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Oak Tree fungus and problems Oak tree care in Houston and the woodlands
Problems with oak trees does your oak tree have a white powder on the leaves or is the Tree defoliated, there are many disease that can affect your oak tree. Brown egg cases appear on trunk Larvae Of Gypsy Moths - Oaks are the favorite food of gypsy moth larvae. These caterpillars are about 2½ inches long with 5 pairs of blue spots and 6 pairs of red spots along their backs. They can completely defoliate a mature tree in 2 weeks. The tree may die after repeated defoliations. The adult moths do not fly. They lay egg masses covered with velvety, buff-colored hairs, containing 75 to 1,000 eggs. The eggs are visible in June or July on the bark of trees, on stone walls, woodpiles, or even on your yard furniture. They sit dormant over the winter until next spring, when the caterpillars hatch and head up into the foliage to feed.
Another problem is the two spotted oak bore Adults are cylindrical, metallic beetles, 8 to 13 mm long, ranging in color from golden-green, green, blue-green, blue to violet. The elytra are slender and have two white spots near the posterior end of the elytral suture.
Woodlands tree care has a special proprietary formula for treating oak bores effectively. While some of our clients try to control bores by buying off the shelf chemicals from the local hardware store they often don't work and are quiet often about 1percent strength of our industrial chemicals.
Roots Growing Above Soil Surface Pin Oak Trees are often found with some of their roots growing above the surface of the soil. This is usually because they are growing in compacted soils. Irregular tan or brown spots on leaves at veins, expand until leaves die, sometimes sunken spots on leaves Anthracnose, A Fungal Disease - This fungus disease causes moist, sunken spots with fruiting bodies in the center on the leaves of some Oaks. The leaf spots may run together, resembling a blotch or blight. The dead areas follow the veins or are bounded by larger veins. Sometimes terminal stem shoots are infected back to several inches below the buds. Pustules containing pinkish spores appear. Dieback and defoliation may occur in severe cases.
Anthracnose is not life-threatening to large, established trees. Swellings and growths on twigs and leaves Gall Insects - Twigs, leaves, and even the acorns of Oaks are commonly disfigured by odd shaped growths called galls. These buttons, cones, bullets, balls, and blobs are caused by minute gall wasps or flies which lay their eggs in the plant tissue. When tiny grubs hatch out, they secrete powerful plant growth substances that force the tree to form the gall around the developing insect, which lives on nutrients from the abnormal growth.
Oak Mites - Oak mites are about 1/50 inch long, barely visible to the unaided eye. Resembling tiny spiders, they have four pairs of legs, piercing-sucking mouth parts, and very compact bodies. They may be yellow, green, red or brown. If the top surfaces of the lower leaves on the Oak tree are stippled with small yellow dots or red spots, it is likely that mites are the cause. Look for fine webbing over leaves, their stalks and adjacent stems. Leaves turn bronze, wilt, drop Oak Wilt, A Fungal Disease - Most Oaks are susceptible to this systemic fungal disease, although members of the Red Oak group are hit harder than White Oaks. It is spread mostly by insects such as beetles or borers, by man, or even by squirrels. I
Take care not to bring firewood into the yard which may be infested with insects that are carrying the fungus. Leaves are coated with white a Powdery Mildew, which is a Fungal Disease - Powdery mildew caused by various fungi attacks Oaks, covering their leaves and growing tips with whitish patches. This disease is rarely fatal in established trees, but it mars their appearance.