I have never had gummosis on my trees, but I have seen it destroy a
Northstar cherry on my mother's property (650 miles away). As I
understand it, it's not really a disease but a symptom of a disease of
bacterial or fungal origin or sometimes insects.
Maybe I have it now. last Friday (before winter returned) I finished my
pruning and I happened to notice some gelled sap on one branch of my
Opal plum. This is a young tree, my only plum that hasn't produced any
fruit yet. The location is on a small scaffold branch about half an inch
in diameter (where the problem spot is located). There is a slit in the
bark about a half inch long with sap oozing out. I pressed around the
area and found the adjacent bark to be soft and more sap was expressed
when I pressed on the soft area.
So, should I panic and amputate the entire branch or start out being
more conservative? I'll give the rest of the tree a closer inspection
when the snow stops again, the wind chill stops being in the teens, and
I can enjoy being out there.
Steve in the Adirondacks
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