no

ken

It's much more likely that your tree is infested with a sucking insect such as aphids, scales, or whiteflies. Many of these will excrete "honeydew", which is basically slightly-processed tree sap. This will rain down on whatever's below, and will often then develop a blackish fungal growth called "black sooty mold".

I'd be willing to bet money that it's the 24/7 excretion of aphids or scale as saccharum suggested. I've tried for years to get someone to sample this substance! :-)

Thank you! Those explanations sounds way more understandable than the water in the ground. It is amazing to me that aphids or scale could secrete that much liquid. Is there anything I can do about it? Like I said, the tree is not mine and we get the branches cut back every couple of years but it is literally eating into the paint and windshield of my brand new car.
Thanks again!

Talk to your neighbor, first. You may suggest you'll split the bill to have a certified arborist come examine the tree. You proceed from there. In the meantime, park elsewhere!

Dax

Deleted duplicate :)

This post was edited by Popke on Mon, Jul 29, 13 at 19:40

You have the right to prune away any part of the tree that hangs over your property. You'll probably need to have it done once a year.

I'm a little concerned with your description that the substance is eating your paint.

I used to live in a neighborhood with large silver maples lining the streets. We had a really bad year with some sort of sap-sucking insect. They did indeed rain some sort of sugar-water on our vehicles, to the point that the car doors stuck a bit, the entire car was sticky, and the pavement was also tacky underfoot.

However, this sort of residue does zero damage to the car. It's basically sugar water. It washes off easily, but no paint damage.

Just my experience. Everything was COVERED with the stuff, but it was totally harmless.

"You have the right to prune away any part of the tree that hangs over your property."

While that statement is true in many cases, it is not universally so. Unless Rhizo has first hand knowledge of your particular case (that we aren't aware of), you'd be smart to verify whether there were local laws or neighborhood restrictions before doing any pruning.

Thank you all for the advice. The tree is still dripping away the clear water-like liquid. We are planning to have the branches cut back but it won't be far enough. They won't cut them back to the property line because it could harm the tree. I love the shade from the tree but the mess is a pain. I looked at the leaves on the ground and they look normal, but I am not a tree expert. :)

I had a red oak drip slime flux a few years ago. A clear liquid drip on the middle trunk of a 15ft tree, adolescent bark (still smooth), it went away with no further problems after a couple weeks. This may not be your same situation, but I am adding my experience anyway.

I just read this and live up the road in Palm Harbor and just last year started to experience a similar problem. Our Oaks started to drip but the "water" leaves a white residue on everything underneath. It does no damage but is hard to remove even with washing the car. Any ideas?

Aphids are causing the'sap' to drip onto the vehicles. Regardless of tree ownership and what you can cut overhanging your property, the best method of control is using the insecticide Imidiocloprid. It is the same common insecticide used to try whitefly.
Ive purchased a 10lb bag at HD or Lowe for about 15.00. Spread the granuals around the base of the tree according to label rates. It will take a few weeks for the roots to absorb and for the tree to move it up throughout its canopy. As the insects eat, the chemical kills them.
READ the label for rates and any potential risks to animals and humans. Its a pretty safe chemical for the average novice gardener.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bayer Insecticide

I have a 30 ft. oak with a very broad crown and from mid-summer to fall it "sweats", and although my car sits under a carport some distance away, I still get plastered with tiny sticky droplets (I do not allow them to sit on the car long because they make it difficult to see out when the sun strikes them, but they do not seem to be paint damaging). As far as I can see, it is not caused by insects, but it is a natural process from this tree. My only solution was to buy a car cover.

Civilwarcoins, have you considered what "natural process" this would be?

Hey civilwar, off topic but I was showing my kid my flying eagle small cent yesterday. I dig it but he wasn't impressed. Doubt he would have been impressed even if it was a '56 in a NGC holder not a flip lol.

how did you rule out aphids or scale.. or any other bug that produces honeydew??

ken

I am VERY late to this party, but wanted to comment, as you probably have found out by now, pruning branches back does not decrease the amount of drip from a tree. If anything, it increases it for a couple of reasons. One, the tree will react with flushes of new growth it needs to replace the energy producing leaves that you removed. Second, any pruning done to a tree aside from removing dead, diseased or damaged branches, is a wound afflicted to the tree. the tree will become stressed. a stressed tree is to leaf-sucking, honeydew spewing insects, what the ice cream trucks song is to children. They come-a-runnin'! The best thing to do, is to keep the tree healthy and happy. Water if it's been dry. Mulch under the canopy with a good wood chip mulch. DO NOT fertilize the tree or the surroundings. Excess nitrogen, and for most trees, ANY added nitrogen is excess, will only serve to attract aphids. The other thing you can do is to try to blast the insects out of the tree with a strong stream of water from a hose. If you can somehow use soapy water, or better yet, Safer's Soap, all the better. Once aphids are knocked from a tree, they do not return, although there may still be more on the tree and they multiply quickly! Hose the tree a couple times a week during the worst infestations. Hose your car down too while you're at it. The sticky substance is a sort of sugar which washes away pretty easily. Hope that helps!