[Ma Lowe]

Can anyone tell me what is wrong with my apple tree. We sprayed it with a winter wash in the winter and a bug killer a few weeks ago but 2 of the branches have died back with the leaves and blossom turning brown. We have cut them off the tree just in case it spread. The rest of the tree seems ok with a bumper crop of apples for a change. Most we ever had was 5 there are about 35 on there this year after we fed it.

[Yorkie]

What equipment did you use to do the spraying?  Could weedkiller have got onto the tree e.g. through equipment being used for weedkiller and not thoroughly washed out?

Are / were the leaves on the dead branches dropping, or just hanging there once dead?

[Ma Lowe]

What equipment did you use to do the spraying?  Could weedkiller have got onto the tree e.g. through equipment being used for weedkiller and not thoroughly washed out?

Are / were the leaves on the dead branches dropping, or just hanging there once dead?

We used a clean sprayer that had only been used for water. The leaves and blossom were still on the branches. There doesn't seem to be any evidence of anything like this anywhere else o  the tree.

[Ma Lowe]

Has anyone got any ideas what this might be please?

[AMD]

On the first picture you can see the canker, do the same as advised in the other apple tree trouble  thread and see how it goes
Fruiting wise a tree with canker or fire blight can still fruit well but eventually if not treated will cause stess and fruiting will suffer or could end up killing the tree.

Tony

[Ma Lowe]

Can canker be caught from another tree. I ask because next door had an old apple tree in their garden and that had canker I also have other fruit trees in the same area as this one.

Many thanks
Ma

[AMD]

Canker is a fungus which can be carried by water splash wind and insects

Tony

[Ma Lowe]

I have just read this article and it describes what happens to my blossoms and leaves so I am assuming it's Fire Blight on my apple tree  :(I have 2 other apple trees a pear and a plum tree in close proximity to the infected tree and wonder now what I should do. I have cut off the branches that were infected as soon as I saw them but am now worried about the other trees

[AMD]

Plum trees cannot catch canker from apple trees as plum canker is bacterial and apple canker is fungal.

The best way to prevent canker is good hygiene, try not to prune in wet weather as water splash can carry the disease also prune at the right time of year,  open wounds is an invitation to both plum and apple canker. Too much and too little water can contribute to the disease.

Also when you cut a branch off a tree cut it as close to the trunk as possible.

[Ma Lowe]

Forgot to add the link

http://forestry.about.com/od/forestdiseases/p/fireblight.htm