Question:
One of our large pine trees is dying. My next door neighbor noticed it and said it could due to a broken sewer line that occurred two years ago. There is a healthy tree about fifteen feet to the left of the dying one. What should I be doing to correct the problem?Answer:
- The answer to this problem is not clear cut, but I'd be surprised if the broken sewer line is the cause of the problem. It's been too long after the fact for this problem to be showing up now. In the Bay Area, pine trees particularly
- Monterey Pines, are dying from the stress caused by the drought and Pitch Canker. The stressed trees are susceptible to bark beetles and other insects that carry the Pitch Canker Disease. Insects feed on the trees releasing the Pitch Canker fungus that plugs the water conductive tissues and causes lesions were sap collects and drips down the trunk. The disease starts in the older needle bundles. There is an excessive amount of needles that turn brown and drop while at the tips new growth continues to develop. Next, we see die back starting in the lower part of the canopy as entire branches die. The dieback continues up the tree until it's completely defoliated. Unfortunately, there are no known chemical controls for this disease. Healthy trees will fend off the insects, so the disease is not an issue
- So, I’d have an arborist come on site and evaluate the trees. He or she can advise you as to what can be done next. More information is available at http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74107.html
Question:
A volunteer plum tree has sprouted in my backyard. Should I take the time to dig it up and put it in a pot or just not bother with it?Answer:
- It’s always a gamble to cultivate volunteer fruit trees. Trees started from a plum pit or an apple seed is always unpredictable. You have no idea what you are going to get until the crop matures. Also, there are no guarantees it will produce in the first place. This is called plant genetics.
- Those trees started from vegetative parts will produce fruit that is a mirror image of the original or parent tree. The problem here is that most fruit tree varieties are not growing on their own root. So, the shoots, suckers, or volunteers will not be clones of the desirable variety but that of the rootstock. Fruit trees are budded on to different types of rootstocks to restrict their growth or to make a variety more tolerant to soil conditions or pests. So, if you’re looking for a productive tree it’s probably not worth the effort to cultivate it. More than likely, your expectations will not be fulfilled; however, there can be exceptions.
- If you are curious then I would dig it up, transplant it into a pot and wait to see what happens. You can always graft or bud a desirable variety to it at some other point in time.