Why does the bark of a cherry tree crack?

Every gardener who has fruit trees on his property should know why the bark on a cherry tree bursts and how to deal with this phenomenon. The problem of cracking can reduce the yield and lead to the death of the plant.

When growing an orchard, you must strictly follow the rules for planting and caring for trees. Even experienced gardeners do not always immediately understand why the bark on a cherry tree bursts. The problem must be solved when it arises in order to prevent its consequences from worsening and to avoid losing the plant.

Causes of bark cracking on cherries

Damage to the bark of a fruit tree can be caused by various factors related to weather conditions, diseases and infestations of insects and rodents:

Severe frosts - the bark cracks under the pressure of internal juices, which freeze at low temperatures. Due to expansion, it cannot withstand pressure and cracks.
Sunlight. If brown or red spots appear on the bark during spring warming, this indicates severe overheating and burns. This leads to cracking and death of entire sections of the bark.
Physical pressure is the process of damage to the barrel due to stress. The tree cracks when it is under the weight of crops in summer or large amounts of snow in winter.
Invasion of harmful insects - bark beetles, eating the plant and leaving passages behind them. Gum leaks out through damage to the trunk, which leads to the slow death of the plant.
The disease black cancer provokes cracks along the entire surface of the trunk, this occurs due to increased humidity.
Excessive application of fertilizing provokes too rapid development of the tree, because of this the bark on the cherry tree cannot withstand it and cracks.

Improper care of cherry wood leads to the formation of cracks. If the bark of a cherry tree bursts, it means the plant is not watered or pruned correctly. The application of fertilizers that are not suitable for the variety, or its excess, will also negatively affect the appearance of the plant. Cracks are a consequence of growing non-winter-hardy plants in cold climates.

TREATMENT

The easiest way to treat bark cracks is to cover them with a mixture of mullein and clay. It helps to quickly improve the health of affected trees, but it is not without a number of disadvantages:

unpleasant smell of putty;
difficulty in finding mullein;
the need to constantly moisten the “plaster”, since when the clay dries, it begins to suck the sap from the vessels of the bark of the affected tree.

Another significant disadvantage of putty made from a mixture of clay and mullein is its instability to precipitation. In order to prolong the action of this putty, experienced gardeners soak gauze bandages in it and then wrap them around the cherry trunk in the area of damage. Garden varnish can also be used to treat cracks. However, some gardeners do not recommend doing this. They claim that the healing properties of this remedy last no more than 9-12 months. And besides, applying garden varnish to young trees can irritate the delicate thin bark.

The most effective way to treat cracks is currently considered to be the use of special artificial leather. In appearance, it resembles a thick grayish varnish.

Artificial leather should be applied to a well-dried crack. It must first be thoroughly treated with antifungal drugs. After drying, artificial leather forms a dense, waterproof coating that is not susceptible to rotting or mold. This method of treating cracks is excellent for both old and young cherry trees.

Cherry cracked - how to treat?

If the bark bursts, you should immediately help the garden crops. The simplest remedy is a putty made from clay mixed with mullein. The product provides immediate help to affected plants, but there are a number of disadvantages when using it:

the difficulty is finding cow dung;
the product smells bad, so preparing it is unpleasant;
The duration of such putty is short, since it is washed off at the first good rain.

Advice. Sometimes gardeners wrap the treatment area with a bandage, which prolongs the life of the putty.

Another disadvantage of using such putty is that clay is an excellent absorbent substance. When such putty dries, it will absorb the sap from the bark, which is necessary to nourish the tree. To do this, you need to regularly water the treated area.

Advice. Protection against cracks is carried out at any time, but this should be avoided during the growing season, as the disease can spread throughout the entire tree along with the sap.

