My fruit trees trunks are splitting and seeping the sap. I had to pull 2 trees. Whats happening?
Answers:
There are several reasons tree trunks split like that. First can be lack of water then too getting too much water at once will do it too. Also winter cold will split the bark and once that happens insects will invade or fungus. There are so many things it can be but I think it is the simple ones like lack of or too much water. At least if it is lack of water you can control that but too much you are going to probably loose them all.
Other answers:
I can think of two possibilities--I'm sure there are more.
1. If the trees stand in very open areas with little other shade around them, they could be "sun scalded"--the tree actually sunburns, and the burned part of the bark dies, exposing the inner pulp.
2. if you are having a very wet season, the trees could be over-hydrated and splitting from that.
I actually thought of a third one as I was typing: Extreme and sudden cold early in the winter can freeze and rupture the bark.
I can think of two possibilities--I'm sure there are more.
1. If the trees stand in very open areas with little other shade around them, they could be "sun scalded"--the tree actually sunburns, and the burned part of the bark dies, exposing the inner pulp.
2. if you are having a very wet season, the trees could be over-hydrated and splitting from that.
I actually thought of a third one as I was typing: Extreme and sudden cold early in the winter can freeze and rupture the bark.
This happened to me a few years ago and my tree died. But it was due to a lack of water. We were in a water shortage here in New Mexico.
if conditions are normal, get some baseball/hockey tape, the kind that looks like white fabric with glue on one side, wrapped around bats, and hockey sticks. wrap this around places on the tree where you see splitting start. it protects the tree, and eventually disintegrates.
to wet, to dry, to cold, to hot, or to much fertilizer and it's growing to fast????