Ugly growths have appeared on some branches of my plum tree. They
gird the branch and are a couple of inches long.

Can anyone identify them and tell me how to stop them?

Thanks. vince norris

Probably black knot:
http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/pp/ext.../blknstf.shtml

It's nasty stuff. I battled it for several years on my two Stanley prune
plums, by carefully pruning out the affected branches, but it spread rather
dramatically. I was not willing to use fungicide sprays, and between the
black knot, and the brown rot on the plums, and the plum curculios, I
decided to take down the trees and grow something more satisfying.
Hopefully you will have more success than I.

Sue

Zone 6, Southcentral PA


"vincent p. norris" wrote in message
...
Ugly growths have appeared on some branches of my plum tree. They
gird the branch and are a couple of inches long.

Can anyone identify them and tell me how to stop them?

Thanks. vince norris

On Sun, 06 Jul 2003 02:37:43 GMT, "SugarChile"
wrote:

Probably black knot:
http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/pp/ext.../blknstf.shtml

It's nasty stuff. I battled it for several years on my two Stanley prune
plums, by carefully pruning out the affected branches, but it spread rather
dramatically. I was not willing to use fungicide sprays, and between the
black knot, and the brown rot on the plums, and the plum curculios, I
decided to take down the trees and grow something more satisfying.
Hopefully you will have more success than I.


If it looks like black knot prune it off immediately. Make your cut
at least 6 inches away from the knot. Use a sharp tool and be sure to
sterilize it after each cut so you do not spread the pathogen. I use
a 10% bleach solution for sterilization.

Remove and burn the cuttings.

Black knot can be very difficult to fight - get it right away and keep
an eye out for more outbreaks.

John

Thanks. The photos on the website Sugarchile posted look like what's
on my tree.
If it looks like black knot prune it off immediately. Make your cut
at least 6 inches away from the knot. Use a sharp tool and be sure to
sterilize it after each cut so you do not spread the pathogen. I use
a 10% bleach solution for sterilization.

Remove and burn the cuttings.

I'll do that.

vince norris

On Sun, 06 Jul 2003 22:51:17 -0400, vincent p. norris
wrote:

Thanks. The photos on the website Sugarchile posted look like what's
on my tree.
If it looks like black knot prune it off immediately. Make your cut
at least 6 inches away from the knot. Use a sharp tool and be sure to
sterilize it after each cut so you do not spread the pathogen. I use
a 10% bleach solution for sterilization.

Remove and burn the cuttings.

I'll do that.

vince norris

Good luck. Keep a sharp eye for more outbreaks as they will surely
come. I had to prune so much off one of my Stanleys that I thought
that I might lose it. It survived but sure is a dumb looking tree.

John