Pear tree

[Gurberly]

I have a small pear tree. It has two varieties grafted onto it. Previous years it has been a good and reliable cropper.

This year, the variety on one side of the tree blossomed and looks normal and as expected. The other side whilst the buds started to form earlier in the year, all development seemed to stop shortly after bud development. So one half at the moment is thriving, the other looks dead.

There does appear to be some damage to the bark at the base of the tree.

I also have an cooking apple which is much older and larger and is displaying the same symptoms, i.e. little blossom, leaf buds failing to develop and areas of similar bark damage.

With the apple tree, the damage could be my fault as a couple of years ago, I have removed some 15-20% of the larger branches where the tree was beginning to impinge on other areas of the garden. The pear tree has not been pruned at all.

Any thoughts as to what it might be? Can anything be done?







Regards

G

[orangepippin]

It looks like the surviving shoot is actually growing from the rootstock, have you ever had pears from that part of the tree? It does look dead on the other side. I would be inclined to cut out the dead side and let the remaining tree (if it really is a pear and not a rootstock) grow more freely. Let's see what others suggest!

[boundtothesoil]

Possibly the result of a progressively worsening case of canker on the right hand side trunk? If the trunk is completely girdled with the problem, then it is unlikely to recover. This year's growth looks to have been aborted. Even if the right hand side limps on and recovers a little (i.e. next year), it is most likely permanently weakened. It doesn't look good either!

I agree with orange pippin's suggestion, but there is a case for going even further. Given its prominent position in the garden, and the possibility that you will only be left with a thriving rootstock, I'd dig the whole tree out and plant a new one. This could even be one bought now, in a pot from a good nursery, so it could go straight into the ground this summer.

[FB.]

My guess is that the tree was carrying canker (dormant) form the nursery and it eventually killed the stem - the wet weather last year won't have helped.
Alternatively, damage from a strimmer or rabbits might have damaged the bark and allowed canker to invade.

In any case, the dead-looking bit is not lying: it's dead and very unlikely to recover. I think there's a chance that the whole tree will die in due course. Although there may be concerns about the remaining shoot being from the rootstock, the leaves do look like pear rather than quince.

I have two questions:

Do you know which rootstock the tree is on? Presumably Quince A (therefore the shoot is of the second pear variety). If it's on Pyrus (P.com) then the second stem could be rootstock growth.

Can you take a picture of where the living stem joins with the trunk, to assess how far the canker has spread?

[littleexperience]

it looks very much like canker for sure.i have had so much problems with this that over the past 3 years i have lost 2 pear trees and also 2 plum trees and 1 cherry tree from it i now spray all my trees with bordeaux mixture and hope for the best come spring as that is the time it will make its mark .the only solution to your problem would be to cut out all of the dead side then spray the left side with bordeaux mixture then paint the wound and in the autumn spray again 2-3 times and once again in spring and the left hand side might survive there is really nothing else you can do

[Gurberly]

Many thanks for all the replies

Last year and the previous years we have been here (5 now!) both varieties/sides of the tree have fruited. This is the first time the right hand side has looked like that.

Sorry the tree is inherited so no idea of the rootstock...and no idea of the pear varieties either other to say that they were noticeably different (and very nice)!

I'll get a piccie of the stem trunk area tomorrow, though from the comments and what I can see of the tree, I'll be looking to dig it out.

More worried about the cooking apple tree now... looks similar but the trunk has to be 18 inches across!!

Cheers peeps

G

[Gurberly]

OK so I guess I am looking at firewood here

A couple more pictures of the base of the pear tree








and of the apple tree






Could I have done anything to have prevented this? Also how do i protect my remaining fruit trees?

G

[Gurberly]

...and a final pic



G

[FB.]

The pear tree might survive. Since you have no other pears it's unlikely to spread disease to another tree (not even an apple tree) so I would leave the pear until winter, then dig it out, cut off the dead part right back to where it joins the trunk, and hope that the remaining piece will survive.

Plant the remaining piece somewhere where its disfigured appearance won't cause a problem. With some thought or might be possible to plant the remaining piece so as to re-train it as a cordon, a fan/espalier or even a bush if the angle of planting is manageable.

The apple tree has died from phyophthora crown rot infection. The majority of apple trees today are grafted on MM106 and this rootstock is hopelessly prone to disease attack, especially crown rot - which is what killed your tree. It makes no difference what super-duper resistant variety is on top if it can be "hit below the belt". Dead roots = dead tree no matter how disease-resistant the variety grafted to it.

Trees on MM106 often die just as they come into good heavy cropping. I've lost so many trees like yours on MM106 that it's not even funny any more.

---------

If you plan to replace them, you need, at the very least, to plant different rootstocks (apple was almost certainly MM106, pear was probably Quince A or C) in those places because planting something similar in each spot will result in re-infection.
The rootstocks M116 and MM111 are fairly similar vigour to MM106 but they are much more disease-resistant and can usually be planted straight into the hole where a MM106 died without subsequent problems (I know because I've tested it by planting MM116 or MM111 into the spot where a MM106 died).


Conclusion:
Many modern varieties and rootstocks are becoming hopelessly prone to problems with disease - many carrying disease with them from the nursery which later reactivates when the tree is left to fend for itself in the big wide world. Don't buy common varieties and be careful where you buy your fruit trees.

[FB.]

Could I have done anything to have prevented this? Also how do i protect my remaining fruit trees?

G

What other trees do you have? Depending on what they are and how close, they might be at risk from the two dead/dying trees.

The apple tree was almost certainly doomed. Crown/root rot is a progressive disease, much like untreated HIV/AIDS in humans. The disease usually takes several years to kill its victim, although a few victims die sooner and a few survive longer or manage to live with it.

The pear tree probably was also carrying canker from the nursery; if a stem which grew in the nursery subsequently gets canker, it was probably a latent infection brought from the nursery and gradually ate away at the tree like the crown rot on the apple.
As the pear canker was above-ground, there would have been visible signs on the trunk as the canker developed, and warning signs on the leaves and blossoms.
the pear might have been salvageable if the canker had been cut out early - the infected side might have had a 50/50 chance of being saved a year ago, and maybe a 75% chance of being saved a couple of years ago.
The tree would still have had quite a scar from the large excision required to attempt to stop a canker spreading.

[Gurberly]

Thanks FB excellent and very knowledgeable answers.

Whilst not good news, I have a good idea of what I am looking at and what I have to deal with in future.

I have one other cooking apple about the same size as the dead one (no idea on the rootstock though!), also a damson.

Thanks to everyone for their help.

G