You should wait until the crack is dry. Then it is treated with an antifungal drug, and a special putty is applied on top. Gardeners have a choice of the following putties:

Garden var. Sometimes gardeners speak negatively about it. According to them, the product loses its therapeutic and protective properties within a year, and then becomes harmful to garden plants, irritating their delicate skin.
Special artificial leather. This is a new product that protects trees from cracks. Many experts consider this protection to be the most useful not only for young seedlings, but also for old powerful trees. This artificial bark is a dense coating that protects from excess moisture. It looks like a thick varnish-like material of a grayish tint. After applying the putty, the leather is applied on top. The gardener can make sure that the artificial bark does not become moldy or get wet.

Preventive measures to prevent cherries from cracking

Having figured out why cracks may appear on a tree trunk, it is worth preventing these phenomena in advance. Prevention is considered the process of furrowing. This event is mainly held at the end of spring, beginning of summer (May-June). Gardeners take a specially disinfected garden knife and make cuts longitudinally on the tree trunk on the north side. You need to cut not all the way through, but after a short interval. For the first time, the furrowing procedure is carried out in the fifth year after planting a young cherry seedling. The next time the procedure is carried out after a 5-year period.

If garden cherries are cracking on the site, you should carefully consider measures to prevent various tree diseases. In the case where the disease has affected a small area of the bark, it is quite possible to prevent the death of the plant by cleaning the affected area and treating it with special preparations. This prevents the death of not only one plant, but the entire garden.

You may also find the following materials useful:

Proper planting of cherry seedlings in autumn and spring
How to grow large and sweet raspberries - tips for gardeners
5 ways to protect your area from raspberry growth
The most effective summer pruning of fruit trees - what is it?
How to feed strawberries during fruiting

Treatment and prevention

To avoid cracks in cherry wood, take timely preventive measures. It is better to treat a tree in spring or autumn, when it is preparing for winter or flowering.

Whitewashing cherry trees

Whitewashing with lime in the fall will help prevent cracks and overwintering pests in the trunk. Depending on the age of the cherries, whitewash of varying concentrations is produced.

It is important to whiten the crops in the spring, with the onset of a thaw, this will prevent infection with fungal infections and protect the trunk from cracking caused by solar activity.

Prevention of disturbances due to frost and sun

Young trees are tied with burlap during winter frosts. For a taller plant, use paper or cardboard to retain heat in the trunk.

Video: Why the bark on fruit trees cracks

Video: When the trees scream SOS!!!…

The soil around the tree is mulched with sawdust to retain moisture and warmth of the root system. Protecting the roots from the cold will allow the tree to retain its nutrients and become stronger.

Furrowing

With the onset of summer, the furrowing procedure is carried out for fruit trees. Using a sharp knife, make longitudinal cuts throughout the entire bark of the tree from top to bottom, no more than a millimeter. The procedure is carried out when the tree reaches 5 years of age no more than once every four years.

Prevention of rodents

To prevent rodents from damaging the bark and root system, the following control methods are used: wrapping the root system with roofing material (allows you to avoid gnawing the lower part of the tree);
irrigating the tree with carbolic acid in a proportion of 50 g per 10 liters of water;
applying a mixture of manure and clay to the plant.

By following simple steps, you can prevent uninvited guests from appearing in your garden.

Pest Control

Cracks in the bark are caused by insects. The beetle larvae feed on the root system and partially damage the lower layers of the tree bark, which leads to the death of young plants. The pest must be controlled manually by digging up the tree trunk. Spray the trunk with 3% Bordeaux mixture. There are other pests too.

Marsh bugs are small black bugs that feed on the inner layer of bark. Cherries eaten by them stop growth and development. Shoots located above the damaged areas of the bark dry out completely. The beetles make passages through which tree sap oozes. When fighting them, use garden varnish and smear the trunk of the plant with it.
Goldworms are another reason why cherry bark bursts. The insect eats the bark of the trunk, small shoots and leaves. The insect lays its offspring in the folds of the bark, so the pests are difficult to remove. Frequent watering of the tree directed at the trunk and shoots will help in the fight against the borer. Water can wash away insect larvae and egg laying.
The bark beetle is a pest that gnaws long passages in the trunk of a cherry tree, which leads to the leakage of gum and the death of large areas of the bark. Females lay eggs deep in the trunk, making them very difficult to control. When fighting the bark beetle, the insecticides Metaphos and Chlorophos are used.

