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| please help me diagnose! here is what i can tell you:
a citrus nursery planted this Meyer Lemon tree (i think it was a 15 or 20 gallon at the time) for me last May; i usually have people do the planting because i know that citrus is susceptible to foot rot and i want to have the experts do the planting. a couple of months ago i started noticing this hole developing at the base of the trunk; i had the nursery come out to take a look at it and they said it was an injury (mind you, i do not own a weedwhacker nor done anything to possibly injure the tree; bascally i water and fertilize and remove organic matter near the trunk, that's it). they said it would heal up and it would be OK and not to worry it could be my imagination but the hole is getting gradually bigger in the meantime the tree flowered nicely last month and now has loads of fruit some of the leaves are splotchy yellow but i did not worry too much about that b/c i thought it could be old leaves, yellowing due to fruiting/weather/fertilizer, etc. however last night i did a bunch of Googling and i saw pix and info. about something called citrus collar rot. does anyone know whether my tree has this???? and is this something that could be contagious to my other citrus trees? here's the photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/61875512@N07/ |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| ejperryman, you could be right, but I think the tree's problem is a serious disease called foot rot, caused by the soil born fungi Phytophthora. Since the problem happened during the winter months, the fungi type is likely Phytophthora citrophthora. The fungus causes lesions that can eventually spread around the circumference of the trunk, killing the cambium and slowly girdling the tree. If this happened the tree dies. Sometimes if the lesions cease to expand or the fungus dies, the affected area is surrounded by callus tissue and begins to heal. Control varies a little depending if your tree is growing in a generally wet location, or in an arid climate. Copper fungicides applied prior to the beginning of the rains are usually effective |
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- Posted by ejperryman (My Page) on Wed, Apr 20, 11 at 16:32
| hi! thanks for the advice. i went ahead and applied a copper paste to the hole and general area; hopefully i will be able to arrest whatever is going on in the meantime i did go to a citrus grove this morning and i saw a whole bunch of orange and other trees with similar holes on their trunks and those trees seem to be healthy and fine; maybe my tree is not doomed we'll see |
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