Tree Fell Over

17 years ago

Just when I thought I had seen it all.

My wife came in from getting the mail and said one of my fruit trees had fallen over. Sure enough, my seven year old Montmorency cherry tree was laying on the ground. At first glance it looked like someone had taken a saw and cut it down. The trunk just below the soil line had just completely and almost evenly broken off as though someone had surgically removed it. The bottom of the trunk where it broke was covered with a white substance, fungus? The trunk had two globs of jelly on it, so I suspected borers. I did notice during the fall that the tree had white fungus growing on the trunk from the ground to the beginning of the limbs. I suspect stress, then borers finished the tree off. I picked several gallons of cherries off the tree this past summer.

I wonder if anyone else has had this happen, and if so; were they able to determine what caused it.

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Comments (7)

jean001
17 years ago
Sounds as if it had a girdling root.
fruitnut Z7 4500ft SW TX
17 years ago
Virus infection can cause graft incompatiblity and a clean break at the graft union. Not sure your description matches that but I've had it happen to 3-4 yr old trees.

The Fruitnut
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brandon7 TN_zone7
17 years ago
Jean,
What makes you think it's a girdling root?

Hoeseman,
I hope the white fungus looking stuff isn't a sign of Armillaria infection. Do you know what kind of rootstock your tree is growing on? Is the tree planted on a recently forested area or on a site where another tree has died? Any chance of pics?
jean001
17 years ago
You asked: "What makes you think it's a girdling root?"

Because I've seen toppled trees from that reason that appeared similar to being cut off, but when one looked closely, it wasn't so. The most recent example I saw was a slight dished effect on the part remaining in the ground.

If you had mentioned that the base of the trunk resembled a pencil point, then it certainly would have been circling root(s). I've seen a number of those.

However, didn't even think about incompatible graft -- don't have any experience with that.

A question: How far above ground was the apparent "cut?"
hoseman
Original Author
17 years ago
Brandon7

The tree was planted in an old farm field that become part of my yard and the site of my orchard. No other tree had died in this location. The rootstock is whatever Stark Bros. used back in 2001 when the company was changing hands. They were and probably still are tough to get information from in regards to rootstock.

I do not believe there is any indication of girdling roots. This tree broke inches below the soil line. However, when time permits I will examine the soil, as well as cut into the tree trunk looking for anything that might indicate what happened.

Here is a photo of the trunk where the break occured.

{{gwi:126301}}
brandon7 TN_zone7
17 years ago
Wow, that poor tree has been in trouble for some time. The whole inside is rotten. Definitely not a girdling root problem.

Is it possible to tell where the graft was? Do you think the break occurred at the graft union?

I don't know what's caused this, but I'm inclined to think Fruitnut's idea might be a possibility.
theaceofspades
17 years ago
hoseman, you said that Cherry tree was planted in farm soil. Farm soil is too rich. Maybe it got wet feet and fungus got it.