PREVENTION

The simplest way to prevent the formation of frost cracks is to whitewash the trunks in the autumn. But, as practice shows, the effectiveness of this method of prevention is not high enough. Therefore, experienced gardeners prefer to wrap cherry tree trunks with protective material in late autumn, starting from the base to the first-order branches. Old newspapers can be used as thermal insulation material. They not only perfectly reflect the sun's rays, but also prevent the bark from drying out, protecting it from the action of the wind. A constant microclimate is maintained under the paper layer, which avoids both dust and icing of the bark. You can also use non-woven materials, for example, spunbond or lutrasil, to create a thermal insulation layer. Ribbons made from it not only protect cherry trees from cracks, but also from rodents, who love to feast on their bark in early spring.

The most effective way to prevent cherry tree bark from cracking is furrowing. For the first time, the procedure is carried out 4 years after planting the seedlings, and then repeated every 5-6 years.

The blade of the garden knife is thoroughly wiped with a cotton swab generously moistened with alcohol. Then they pass it along the northern part of the trunk from its base to the location of the first order branches. The depth of the cut should be 2-3 mm. In addition to protecting against cracks, furrowing also helps to increase the thickness of the trunk. This in turn increases the productivity of cherry trees, making the fruits larger and juicier.

How to treat cracks in bark

If the bark on your cherry tree does burst, you should disinfect the wound by treating it with 1% copper sulfate or Bordeaux mixture, and then cover it with garden varnish.

It is important to observe the tree, because As a result of temperature fluctuations, the crack may increase. New damage should be treated promptly. After some time, a seal (callus) forms around the crack, which will prevent the appearance of new breaks.

If the damage is too severe, bridge grafting will help save the tree by restoring sap flow.

Sources of cracks

The direct source of cracks can be a variety of factors, ranging from pest attacks to fungi and weather conditions.

The most common causes of cracks:

Severe frosts cause the juices to freeze, when expansion occurs, the bark is subjected to pressure and cracks.

The active rays of the sun contribute to the appearance of brown-red spots on the surface of the bark, which indicates significant overheating of the branches and trunks. The tree gets burned, causing certain areas of the bark to crack and die.
If there is a bountiful harvest in the summer and heavy snowfall in the winter, this creates stress, causing the bark to crack.
Harmful insects, for example, bark beetles, usually gnaw into the passages in the tree and gum flows out.
Excessively frequent feeding, as well as exceeding the established dosages at the time of fertilization, contribute to the active growth of cherries, and this will lead to cracking of the bark.
Rodent activity leads to the appearance of bark cracks in the lower part of the trunk.

Improper care can also contribute to the appearance of cracks. Some gardeners, intending to prepare the tree for the coming cold, feed it with specially designed means. Such actions will only enhance the growth of shoots, which will subsequently crack, not having time to get stronger before frost sets in.

External circumstances

To avoid situations that cause cracking of the bark, you must first select a suitable place for planting young seedlings. In the case of cherries, loamy and sandy soil is suitable, which can allow air to pass through normally and not hold excess moisture. You should not plant trees in lowlands, shaded or particularly humid areas. An incorrectly selected area may cause cracking in the future.

To ensure healthy growth and development, it is also necessary to follow special rules for planting fruit trees. In order for the planted plants to take root successfully, you must first fertilize the area with organic matter. To do this, you should add manure to the soil six months before planting and dig to a depth of about 20 cm. If the soil is too dense, you should add sand - 10-20 kg per square meter and plow the planting area deeply.

Loose soil will provide conditions favorable for the healthy development of the root system and protect against cracking, which is possible due to a lack of nutrients.

Cherry does not tolerate proximity to large crops, for example, linden, pine, oak, which have strong roots. Growing in the same area as them, the seedlings do not have enough nutrition, which will lead to peeling of the bark.

