Saving the Apple Tree

I can't believe the summer has come and gone already!

Last year, I realized too late my apple tree had some kind of disease. The limbs were literally rotting before my eyes. Raccoons would climb it and fall out of the tree because the limbs would break. I was in a panic, but figured if I couldn't fix it, I'd have to remove the whole tree. I read this was my fault. The year before I doused it with rabbit manure tea too early in the spring and with all the rain and damp created a nesting area for bad bacteria. Oh well. Live and learn. I'll never do that again!

I went to the local organic gardening center and asked what to do. They gave me a recipe to treat the tree and add nutrients, expensive nutrients. I bought Neem Oil, Fish Fertilizer, and Sea Crop to mix and spray on the tree once a month all winter. That Sea Crop is made from ocean minerals and at $40 per quart it's GOLD! The Neem Oil is nearly as expensive. I also sprayed the cherry and Italian prune trees just to be safe. I was really afraid the disease would spread as it normally does through fallen leaves and spores.

Then a friend of mine told me to paint a mixture of baking soda and molasses on the trunk and affected limbs. She didn't know why, but I assumed molasses is high in iron and baking soda neutralizes fungi and viruses. I worried rodents, raccoons or opossums might want to eat the bark. Later I was told deer LOVE molasses and are attracted by the smell. Do you blame them?? Thankfully I have a five foot fence around my yard so at least the deer weren't tempted to nibble.

I'm not sure which of the above remedies worked, but the apples are much better than last year. Bigger, hardly any blemishes or bugs, but fewer which is better anyway since the weight of too many apples is hard on the limbs. Bigger and fewer is usually from good nutrients. And so tasty!

The bark and limbs seem to be healing. I keep wondering if it's my imagination, but then I remembered I took photos last year to share with my friend.  Is it my imagination?

Last fall:

This fall:

Are the welts closing up? And the trunk seems to be healing:

It seems to suck up all the molasses as it doesn't sit on the surface, well, either than or the critters are licking it off!

Unfortunately, it didn't seem to do anything for the cherry tree which has gotten worse and I think the nutrients were too much for the Italian prune which only produced four prunes this year (one of them was hanging over my fence...the postman stole it...grrrr!) compared to 2500 prunes last year.

I'm going to invest in some more supplies and continue to treat the apple and cherry trees this winter and pray this disease doesn't get to the Italian prune. So happy to be able to save the apple tree.