Is there anything wrong with this palm? (weedeater damage)Will it hurt the palm? Palm vascular system is distributed throughout the trunk, not in a ring around the outside. This will not kill the palm, but it is not good for it.What if this kind of damage occurred on an oak?
What could be wrong with this oak?
When we look closely, we see a canker and evidence of borers. Either could have killed this tree.
Is there anything wrong with this tree? Lets take a closer look.
Looking up into the foliage do you notice anything? Looks like a dead leader – canker. What else can we see?
At the base we see circling roots, what looks like the outline of the pot the tree came out of. The circling roots have probably grown to the point that they are starting to girdle the tree and cut off the flow of water to the top. The top starts to thin and canker is more likely to attack.
Is there anything wrong with this oak? What do you think it could be?
This is the base of the oak. Do you see any problems? The nylon rope is the handle of a root bag. It looks like the bag was left on (and is not biodegradable) and possibly orange nylon string and black plastic bagging. I do not see the top root at the soil line so it could also be planted too deep.
What could be wrong with these Washingtonia palms?Palmetto weevilsGanodermaBud rots?
This is one of those palms closer up. Can you tell more about it now?Boron deficiency has caused the bud to grow at an angle. Would this kill it? It may slowly kill it. However, the palmetto weevils were attracted to the stressed palms and killed them off first.
This Camellia does not look very healthy. What do you think could be the problem? The leaves look yellow. It seems to be the older growth, not the younger. Is this a nutrient deficiency? Which one could it be? Old growth affected means it might be potassium, nitrogen, possibly magnesium. Camellias like a low soil pH. This soil is low pH clay (this is in North Carolina). Perhaps they are not getting the right fertilizer. The plants were fertilized. What else could be the problem? The roots or crown? Lets take a look.
The roots looked OK, but look at the trunk. A sapsucker bird has been working the trunk, causing scaring that has interfered with the translocation of nutrients from the roots, almost girdling the tree. This tree has recovered from this damage.
Is there anything wrong with this palm?No. Root initials like this are normal. You might think you can plant the palm deeper because of this, but that is incorrect. These naturally form on some palms as they age.
What do you think happened to this palm?It has been in this condition for several months, but the symptoms happened very quickly.Not ganoderma – the older leaves would have been removed or flagged as the palm gradually declined.TPPD? The spear leaf did not die first.Fusarium wilt? – there are no dark streaks on the rachis although the tree did look like it had been “freeze dried”, it happened quickly and there is bleeding on the trunk. The bleeding is coming from many spots though.
We see all kinds of borings and holes in the trunk and sawdust at the base. The sawdust tubes coming out are evidence of ambrosia beetles. Would these kill the palm? No. They are attracted to stressed palms and probably moved in after the palm was killed. Dr. Monica Elliott thinks that this palm was most likely killed by lightning. The ambrosia beetles are not boring in the crown of the palm and would not kill it.
Lightning damage can also look like this.
What about ambrosia beetles on plants other than palms? This is what they look like on pines. They are supposed to be attracted to stressed trees. They may kill a tree as they bore and the fungus they introduce clogs the vascular system. They may only kill twigs (depending on the type of ambrosia beetle).
The Red Bay Ambrosia Beetle – Laurel Wilt is deadly though and does not affect only stressed trees. The fungus growing in the vascular system causes this discoloration and clogs the vascular system so that the trees wilt as this red bay is doing.
What do you think is wrong with these Japanese Blueberries (Elaeocarpusdecipiens). Hint – this was up in Marion County last spring. What would you check? Roots, irrigation, disease? This is cold damage.
Do you see anything wrong with these oaktrees? What happened to the lower foliage on the closest tree? This is called “lion tailing” . It is not going to help the tree and may open it up for stress and damage. The next tree back along the street to the left has been thinned more appropriately and the one behind that not at all.