easy to find damaged limbs.
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