Vertical cracks, trunk of Asian pear tree

[vincent p. norris]

I noticed jsut today that one of my Asian pear trees has vertical cracks in the bark (I hope only in the bark) on the trunk.

There are about half a dozen of them, about six inches long.

Is this normal? If not, what should I do about them?

Thanks. vince norris

[dr-solo]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List

the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make.

[vincent p. norris]

Gee, Ingrid, we hadn't had any winter before I noticed the cracks, except for two mild frosts. Could it have happened that fast?

Thanks for the suggestion, but white paint will look pretty bad next summer. Would a cardboard cylinder do as well?

(Hope I don't seem ungrateful for the help!)

vince norris

[dr-solo]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List

the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make.

[Sed5555]

1.Thanks for the suggestion, but white paint will look pretty bad next summer. Would a cardboard cylinder do as well? Inexpensive tree wraps are available this time of year to prevent sunscald and freeze cracks. Painting a tree injury is never a good idea because you can seal in bacteria or other disease causing organisms.

2.Gee, Ingrid, we hadn't had any winter before I noticed the cracks, except for two mild frosts. Could it have happened that fast? Frost is all it takes in a tree that is young or thin skinned to create "frost cracks." Frost cracks occur when the inner and outer wood in the tree's trunk expands and contracts at different rates when exposed first to frost, then to warming. sed5555

[vincent p. norris]

Thanks to both of you for the help.

This tree is about ten years old and the trunk is about three inches in diameter. I had been putting that spiral plastic gizmo around the trunk when it was smaller, but I'll put some "wrap" around it this year.

vince norris

[dr-solo]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List

the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make.