[karlooben]

i have noticed today that my small apple tree has what looks like a white powder  or foam on the ends of the branches that were cut of in the winter now i am not sure if this is a fungal infection or mould , any ideas please ? i need to know as this tree is inside my chicken run and i need to know if it will do my girls harm .

[Trillium]

Is it possible for any pix as it's something I don't think I've heard of on an apple tree before          /

[karlooben]

hi i can do pics for later this afternoon , thankyou

[DavidT]

If it`s like foam, then it sounds to me like froghoppers. They secrete a spittle like substance to protect them.

[Ice]

My apple tree gets powdery mildew on the tips of branches.

[karlooben]

could it be poisonous to chocks though ice  ? i could not get a pic as i have been playing with bonfires an hek no knows what else 

[Ice]

Sorry, I don't keep chickens so don't know.  Have you had a look for powdery mildew on google images?

[karlooben]

i can do know , thanks

[karlooben]

Its an aphid called woolly apple aphid.
If you squash them you get a bloodlike mess.
As I recall it takes quite a lot of spray to get through
the waxy 'fluff' to kill the bug. Must admit my apple
tree has had it for years and I've done
nothing.

this is what i found but now i need to know if its bad to chocks  if it is then its coming down the weekend

[Trillium]

Powdery mildew is not harmful to people or pets, which includes domestic fowl. Only  the chemical fungicides humans use to treat the problem are harmful to pets (and themselves). Mostly it's an annoying fungus that damages trees which affects fruit production.

Here's a very interesting link for a quick, safe fix.

http://www.pioneerthinking.com/tv-mildew.html

[karlooben]

wow thankyou very much for that trillium . your a star

mes of to tescos to get some .

[DavidT]

Errm, may I point out that powdery mildew IS NOT the same as wooly aphid. You need a systemic fungicide to get rid of the aphids, not milk.

[karlooben]

i would need a totally organic fungicide as i cant risk using anything that would harm my girls but what ever it is the trees on the plot next to my plot have it as well  .

[Trillium]

I've never heard of any organic systemics. We're working on the assumption that looby has powdery mildew.

[karlooben]

please excuse me as i know nothing on fungicides or anything else similar i trry an avoid all that kinda stuff, it seems to me to be powdery meldrew . i'll get pics tomorw and see if i can get enough of a close up for you . but also the leaves are slightly dead looking with a silvery colour ??