Blue Spruce problem. Guesses?

mdvaden · May 9, 2012

A man who works at the camera shot where I buy my photo gear, mentioned that he had a tree problem. I asked him to send me photos, rather than scheduling a visit, at least for now.

The photos below are the ones he just sent. A speck of history is on one photo. I have not asked much yet about the conditions. My question to the tree guys on here, is are there diseases, pathogens or problems notorious to Blue Colorado Spruce, that you might suspect to be related to this sap dripping? He said the oozing or dripping is no higher than a knot about 4' high.

I don't recall coming across a blue spruce doing this before. At least not in the last 10 years that I can remember.

mdvaden · May 9, 2012

Next ...

mdvaden · May 9, 2012

Next ...

mdvaden · May 9, 2012

And #4 ...

Frax · May 9, 2012

The only thing I know of that looks a bit like this is cytospora on spruce. Bluish-white sap bleeding. But I've never seen it this dramatic.

AspenArbo · May 9, 2012

My first thought was cytospora as well, but it looks as though none of the lower branches are affected. The bleaching and oozing at the base almost looks more like bacterial slime flux like you would see on elm. I don't know if this is possible or common on spruce, but that is kind of what it looks like.

Does the oozing 'sap' smell?

I'm interested in this, let me know what you find out.

RopeShield · May 9, 2012

pitch mass borer?

fireaxe · May 9, 2012

How long ago were the lower branches removed? Healthy at the time?

Native to the location? I mean was it planted or just sprung up.

What kind of fence was replaced? How long ago?

Are there any symptoms in the upper crown?

What kind of hole is present at the top of the sapflow?

Any irrigation on the lower trunk?

How is the drainage in the area?

Sometimes the sap gets to flowing pretty well.

Sometimes the lower whorls are fairly dense from a nursery tree.

guymayor · May 9, 2012

first pic had frassish stuff mixed in with sap so i'd suspect a bug. But the rest, yikes, that is different. Could the tree be in shock from the root cutting? Can the neighbor be encouraged to allow some retention device to be installed on that steep slope of theirs?

fireax, with that kind of dropoff, how much of a factor is drainage going to be?
good question about the hole though. Icepick and HO3 flush?

Good idea getting pics in advance of consult.

Northwind · May 9, 2012

Have seen this once before on a Blue Spruce.

Was not called to diagnose, but to clean up after a wind storm. Tree had snapped off where it had grown around the original planting stay guy-wires wrapped in garden hose.

Could be the camera angle but in pic 1, the trunk taper seems inverted, typical for planting stay girdling, and the height seems about right.

Just a guess, but worth keeping in mind during on-site investigation.

Northwind

MR_TEA · May 9, 2012

Its Pine Mass Pitch Borer. which is a moth that lays its eggs around a wound (old pruning cut in this case). Looking at the pictures this tree has been infested for some time

mdvaden · May 10, 2012

[ QUOTE ]

Its Pine Mass Pitch Borer. which is a moth that lays its eggs around a wound (old pruning cut in this case). Looking at the pictures this tree has been infested for some time

[/ QUOTE ]

New pest to me, but I will search online.

Even dealt with control?

mdvaden · May 10, 2012

[ QUOTE ]
How long ago were the lower branches removed? Healthy at the time?

Native to the location? I mean was it planted or just sprung up.

What kind of fence was replaced? How long ago?

Are there any symptoms in the upper crown?

What kind of hole is present at the top of the sapflow?

Any irrigation on the lower trunk?

How is the drainage in the area?

Sometimes the sap gets to flowing pretty well.

Sometimes the lower whorls are fairly dense from a nursery tree.

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't know about the fence replacement. Odds are just a small hole was made for the posts. Most here are cedar / redcedar. Doubt that matters, since there is no trough made for those.

Seems to be no symptoms the man mentioned for upper crown. Sounds like color is good.

A big piece of history, is that the neighbor cut most of the roots on the other side, as close as 2 feet to the fence.

Not native - Colorado Blue Spruce are not native to any part of Oregon

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The nice foliage and limbs have me thinking that maybe canker is unlikely.