hairy apple tree

[FB.]

Is this it?

That looks like woolly aphid getting attacking burrknots on the rootstock portion of the trunk.

[Nicos]

I'll take a piccie of my tree tomorrow and see if my OH can get the hang of reducing the size.
Then divvy can look and see if they are the same thing!

[sarraceniac]

That looks like woolly aphid getting attacking burrknots on the rootstock portion of the trunk.

Can't fool an expert can I? But to the non-expert it looks a lot different from your own pictures.

[FB.]

Right , it't deff not woolly aphids . It just looks like velvet like on antlers , my other trees are the same but not quite so thick . You can scrape it off with your fingernail , it feels a bit waxy when on your finger and the bark underneath is normal. Mum says where do you buy lime sulphur .

Before you start dumping every chemical known to man onto the tree (and killing all the beneficial soil organisms and insects in the process), get an accurate diagnosis.
Lime sulphur and Bordeaux mixture are highly toxic to most of the friendly creatures too. Your worm population will be poisoned and eliminated in a matter of hours. So what? I hear you ask.
Worms perform a good sevice by pulling rotting leaves into the ground, reducing leaf diseases the following season. The rotting leaves also fertilise the soil.
There are many other beneficial creatures that are part of a healthy environment, but which can easily be killed by chemicals.
Please think carefully before resorting to the pesticide/fungicide equivalent of nuclear weapons.

I still think that it's either woolly aphid, or a natural phenomenon specific to the variety concerned.

A picture would speak a thousand words.

The following picture shows the natural slighty white fuzziness on young stems of certain apples.
If it looks like the picture below, it is normal and nothing to worry about.
I will rub off with your finger. If it was woolly aphid, it would also rub off, but the squashed aphids leave a red blood-like stain. Woolly aphids are much denser and resemble clumps of fungi on young branches, or at sites of old pruning cuts, or other cracks in the bark.


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[Nicos]

That looks very similar to mine!!!! I'll still try and get a piccie though!

[divvy]

After asking on here I have decided that it probably is natural so I'm going to leave well alone . Thanks for all your help . x

[Nicos]

Sorry- never got round to taking the piccie...forgot ( high winds and rain has also kept me indoors!!)
Yup- I'm 99.9% sure it's natural too!