[GrannieAnnie]

Our plum tree which is only 8 years old has suddenly decided to die on us.  Admittedly it does have some weeds around its base, but that's nothing new, and the apple and pear trees either side are fine, just the plum

I can't see any insects around, but haven't looked under the bark yet.

Pics not very good, but what do you think?

[mobilekat]

Any damage to the trunk?- we nearly lost ours a few years back due to cat removing bark!

No-one has been 'helpful' and sprayed have they?

[GrannieAnnie]

Hi mobilekat, nope, no damage, no cats, dog never goes near it and neither do the few chickens that wander and no one sprays in our garden either!

[Paul Plots]

It certainly does look sad. 

How quickly did it get into this state?  Have you pruned the tree and if so when?

[mobilekat]

Er- I think I am almost out of ideas then!

Really daft question- if you break a twig is that still alive or dead too?

Has it just decided its had enough of this year and is dumping all leaves?

Also any chance of something attacking the roots?- or at the graft point?

Only other thing I have been told that can cause sudden death can be if Canker has really set in and girdles the truck.

[Paul Plots]

Peach leaf curl?

If the tree was pruned (other than in the summer) a disease may have entered through the wound.

[GrannieAnnie]

Mmmmmm, thanks for input both of you.  I only noticed it last week but Brian said it has looked sad for a couple of weeks.  It's got 3 trunks.  It was supposed to be a duo plum, but the company sent us 2 separate ones as they said the quality of the duo's that year weren't good enough.  The middle of it is okay, but I thought it was perhaps going from the bottom up!  Or maybe its got fed up with 3 trunks so is killing off the outer 2 and keeping the middle one?

Brian said he pruned the tree last autumn, but not done anything to it recently.

I'm just going to pop down and break a twig , funnily enough, I didn't think of that, just assumed the leaves were dying.  Back soon

Right, back after being interrupted by himindoors who urgently had to look at Ebay!  

I must admit tht I don't look after my 3 fruit trees properly, so it's my fault.  The apple tree does really well, loads of apples every year.  The plum had 6 tiny plums on last year for the first time and the pear tree had 2 pears on it!

The plum tree has never been pruned properly, but I've always left tht to Brian as he knows more about trees than I do (supposedly!)  There are 2 trunks coming up from ground level, then one of them splits into 2 about 3 feet up.  It's this one that is dying.  the single trunk is fine!  Perhaps where it wasn't pruned properly when young, the tree now has too many trunks, so it wants to get rid of the other one which then splits into 2?  

So we'll cut down the one which is dying, (and breaking off a small branch, it is dying, but not quite dead yet) and wait to see if the single trunk is okay.  Maybe t will give me some decent plums next year!

But apart from some lichen, I can't see any disease anywhere.

It's not peach leaf curl Learner, My peach tree I had years ago had that, these leaves are not curled, just dying like they do in the autumn!

[Paul Plots]

Now why did I say peach leaf-curl when I knew you were talking about a plum! 

I read that fruit trees that produced stoned fruit should be pruned in summer to avoid ***?  If only I could remember what it was that should be avoided. It may have been some sort of leaf curl. 
Plot neighbours of mine have had a lovely dwarf plum... they gave up the plot and I was so disappointed when someone else got the half-plot with the plum on it and I got the other half with the weeds. Then the daft 'appeths pruned the plum very late (end of Autumn) with me asking, "Is it the right time to prune a plum?"

Obviously it wasn't - it died 

[Trillium]

One thing your tree doesn't have is black knot, which looks like lumps of dog poo stuck to the branches. I know because one of my trees is badly infected with it right now.

Only thing I can think of is that there is an underground obstruction (eg huge boulder) or a swath of chalk at a deep root level. An area near me is currently losing a great number of 90 yr old trees suddenly which they've now discovered have hit a layer of chalk or ash deep at the current root level.

[vet]

I think Learner might be thinking of silverleaf which can be a problem if plums are pruned at the wrong time of year. If you google it there's loads of info. Whenever I prune my plum I have a pruning sealer on hand to cover over even small cuts 'cos I'm a bit paranoid about it. Apparrently Victorias are more prone than most, you didn't say what your plum is 

[Knight Family]

I was informed by a person down the road, that plums should be pruned in summer mid fruit. Which I thought was strange......

Could it be lack of water with all this heat?? I know my blueberry's have gone the same way....

[aelf]

I wondered about lack of water and the extreme heat we have had this month?

[GrannieAnnie]

I did think about the heat, but why would the 'other' trunk be fine, but not the one which now has 2 trunks coming from it?  In fact, Brian pointed out this morning that there some plums up the top of the 'good' half of the tree!

The apple and pear tree either side are fine!

and we don't have boulders and things here in the fens Trill!  Just very fine silty soil.

I just think it's fed up with having mulitple trunks, so we are going to chop down the dying bit and give the living trunk more room!

thank you all so much for your help though, and I will look up silverleaf!  Thanks   

[Paul Plots]

I think Learner might be thinking of silverleaf which can be a problem if plums are pruned at the wrong time of year. If you google it there's loads of info. Whenever I prune my plum I have a pruning sealer on hand to cover over even small cuts 'cos I'm a bit paranoid about it. Apparrently Victorias are more prone than most, you didn't say what your plum is 

Thanks... I knew I was thinking of "some-leaf-or-other" and the end results were = curling up and snuffing it!  :blink:

Silver leaf it is!!

Pruning in summer is the answer - and sealing the wounds if you want to take extra care. 

[GrannieAnnie]

So what's this paste that you seal the wounds with?  Can I make it, or do you buy it?