i have a plum tree and its leaking a whole lotta sap....thats probably not good. what am i supposed to do?

Question

1/3 of the tree is already kinda dead and its leaking sap everywhere. theres barely been any plums this year only little tiny ones that were kinda sour. how do i save it!?

Answer 1

You don't have an insect problem. What you have is a pretty common disease that affects fruit trees like Plums and Cherries. It's called "cytospora canker". You can look that up if you wish. The tree is succeptable to infection from being weak or stressed out in some form or another, be it from drought, severe changing weather pattern from winter to spring, or an injury to its trunk or branch areas, mainly by mowing injuries and improper pruning practices. The fungus enters the tree through an open wound and is transported many times by the wind. Whole branches may die off, one here, one there, until the whole tree eventually succumbs. Once this disease enters the tree it is pretty well doomed, unless the bleeding is from just a branch or two. If this is the case, you can just cut off the gummy oozing branch, and dispose of it. Preferably, it needs to be burned to prevent any further chance of infecting another tree. If the "oozing" is coming from a wound on the trunk area, it is a hopeless cause, and the tree will eventually have to be removed. The sooner the better. As you have noticed the production of your plum has declined considerably this year. The disease is in an advanced stage when you get the gummy oozing, especially if you are getting partial areas dying off already. Hope this answers your question. Good Luck
http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/FactSheets/cytospora/cytoplum.htm
http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/factsheets/cytospora/cytospora.htm

**Billy Ray**

Answer 2

There are borers that go into peach and plum and apricot trees. Where they enter a bubble of dry sap comes out and makes a shiny lump there on the bark. If you catch the problem soon enough you can kill the boring worm by inserting a big needle or a sharp nail at the hole where the sap is coming out. If you can't kill them there you are going to have to cut off branches to keep them from moving into the rest of the tree.

Yours sounds like it is in bad shape already. Give it a try anyway. Each sap bubble is probably a borer happily killing your tree so work fast.

Answer 3

Plum Tree Gum

Answer 4

Cut it down and get rid of it before the bugs spread to other trees. Do it now!

Answer 5

i think its is getting too much food and water because its going to make a lot of sap out of it, not going to have a place to store.