iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

White pine disease ?

Started by sprucebunny, May 24, 2007, 10:12:16 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

sprucebunny

A couple of young wh. pines on my land have this disease/fungus. They are growing on an old landing so something could have been dumped there to cause it.

Anyone know what it is ??? I plan on burning them this weekend !



The fungus ? is very orange colored.
MS193, MS192 and an 026  Weeding and Thinning. Gilbert Champion sawmill

jon12345

Looks like white pine blister rust to me.  Not sure how bad a tree can be affected before it can recover.  The fungus goes through 5 different life stages, and is also found on ribes (currants and gooseberries)  You might try locating these and removing them.  Hope this helps
A.A.S. in Forest Technology.....Ironworker

sprucebunny

Thanks, Jon. I thought it might be that. Day after I noticed these 4 trees. I saw a small gooseberry about 60 feet away.

I'll burn them all :D
MS193, MS192 and an 026  Weeding and Thinning. Gilbert Champion sawmill

Phorester

Certainly looks like white pine blister rust to me. Some things to keep in mind with this disease:

It will not spread from pine to pine.  So removing infected pine trees will not prevent the spread of this disease to other white pines.

It only spreads from gooseberries to pines.  So removing all gooseberries within 200 feet of white pines should eliminate more infections in the pines.  Remove the gooseberry plants completely, including as much of the root system as possible.  Or kill it with herbicides.

If a branch has a canker, and if the branch canker is more than 6 inches from the trunk, you might be successful in eliminating the spread of this disease from the branch into the trunk by pruning off the branch. 

If a canker that is on the tree trunk is only on one side of the trunk, you might be able to cut off this canker and eliminate the death of the tree by removing the bark with the canker and all live bark around the canker for a distance of 2 inches from the edge of the canker.

This is a fungus, and needs damp, near windless conditions to spread.  Pruning all lower branches up to 10 feet will help prevent infections into the white pine.  (And of course will also produce a higher quality limb free log if the pines are being grown for sawtimber production).  Remember the recommended pruning procedures - take off no more than 25% of the branches in any one year, proper pruning cuts, etc. On young trees where this is not fesible (shorter than this pruning will allow), keeping down weeds and grasses underneath the trees will improve air movement and result in dryer air, both of which will limit the spread of the fungal spores.

White pines in depressions, frost pockets, etc., are more suceptible than trees on level or higher areas.  Again, because of air movement, whereby air containing the spores will tend to settle in these depressions and remain longer, creating a larger window of time for infection of any white pines growing there. White pines plsnted in forest openings whose diameter is less than the height of the surrounding trees are also more suceptible due to higher humidity and cooler temps. in these little openings.

Ron Scott

Yes, it looks like white pine blister rust. The orange colored fungus will  later turn black.
Ditto on what has been previously said on control. Also "Google white pine blister rust "for a lot of information on it.
~Ron

SwampDonkey

One method to improve air flow and reduce infection is to prune lower branches, but maintain about 1/2 'crown/stem' ratio for healthy growth. I've not practiced this as I have enough trouble keeping the moose and hare off my pine and my pines are still under 3 meters. I have pulled a couple infected seedlings so the fungus doesn't jump back onto a ribies to begin a new cycle. And yes, I have currents all over the lot.  But, not in thickets. Just one clump here and there and mainly on the harvested softwood areas.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Mongo

I have a fairly large white pine growing in the yard with the same fungus on it, very widespread everywhere above the first crotch (about 15-18 feet up, think a grub got it way back when...)

I assume the lumber from the clear part would still be useable?  Is there any way to cure the tree, or  is it pretty much a death sentance?

Phorester


The lumber from the clear part will still be usable.  You can't cure the tree.  It will die above the cankers.

Are you sure it's blister rust.  Cankers from this disease will be mostly in the first 10 feet, not higher.  They can be higher on the tree, but it's not common. 

SwampDonkey

Really old trees get it here on the top portion of the crown and the pitch runs down. Usually the tree will produce a lot of cones in a couple years before it's demise. I picked about 5 burlap sacs of pine cones from one when it was dying on grand father's woodlot. Sometimes if there is enough crown left the mature tree will live.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Phorester


I think too that  youl have more problem with blister rust up north than we do down here.

SwampDonkey

Probably less infection in dryer climates. We have no shortage of wet weather up here, even though sometimes I say it is dry here in summer. A 3 week stretch without rain is very uncommon here. And it usually rains, or very showery weather, on the weekend. :D As we speak it has began a showery, unsettled spell since Thursday; expected to last all weekend.  ::)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Phorester


Back in the 40s and 50s the blister rust problem was so big that Virginia hired crews to walk the mountains in the entire State and dig out every gooseberry they found.  Disease control in the early years.

SwampDonkey

What about all the seeds from decades and rhizomes under ground?   ;D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Ron Scott

I worked on a Forest Service crew in 1957 pulling ribes (gooseberrys and currents) from the Ottawa National Forest in Michigan's U.P. It was a primary job for blister rust control back then. 
~Ron

solodan

The USFS tried a ribes eradication program out here as well. ::) Once you get to about 6000' elevation out here, there are currants and gooseberries growing everywhere a tree is not growing. I don't know If you can really get rid of ribes. Another program they used out this way was collecting seeds from theĀ  tollerant trees that seemed imune to blister rust. Then when they did reforestation projects, these were the seeds that were planted in hopes to eradicate the disease. It seems as if it has at least slowed the disease down.

Zundapp

Blister rust has completely desimated the white pine in this region (eastern Washington, Idaho Panhandle, western Montana). Despite sixty years of effort to fight the spead of it, In the 30's hundreds of C.C.C. workers were comitted to do nothing else other than eradicate goose berry and currents bushes. By the 1970's nearly all the white pine was gone. The USFS initiated a program to develop a superior strain of whitepine thats resistant to blister rust. They succeeded & seedlings are now available.

bigsnowdog

How about some pictures on how to identify gooseberry bushes, given the apparent risks of them?

SwampDonkey

I don't know if pulling them solves anything. What of the seeds? I've pulled them and 10 new shoots appear. I had on old patch where the plants are all gone, but I see new seedlings every year. My ground is a currant haven and I have some planted seedlings. I've found 2 or 3 diseased ones and chucked them off site. But the moose do more damage.  ::) :D :D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Phorester


BSG, go to forestry images, then type in gooseberry in their search box. 

http://www.forestryimages.org/


Bill Johnson

I do believe that all forms of ribes (raspberry, gooseberry etc.) provide alternate host for white pine blister rust, if you intend to erradicate the alternate hosts.
Bill

SwampDonkey

raspberry and dewberry (dwarf raspberry family) are Rubus, they aren't hosts of white pine blister rust.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Bill Johnson

Oops..... :-[ now I'm really embarassed, :-X
Bill

Thank You Sponsors!