I came home from work today to discover half of my apple tree had collapsed. Inspection of the break revealed what looks to be some kind of mold or fungus. The wood smelled like fresh mushrooms. The branch showed no signs of rot or sickness prior to this. The leaves were healthy, and it produced a lot of apples that had no signs of lesions, cankers, or blight. I've cut away the branch, but I'm unsure what to do next. I'd very much like to save my tree. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
by toastedwheatcrumbs
1 Comment
The white that you see in the 3rd picture is all fungus. Fungus has invaded and weakened the heartwood of your tree. While the heartwood is not part of the tree’s living tissue, it is what give the trunk and branches strength. The 3-way branching was a pre-existing weak point before the fungus. With the weakened heartwood, it failed. One of the other two branches will likely fail next. It’s possible that you may still get a crop or two of apples out of the tree before it completely collapses, but you should expect that this tree will not be around much longer.