Stand Alone Pages

Thursday, February 11, 2021

Cancer-Like Growth on Peach Trunk

Q. I have a woody cancerous growth coming from my peach tree trunk. Should I remove it or leave it alone?

Crown gall on peach tree

A. Judging from the pictures you sent, this woody growth looks like the early stage of bacterial crown gall disease. When the tree is older, this cancer-like growth can get quite large but it’s nothing to get overly excited about. It’s not a deadly disease like fire blight can be, but it does cause a gall-like growth of woody tissue near the point of infection.

Crown gall at the actual crown of a tree.

Sometimes it’s seen as a gall on the trunks of infected trees that were “nicked” with a dirty shovel that contacted the soil. In any case, break off this ball from the tree when it gets larger. It will grow back again.

Crown gall on the limb of a peach tree.

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