Winter is the perfect time to prune your apple tree. But what’s this?! As you are pruning the bare apple tree branches you spot damaged and split bark, and small sunken dark-brown areas with flaky bark. Is this a disease on your apple tree, and should you worry? How do you know if it will kill your apple tree? And what can you do about it?
The cankers on the branches of your apple are most likely apple canker disease caused by the fungus Neonectria ditissima. This fungus can result in apple tree branches dying-back and if it occurs on the main trunk then it can kill even kill your apple tree. If you look closely in the winter you should be able to spot tiny red spheres on the surface of the canker. These tiny red spheres, which I show you in this video, are a great way to confirm apple canker infection and they allow the fungus to complete its life cycle over the winter.
I show you how to recognise early stages of apple canker infection, as well as the more developed older cankers. I also give you advice on how best to prune your apple tree to avoid infection with apple canker fungus. In the UK there are no fungicide spray applications available for home gardeners, so my advice is focussed on chemical-free organic control methods.
Apple canker can become a big problem on wet and acidic soils. If this is the soil type in your garden, you will want to avoid some of the most susceptible varieties such as James Grieve, Worcester Pearmain and Cox’s Orange Pippin. I provide some options for apple canker resistant varieties at the end of the video.
⌚ Timestamps
00:00 Should you worry about apple canker?
00:28 Symptoms of apple canker
01:50 What does apple canker do to your tree?
02:23 Wet and acid soil encourages apple canker
03:02 How to cure apple canker
04:53 Canker resistant apple varieties
Lastly: opinions stated in this video are my own. I have not been paid to sponsor or endorse any of the gardening products I mention or use in this video.
