spruce rot

[240b]

I've been working in a Norway Spruce plantation and have encountered this nasty looking "stuff" kind of looks like blister rust in white pine. The trees a weeping sap along the entire bole and up in the crown just have this nasty looking black scaly bark. Some have "red rot" from the top down.  Most of these trees are the dominate ones in the stand and avg.  14" dbh (three logs and piece of pulp tall)  the smaller 6-8" class trees appear to be fine. It was planted in 1955 and has been thinned three times so far, All with ctl which is not the norm here.. The soil is well drained and deep (old Hay Field)  The old guy down the road says he cut hay there in 1942. Any ideas?

[Jamie_C]

Hmmmm, kinda sounds like bark beetle damage to me.

[SwampDonkey]

Could be porcupine damage. They'll move into a spruce stand and do a number on them over the winter. They make patchwork patterns sometimes when eating the outter bark. I saw one spruce this winter being attacked by the porkies. They seem to be getting thick around here again.

[Jamie_C]

Could be porcupine damage. They'll move into a spruce stand and do a number on them over the winter. They make patchwork patterns sometimes when eating the outter bark. I saw one spruce this winter being attacked by the porkies. They seem to be getting thick around here again.

The porkies are definitely on an upswing here too, was out cruising a woodlot yesterday and i haven't seen that much fresh porkie damage in years. Young fir, spruce and birch are really getting eaten, most trees with porkie damage are stripped from top to bottom.

[tonich]

Sounds like an unsuitable site for the Norway Spruce.
If it was a hay field then the soil probably has a high content of silt, which that species doesn't like, as its roots require breathing. It feels comfortable on sandy soils, yet rich.
The sap and the black scaly bark could be due to burnt of the thin bark of a thin-crowned tree. I have seen this "effect" on trees which have been released after thinning and exposed to direct sunlight.
The above factors worsen the physiology and the weakened tree becomes a desired host for fungi (rot) and insects which definitely have secondary influence.

[Pilot1]

I haven't worked with Norway spruce, but after a little searching on the internet I found it to possibly be  Cytospora canker.  Google it for a description and also search Google images for pics.

[240b]

 THanks for the response Not porkys they like the maples around here to much and I know what that looks like. I don't think it is sun scalled. someone suggested " shoe string rot", armilaria? (sp??) .

[SwampDonkey]

Something like that is usually in the but, and the bark goes real scaly.

[Pilot1]

armillaria root disease:  Chop off some bark at the base of the tree and look for a white mat of fungal growth.  Will be fan shaped.  Will also be characterized by pitch pouring out of the tree several feet up and honey colored mushrooms growing around the base of the tree in the fall.

Armillaria is usually a disease of stressed trees.  Healthy trees are usually not infected, but there may be hidden stress factors you might not notice:  compacted soil, a little worse weather than usual, driving over the roots, etc.