Various bark problems

[MrU&W]

Greetings all,

First post, but thank you for all the information I've already picked up on the Feeling Fruity section of the site; so much to learn!

I've spotted the following bark problems and wondered if anyone could confirm what they are and possible remedies?

The first two pics are from an apple cordon. Is this canker? Is it feasible to cut back below the main area of infection? In effect I'd be removing the top half.....

The last pic is from a pear, there are a number of similar splits; should I be concerned?



Thanks all.

[Glutton4...]

Hello, and welcome to the Madhouse!

Sadly, I can't answer your questions, so hopefully someone with better knowledge will be along soon. I reckon FB is your best bet - he's our resident Fruit Tree expert. There is another but his/her name escapes me. Sorry.

[MrU&W]

No problem, but thanks for the welcome.

[RedThorn]

Hi from me too, hopefully FB or Orangepippen will be along shortly, in their hands you'll have more answers than you can shake a twig at!

[FB.]

The first two pictures have "fiddlestring" cankers. These tend to be much less serious than "perennial" "Nectria" fungal canker.

The third picture shows some bark splitting due to the tree growth, or perhaps the branch being a bit strained by the weight of fruit. There may once have been some kind of canker present to the left of the split but it doesn't appear to be an active/infectious canker.

Personally, I don't think you need to take any action because the cankers are not likely to get any worse (although there may be further small cankers appear elsewhere on the tree).

What is your approximate location and what are the varieties?

[MrU&W]

Thanks for clearing those up. I've just been doing some more reading on Cankers, so good to know when to panic and when not.

I'm located in London and I'll try and dig out the varieties for you and post.

regards