My eureka lemon tree recently quickly died. When I cut it down I found that
an axial borer had drilled out the centre of the wood. The borer had got
right down into the stump.
I quickly disposed of the cuttings but now it is in three Murraya bushes.

I have not seen the borer. The wood shows no entry point that I can find.
There is no saw dust.

Regards
Doug

"The Old Bloke" wrote in message
...
My eureka lemon tree recently quickly died. When I cut it down I found
that
an axial borer had drilled out the centre of the wood. The borer had got
right down into the stump.
I quickly disposed of the cuttings but now it is in three Murraya bushes.

I have not seen the borer. The wood shows no entry point that I can find.
There is no saw dust.

Regards
Doug

From what I've read on the Canadian Forestry site, some parasites gain entry
thru cracks in the tree-bark, damaged wood or sap-holes. At least with
pines, leaking sap is a powerful attractant.

Out here in the country where the drought is biting deep, any sick or
thirsty trees are more susceptible, apparently. The sheer number of
different parasites makes it difficult to gain the satisfaction of knowing
which one it is.

Jason

"Jason James" wrote in message
...

"The Old Bloke" wrote in message
...
My eureka lemon tree recently quickly died. When I cut it down I found
that
an axial borer had drilled out the centre of the wood. The borer had got
right down into the stump.
I quickly disposed of the cuttings but now it is in three Murraya bushes.

I have not seen the borer. The wood shows no entry point that I can find.
There is no saw dust.

Regards
Doug

From what I've read on the Canadian Forestry site, some parasites gain
entry
thru cracks in the tree-bark, damaged wood or sap-holes. At least with
pines, leaking sap is a powerful attractant.

Out here in the country where the drought is biting deep, any sick or
thirsty trees are more susceptible, apparently. The sheer number of
different parasites makes it difficult to gain the satisfaction of knowing
which one it is.

Jason

Thanks Jason,

I agree that the water stress is probably making plants more susceptible.

I have often dealt with borers that go in, leave a trail of dust. But with
whatever these are, there is no visible sign till a major part of the plant
dies. When I then start lopping off the dead branch, the axial borehole has
usually got right down into the lower trunk. A single hole can be 4-6 ft
long.

"The Old Bloke" wrote in message
...
My eureka lemon tree recently quickly died. When I cut it down I found
that an axial borer had drilled out the centre of the wood. The borer had
got right down into the stump.
I quickly disposed of the cuttings but now it is in three Murraya bushes.

I have not seen the borer. The wood shows no entry point that I can find.
There is no saw dust.

Regards
Doug



Could be the augur beetle or perhaps termites. I would think you'd see the
latter though. Looks like both attack trees that are not healthy and
possibly on the way out anyway.

It is interesting that it is a citrus and murraya's that are affected. Both
belong to the same family. You might need to get a soil test.

Cheers

Richard

"The Old Bloke" wrote in message
...
My eureka lemon tree recently quickly died. When I cut it down I
found that
an axial borer had drilled out the centre of the wood. The borer had
got
right down into the stump.
I quickly disposed of the cuttings but now it is in three Murraya
bushes.

I have not seen the borer. The wood shows no entry point that I can
find.
There is no saw dust.

I've had good success iwth treating cherry tree borer with metho or
even detergent. I got a big cow syringe from the vet, filled it and
put the needle it in the holes (dunno what sort of borer it was
though).

"The Old Bloke" wrote in message

I have often dealt with borers that go in, leave a trail of dust.
But with
whatever these are, there is no visible sign till a major part of
the plant
dies. When I then start lopping off the dead branch, the axial
borehole has
usually got right down into the lower trunk. A single hole can be
4-6 ft
long.

I also recently had a lemon tree looking as sick as it was possible to
be without actually being dead. I finally got sick of trying to
cosset the rotten thing and pulled it out. It was young and small so
I could check it out well when I ripped it up and I found a hole right
at ground level which wasn't visible when in the ground. There was no
other borer hole anywhere to be seen. Could this have been an axial
borer?

"Farm1" please@askifyouwannaknow wrote in message
...
"The Old Bloke" wrote in message

I have often dealt with borers that go in, leave a trail of dust.
But with
whatever these are, there is no visible sign till a major part of
the plant
dies. When I then start lopping off the dead branch, the axial
borehole has
usually got right down into the lower trunk. A single hole can be
4-6 ft
long.

I also recently had a lemon tree looking as sick as it was possible to
be without actually being dead. I finally got sick of trying to
cosset the rotten thing and pulled it out. It was young and small so
I could check it out well when I ripped it up and I found a hole right
at ground level which wasn't visible when in the ground. There was no
other borer hole anywhere to be seen. Could this have been an axial
borer?


Perhaps. But in each of my cases, as I lop further down, I get to a point
where there is no longer a centre hole. So, mine start above ground level.

I have spoken to a couple of nurserymen and they say that they started
seeing this in the last year as the drought worsened. 50mm rain today.
Whoopee!

"The Old Bloke" wrote in message
...

"Farm1" please@askifyouwannaknow wrote in message
...
"The Old Bloke" wrote in message

I have often dealt with borers that go in, leave a trail of dust.
But with
whatever these are, there is no visible sign till a major part of
the plant
dies. When I then start lopping off the dead branch, the axial
borehole has
usually got right down into the lower trunk. A single hole can be
4-6 ft
long.

I also recently had a lemon tree looking as sick as it was possible to
be without actually being dead. I finally got sick of trying to
cosset the rotten thing and pulled it out. It was young and small so
I could check it out well when I ripped it up and I found a hole right
at ground level which wasn't visible when in the ground. There was no
other borer hole anywhere to be seen. Could this have been an axial
borer?


Perhaps. But in each of my cases, as I lop further down, I get to a point
where there is no longer a centre hole. So, mine start above ground
level.

I have spoken to a couple of nurserymen and they say that they started
seeing this in the last year as the drought worsened. 50mm rain today.
Whoopee!

Saw it on the news! And I hope all those 'No point buying a tank because
there's no rain' buggers are pulling their hair out today....lets hope that
more comes your way.

"The Old Bloke" wrote in message
"Farm1" please@askifyouwannaknow wrote in message

"The Old Bloke" wrote in message

I have often dealt with borers that go in, leave a trail of dust.
But with
whatever these are, there is no visible sign till a major part of
the plant
dies. When I then start lopping off the dead branch, the axial
borehole has
usually got right down into the lower trunk. A single hole can
be
4-6 ft
long.

I also recently had a lemon tree looking as sick as it was
possible to
be without actually being dead. I finally got sick of trying to
cosset the rotten thing and pulled it out. It was young and small
so
I could check it out well when I ripped it up and I found a hole
right
at ground level which wasn't visible when in the ground. There was
no
other borer hole anywhere to be seen. Could this have been an
axial
borer?


Perhaps. But in each of my cases, as I lop further down, I get to a
point
where there is no longer a centre hole. So, mine start above ground
level.

Thanks for that info - must do some research on borers. I generally
live and let live with garden insects.

I have spoken to a couple of nurserymen and they say that they
started
seeing this in the last year as the drought worsened. 50mm rain
today.
Whoopee!

You lucky bugger! How 'bout sharing it around?