help with apples.

[yoanbob]

need some help with my apples, i have an apple tree, not sure what veriety, green apples, all the fruit have little brown spots all over and also what look like brown boils, whats wrong and how do i stop it for next year?

also i have another apple tree that has in the past had extensive goat damage, its badly stunted and the apples are tiny and few, could i take a cutting?
any help mush appriciated.

[SueA]

Hi Yoanbob, not sure but the problem with your apples sounds like either bitter pit or scab or a combination of both. If the raised spots are rough & corky & there are also spots & rough patches on the leaves & branches it's probably scab. There are sprays you can get for this but I don't know if there is any organic alternative, scab thrives in damp wet weather which could be the problem. Bitter pit just seems to happen & makes the fruit inedible due to the brown bitter spots throughout the fruit & there's not much you can do about that although watering in summer & not pruning hard is supposed to help. Not sure about your other tree, you could always give it a go & see what happens.

[yoanbob]

thanks sue, will try to get other half to help me get a picture up, didnt water during summer so that might be it.
hav'nt looked at the leaves that closley.
the raised spots are rough and quite big compared to the little brown spots, will disect one tomorrow to see the inside damage.
thanks again.

[yoanbob]

disected some apples and there is nothing wrong with the inside at all, taste delicious.
here are some pics of the problem, can anyone help?

[yoanbob]

Here's some picture's of the apples and there odd skin infection. Any thoughtd would be much appreciated.

Bob & Yo

[Alice]

I can't see any pics Yoanbob. Glad your apples are OK inside. As for your problems - well - I don't want to sound too pessimistic, but , in my experience, when trees have problems, you can prune them this way and spray them that way, but they still have the problem. If the apples are good, maybe you just have to accept that they don't look perfect. You can get that kind in the supermarket. Maybe someone else has a magic cure for them. Good luck and will watch with interest.

[nick the grief]

Here's some picture's of the apples and there odd skin infection. Any thoughtd would be much appreciated.

Bob & Yo

It could be either Scab or Capsid damage. The favourite looks to be Capsiid Damage as Scab looks more Corky than that. It's caused by the little bugger biting the fruit when thay are small & then as the fruit expands the mark grows as well.

Not sure how you can control this without spraying with something.

[Alice]

Got the pics now Yoanbob, so congrats on that. Still think what I thought before. If Nick is right (and he usually is - he is a Guru) and it is Capsid damage then your apples may be fine next year. At this stage in the proceedings I would just wait and see what happens next year, and enjoy what you have of this years crop.

[Palustris]

The apple on the far right looks more like Apple scab than capsid damage, so you may have both. You can spray with Copper sulphate for scab if you are organic, but you do need to begin early in the season and keep on doing it. therre are non organic systemic fungicides which work too, if you do not mind using them. Check the blurb on the packaging for suitability.
You could also, now that the leaves are falling give, the trees a Winter wash. There are organic versions of these available now, based on plant extracts. This kills off overwintering eggs and pests in the bark of your trees. Then wrap a Greaseband round the trunk to catch insects crawling up the tree, or any going down to pupate in the soil. It is always worth hanging a Pheremone trap in the trees in early Spring to catch the codlin moths.
As for your damaged tree, sorry but apple trees do not grow from cuttings. Depending on how damaged it is, you can either wait for it to regrow and then do some shape pruning later, or replace it altogether.

[yoanbob]

thanks guys will try the copper stuff and give them a winter wash.
fingers crossed for next year.

[Waffler]

Whilst on the subject, my Bramleys have got a close black speckle to them - any ideas what that is? These are the ones picked off the tree, rather than the windfalls (though they might have it too actually). The apples themselves are fine and since I mainly peel them I wasn't too bothered. Baked apples tonight (oops turned to mush - said to OH "5 more mins" then forgot them!! - mind you, he didn't do anything about it and asked whether they were inedible!!!) and I scrubbed them and it came off. I'm sure it's fine, but wondered whether any one else had seen anything similar.

[Palustris]

That sounds like a botrytis type infection. We have some Golden Delicious from my mother's garden. The tree grows near a huge sycamore wood and often gets what looks like a sprinkling of soot on the skin. Sycamores are notorious for dripping sap on to anything and everything near to them. The sap is home from home for botrytis. This washes off quite easily. The odd thing is, it continues to spread even on apples kept in the fridge!
As for peeling Bramleys to bake them, never. Core and fill with sultanas and syrup or honey and bake, serve with cream and die happy!

[Slovenia4Us]

While we're on the subject of brown spots my walnut tree in Slovenia has brown spotted leaves and a few branches seem to be dying - anyone know what that might be? I've tried asking my neighbour who has a walnut tree too but my neighbour speaks only Slovene and German and whilst I speak some German I'm not really up to discusing tree problems! My neighbour says that he will be getting a tree surgeon in next year to look at his trees and he will ask him to look at our tree too but I wonder if anyone here has any ideas about what might be wrong?
Jules

[Palustris]

Not having grown walnuts I am not sure how to help you, but this site may be of assistance.
http://www.graftedwalnuts.co.uk/pest.ihtml

[angie loves veg]

we also have an established walnut which has brown spots on its leaves - the spots however are alomost domed (hollow under),so quite deforming.

we had someone look at this, and it turned out to be a fairly common leaf mite - (cant remember proper name sorry) - no action can be taken, and in all other respects, the tree is happy. this years fruit was fine, and apparently you just leave it to it, and try not to worry.

I have also been advised (by an elderly ex-tree surgeon) that any walnut pruning should *only* happen in the second week in august (yes, he was that specific) something to do with the sap.

hope this helps