Apple Tree Tips Drying

[ninnymary]

Last spring I planted a semi-dwarf fuji apple tree. This early spring a couple of the branch tips started drying up. I went to the local nursery where I purchase it and they said it was a virus in my soil and recommended I use Actinovate (an organic fungicide). Well the problem is getting worse! Now all the branch tips are dried. I pruned about 7 inches off each one and my tree is starting to get deformed. I already see new tips drying up.

Is there anything I can do to get rid of a virus in the soil? Can another fruit tree grow there instead and not have that problem? I really would like an apple there. I have a wall fountain with a plum on the left and would like an apple on the right.

Please help.

Mary

 

[hoodat]

Do they look as though they were burned before they dry up? (turning black) or do they just turn brown? If they look burned it could be fire blight. There is no cure for that but steady growth and pruning out the dead tips slow it down and let the tree get over the worst of it. Don't overfertilize. That just encorages soft growth at the tips which is more susceptible to fire blight.
If they are just turning brown and drying up it gets more complicated. It could be anything from a virus to a drainage problem to excess salts in the soil/ I don't see how anyone could diagnose the problem just from a description. Be sure you get advice from nurserymen who know what they are talking about. Big box store nurserymen are not trained to diagnose so much as they are trained to sell expensive products.

 

[ninnymary]

Thanks Hoodat. No, the tips are not black, they are just brown and look dead. I believe I got a good diagnosis of the problem. The woman at the nursery who helped me is a master gardener and very knowledgeable. She also showed me a tree that had the same problem to identify it. I paid $60 and sure hate to lose it! I will try to go back this afternoon and inquire. I will write down the name of the problem in order to do research on it.

Mary

 

[StupidBird]

How very interesting. My new semi dwarf fujis are doing the exact same thing. It is a very expensive tree to up and die; other varieties from other sources are not showing this problem, and the one year older trees are fine.

We DO have a very nasty invasion of the new wonderbug, the kudzu stink bug. By the hundreds it coated the new growth on the orchard trees, including plums, until I taught the chickens to eat them when I shook and brushed off the branches.

Is it possible that Georgia would have the same virus or is it infected root stocks? drat. drat. drat.

 

[catjac1975]

Gypsey moths did what you describe to my blueberries.

Do they look as though they were burned before they dry up? (turning black) or do they just turn brown? If they look burned it could be fire blight. There is no cure for that but steady growth and pruning out the dead tips slow it down and let the tree get over the worst of it. Don't overfertilize. That just encorages soft growth at the tips which is more susceptible to fire blight.
If they are just turning brown and drying up it gets more complicated. It could be anything from a virus to a drainage problem to excess salts in the soil/ I don't see how anyone could diagnose the problem just from a description. Be sure you get advice from nurserymen who know what they are talking about. Big box store nurserymen are not trained to diagnose so much as they are trained to sell expensive products.

 

[ninnymary]

I am sooooo happy! I went to the nursery and explained my problem. They said it was mostly likely a virus or fungus in my soil. They readily offered to refund my money or replace the tree! They also said nothing would grow there but to plant in a wine barrel or large pot.

On my way home, I called my husband to quickly dig it up. I kept telling him it was the one by the gate to the right of my fountain. All the way home, I kept hoping that he hadn't pulled my plum tree!!! He dug up the right one and I quickly went back to the nursery before they changed their minds about the refund/replacement. I sure didn't want the guy to forget what he told me!

I chose a tree that is grafted with Fuji, Jonagold, Gala, and Mutsu. This is what I originally wanted but thought it was to expensive. I only had to pay the difference which was $10. In the fall, I will plant in a wine barrel.

The tree is the same size as my old one and has 8 apples!

I keep staring at it! I just love it!

Mary

 

[thistlebloom]

Mary what did they say the name of the virus was? Was it verticillium wilt?

Also, why are you waiting until fall to plant it?

 

[ninnymary]

Thistle, the woman who I saw in early spring is no longer there and she was the one who told me what it was. I didn't write it down and all I remember is that it was a long complicated word that I knew I woudn't remember.

I did talk to my neighbor who knows alot about plants and he thinks it's verticillium.

When I went back to the nursery today, the guy there only said it could be a number of things and referred me to go to the university where once a month they help gardeners with advise and testing to see what they have.

I'm waiting to plant it in the fall because they said that would be a good time to do it. In the mean time, it gives me time to find a wine barrel. Up north they are much cheaper than down here. It is about 45-60 minutes from here and it's also where I get my chicken feed. Figures I'll need some around that time.

Mary

 

[thistlebloom]

Yeah, the only definite way to tell if it's verticillium is a lab test, although an educated guess can be made by looking at a cross section of trunk or limb. Bummer if you have that because there's not really a treatment. You just have to be careful and plant vw resistant plants.

Glad you like your new little tree! It sounds like it will be a fun one to get fruit from.

 

[897tgigvib]

How is that multi grafted apple doing now ninny?