Tree diseases

Cracking is often a consequence of one of the serious diseases:

Moniliosis . It is caused by a fungus, which manifests itself in the drying out of branches, the appearance of cracks, and spots.
Black cancer entails cracking and partial peeling of the bark. If there is high humidity, the disease destroys the tree intensively.
False tinder fungus is a hoof-shaped fungus that makes wood soft, causing cracking even from minor physical action.
Gommoz . The beginning is a crack that releases gum, which indicates the uncontrolled use of fertilizers. Gum discharge can also occur in cherries growing on acidic or too wet soil.

Timely action most often saves a tree from death.

Harmful insects

Another reason why the bark of a cherry tree has cracked may be insects.

The most dangerous pests are:

Wrinkled sapwood . Black bugs eat away layers of bark, leaving passages through which tree sap comes out. To eliminate them, irrigation with Bordeaux mixture is necessary.
The bark beetle can gnaw a lot of passages in the trunk, after which the surface cracks and then dies. Cherries must be treated with special chemicals, for example, Chlorophos.
Gold borers leave eggs . The offspring eats foliage, shoots, and bark, causing cracking. Insect larvae are washed away with a strong stream of water.
Khrushchev hatches its larvae in a circle near the trunk, the offspring end up in the lower layers and roots, and the tree dries out. Loss of nutrients may cause cracks in the trunk.

To preserve the bark from cracks, it is necessary to carry out pest control, which consists of a combination of chemical and agrotechnical methods. If you dig up the circles around the trunk and spray the plantings using special means, the crop will receive protection from harmful insects.

Rodents

In summer, cherries are exposed to a variety of diseases and harmful insects. During cold periods, plants may suffer from the activity of harmful rodents such as rats, field mice, and beavers. They gnaw at the bottom of the bark, roots, branches, seedlings are damaged, dry out and die.

The most significant damage to the crop can be caused by hares, which are forced to feed on part of the trunks located underground. This very often causes cracked bark on the tree. Shrews and moles dig up the roots of vegetation, but eat worms and insects, therefore they are absolutely not dangerous for cherries.

Prevention of cracks in the bark of fruit trees

First of all, it is important to choose seedlings of frost-resistant varieties that are suitable for growing in your climate zone. When planting fruit trees, pay attention to the location of the root collar. As a rule, it is recommended to leave it above the soil level, otherwise the young tree develops more slowly and, as a result, is less resistant to frost.

Choose your planting site carefully. You should not plant a cherry orchard in a lowland area; most likely, nothing good will come of it. To prevent cracking of the bark, you need to monitor the groundwater level. If they are too high, drainage channels can be dug. It is also important not to overdo it with watering the plants.

Cherries especially need watering in May during the growth period of green mass. In June, it is also necessary to moisten the soil around the trees, because... at this time the berries are poured. But during their ripening, it is better to reduce watering, otherwise the fruits may begin to crack. Frequent watering in the second half of summer is also undesirable. This provokes the growth of young shoots and, as a result, can reduce the winter hardiness of the tree. At the same time, autumn moisture-recharging watering shortly before cold weather, on the contrary, helps garden trees to survive the winter.

Why does the bark of fruit trees crack?

Cracks in cherries can be the result of several factors. The most common reason is waterlogged soil. As a result of frequent rains, excessive watering or stagnation of groundwater, the plant receives an excess amount of moisture, which accumulates in the unevenly growing bark, and in winter turns into ice and destroys the tree from the inside. Sometimes this leads to the death of cherries, because not only the bark is destroyed, but also the root system gradually dies off due to prolonged excessive moisture.

In addition, cracks on fruit trees can appear as a result of sunburn, especially under the influence of active spring sun. But similar burns with subsequent cracks in the bark also occur in winter. Experienced gardeners claim that most often they appear on trunks on the southwestern side.

Cherry bark diseases and their prevention and treatment: description, photo

Important: Diseases of the cherry trunk can be caused by untimely treatment of the crack, as well as fungal infection from other trees. Fungal infections of the trunk are very dangerous for the tree. If the disease is left to chance, the tree will die.

