How to Cure Cytospora Canker on Peach Trees

Curative

• 1

  Locate a canker and place your knife at least an inch above the outer margin of the diseased tree tissue. Mark an area all around the canker by digging straight into the wood through the bark, maintaining the one-inch margin all around it.

• 2

  Press the knife under the bark through the marked margin and start removing all the diseased bark tissue. You don't have to dig into or remove the wood from the clean, healthy lower hardwood area.

• 3

  Keep the cuts at the margins clean to allow the tree to heal later. Make sure that you have removed all of the sick tissue, both in depth and diameter of the canker. Once cleaned, you should be able to see healthy wood in the cleaned area.

• 4

  Avoid the application of any wound-healing materials such as oil-based or latex paints; these are unnecessary.

• 5

  Prune infected smaller branches all the way back to the trunk. Perform tree surgery and pruning during dry weather to minimize the spread of fungal spores to other tree areas. Dispose of all diseased material carefully and away from other landscape trees.

Preventive

• 6

  Keep your peach tree in good health with adequate water and fertilizer. Make sure the tree is in a well-drained, full sun area with enough room for growth.

• 7

  Plant a resistant fruit-tree variety to minimize chances of infection. Although, even resistant trees can contract the disease if they are under stress or poorly managed.

• 8

  Avoid unnecessarily wounding trees with weed trimmers or lawn mowers, as these injuries may become a site for infection. Try not to plant new trees near other landscape trees known to have cytospora infection.