We bought a small mountain house in Bulgaria five years ago. It has a good selection of apple, plum and cherry trees. There is one peach which manages to survive despite being much higher in altitude than they are normally grown.
We noticed straight away one of the plums was ill. A neighbour advised to prune and spray with copper which we did. The next year a second plum was similarly struck and we followed the same procedure.
This last autumn we noticed a huge bough on a cherry which is the main ornament of the garden was dried and dead. It really has us in despair as people say there is no stopping this (we would like to be organic but would consider something if it would save the cherry). I guess we have to accept this tree will die sooner rather than later.
Can anyone suggest a plan? We have plenty of apples already and planted pears when we bought the place. It seems anything from the cherry, plum or almond family will be affected so there is not much to consider.
We really want fruit trees not decorative ones. We thought to plant a mulberry beside the cherry to replace it as it dies. Beyond this we just can't come up with ideas. There don't seem to be a lot of options.
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applestar
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Mulberries are pretty tough so that's a good choice.
How about.... Persimmons? Quince? Do you have Asian pears as well as the European?
Do they have to be trees? What about Grapes, Brambles (black and raspberries), Blueberries? Gooseberries and currants?
How about non-almond family nut trees? Also Pine nut trees.
...Give me a minute -- I'll think of some more!
How about.... Persimmons? Quince? Do you have Asian pears as well as the European?
Do they have to be trees? What about Grapes, Brambles (black and raspberries), Blueberries? Gooseberries and currants?
How about non-almond family nut trees? Also Pine nut trees.
...Give me a minute -- I'll think of some more!
+Hi Mihmar,
I guess from your discriptions that your problem is Bacterial Canker.
A real devil on Plum/Cherry and Almond plantations.
As you have found it is a terrible disease to get rid of.
Any prunings must be burnt and pruning equipment sterilised between trees.
Copper sprays are the only treatments that have any effect and even then ...not that much.
For re-planting ..if you want to have plums and cherries then try these rootstocks. they do have some in-built resistance to the disease.
For plum...the Myrobalan stock
and for Cherry....the F 12/1 stock.
Whatever ..if you can plant as far from the original trees as possable and remove any sign of infected wood from the trees as soon as it is suspected.
I guess from your discriptions that your problem is Bacterial Canker.
A real devil on Plum/Cherry and Almond plantations.
As you have found it is a terrible disease to get rid of.
Any prunings must be burnt and pruning equipment sterilised between trees.
Copper sprays are the only treatments that have any effect and even then ...not that much.
For re-planting ..if you want to have plums and cherries then try these rootstocks. they do have some in-built resistance to the disease.
For plum...the Myrobalan stock
and for Cherry....the F 12/1 stock.
Whatever ..if you can plant as far from the original trees as possable and remove any sign of infected wood from the trees as soon as it is suspected.
Thanks! We already have persimmons and lots of the soft fruits (grapes, raspberries, blackberries and blackcurrants). I had thought of quince before and forgot it! I thought it would be especially good to replace a plum right beside the house as it has nice flowers, I am told.
I'll have a look out for those rootstocks. Hopefully I can find somewhere that stocks them.
I'll have a look out for those rootstocks. Hopefully I can find somewhere that stocks them.