Let's look at the most common fungal diseases of cherries.

False tinder

Hard, light brown to dark brown growths grow from cracks in the wood. As a result of tinder fungus damage, the wood becomes soft and the tree can easily break. Destruction occurs from within the tree. If there are trees on your site that are completely infected with tinder fungus, they need to be uprooted and burned away from garden trees so that the spores cannot get back onto the trees. The tinder fungus should be treated as follows: in July, cut off the growths, peel off the bark, disinfect the wounds with a 3% solution of copper sulfate and cover with garden varnish.

Bark diseases: false tinder fungus

Clusterosporiasis

A very common disease that is easily transferred from tree to tree. The main symptom is leaf holeiness. This type of fungus affects not only leaves, but shoots and bark. With clasterosporiosis, severe gum formation is observed. The disease depletes the tree, the yield is noticeably reduced, and the branches may dry out. This disease should be dealt with in several approaches:

Trim diseased branches.
Treat the cut areas with a mixture of 1% copper and 3% iron sulfate.
Cover the cut areas with garden varnish.
Collect and burn fallen leaves, buds, and flowers.
Dig up the tree trunk circle.
Spray the tree with Bordeaux mixture.

Gum discharge on a tree
Moniliosis

Fungal spores multiply in the affected areas of the tree. If you don’t take care of the tree, don’t trim frozen and broken branches, and don’t clean dry and cracked areas, moniliosis spores will feel great and will soon make themselves known.

This disease is characterized by the appearance of “burn” areas. The branches look as if they were scorched by the sun. But if you look closely, you can see small gray spots. Moniliosis can gradually dry out and destroy the entire tree.

How to treat the disease:

Cut off the affected branches, capturing 10 cm of a healthy area.
Burn the cut branches immediately.
Treat the cuts with garden varnish.
The bark also needs to be stripped until green and treated with garden varnish.
The tree must be sprayed with one of the following preparations: Bordeaux mixture, copper sulfate 3%, iron sulfate 3%, nitrophen.

Cherry disease: moniliosis
Coccomycosis

Brown dots appear on the cherry leaves, and the leaves begin to turn yellow. If no measures are taken, the disease will spread to the branches and trunk, and the tree will begin to wither.

Coccomycosis can be prevented by spraying:

The first spraying is carried out before the cherry blossoms with iron sulfate 3%.
Then, immediately after flowering, spray with chorus (2g/10 l of water).
Third spraying with chorus after 20 days.
Fourth - after harvest.

Garden affected by coccomycosis
Bark beetles and mites

Many types of parasitic insects crawl under the bark and eat the bark. This causes harm to the tree. Insects can be controlled by spraying the tree with chemicals.

Preventive measures

To prevent cracks in cherries, some preventive measures must be taken. The best season is spring or autumn, when plantings need to be prepared for flowering or cold weather.

What to do:

To provide protection to the trunks in winter, they should be tied with burlap or paper to retain warmth. If you mulch with sawdust, the moisture will be retained and the roots will not freeze.
Gardeners need to carefully monitor the presence of loads on tree branches to prevent the bark from cracking. In winter, sticky snow should be monitored and excess snow removed in a timely manner. In summer, it is necessary to collect the fruits on time, and when ripe, make supports for the branches.
To prevent rodents from causing the bark to crack, the tree must be wrapped in roofing felt, lubricated with a mixture of manure and clay, and the branches sprayed with carbolic acid.
Gardeners advise furrowing to thicken the trunks. Therefore, at the beginning of summer, it is necessary to cut the bark from the ground to the branches with a knife, without damaging the wood. This procedure will promote rapid healing of wounds and prevent cracking in the future, making the cherry strong and durable. Furrowing should be done on trees that have reached three years of age.
Whitewashing in the autumn will prevent the occurrence of cracks and protect the tree from insects, which most likely overwinter in the bark.

To prevent the bark from cracking from the sun's rays, it is necessary to perform spring whitewashing. If you carry it out before the thaw sets in, you can protect the plantings from cracking and, moreover, from fungi.