Hi,

I have several fig trees that I covered over the Winter. When I uncovered the big one this weekend, everything was perfect.

But when I went over to the smaller one, it seems that some water got under the tarp, plastic, sheet and burlap. Each of the branches has this white fuzzy thing around each and every little bud and it seems to have dried up and killed each one of them.

I  did notice that all my branches are still alive because when I scratched it, it was green under the skin.

My question is, will new buds grow back on the branches?

Thanks,
Joe

So it got moldy.  You probably should be sure the mold is dead by hitting it with bleach water.  As long as the branches are green, they will probably put out new shoots.  Sometimes if you prune the growth tips, the tree will push new shoots.

Good luck to you!

Suzi

Spraying bleach is a complete waste of time.  

Dead wood can still be green underneath for some time. If all the buds are in fact dead then it will take some time for a new bud to grow. Most likely a sucker will emerge from the base. 

Thanks for your advice. I figured that the mold might have killed the branches, but there seems to be some life in them still. I'll just wait for the new suckers to pop out from the bottom.

Thanks again

Wont hurt just help if you clean with bleach water. No one can tell the condition of you pla t but you. If you think life is there clean and nip then ends put a bit of wax or sealer at fresh nip ends and see what happens. I have had cutting that i didnt clean get mold ( fuzzy white ) clean with bleach water and are trees now.

Before I search the forum for bleach mixes, can any of you give me instructions on how to make a bleach mix? The branches all do look alive except for the fact that every bud had mold around them. I just wiped them all off with a rag. There are about 5 branches 4-5' tall.

I wanted to give this one away last year, but the bad Winter previously killed all the branches and I had to  wait for it to re-grow. So now it is about 5 ft tall, with no buds anymore. 

I'd hate to have to start over again, but I will try to clean the branches. I have nothing to lose except for some time.

Thanks

10 % bleach water. use on you cuttings before you root them for you plant i would use a wet rag & spray bottle. Spay bleach water on infected area let it sit for 30 wipe off with wet rag. Cant hurt. Only help. Richie

You might want to use an old toothbrush or something similar to really ensure the surface is clear of mold residue.  I agree, that it should sprout from the roots, worst case.

Hi all,

This is the tree that I wanted to give to my cousin....It is only about 2+ years old, and was propagated from my bigger tree. It produced a few figs this past September here in Pennsylvania (USA)


Since I had uncovered it last weekend, it has rained a lot and it has been sunny as well. All the mold around each bud is gone now, so it won't show in the attached picture. I pruned off about 6" from each branch too.

I guess there is no need to bleach it, and it's just a wait and see game right now. I am sure new suckers will sprout from the bottom, but I am also hoping buds pop out as well. All the buds have dried up in each branch.

 

A close up of some bud areas would help.  It's usually the leaf scars that get mold, not the buds.  White fuzzy stuff can be mold or mealy bugs.  Spraying with full strength rubbing alcohol will kill both.  I would still spray because either way there can be eggs or mold left behind.  I'm just guessing because I can't blow the photo up enough to get a good look but I think you have some buds that are developing.

Also, figs will not sprout from the roots.  They will sprout from underground nodes, if any,  and they may be able to turn some primitive cells into meristem tissue, but roots will live forever without sending up shoots.

         

Good morning.....

rcantor, Here are some pictures of the branches with some mold left on the buds. I closely looked at them last night, and each bud was either dried out or had mold around them. But a little scraping of the barks on the branches still were green.

I'll be spraying them with bleach or rubbing alcohol this weekend still though.

Thanks,
Joe

Put wax at the cuts. i buy a new toilet ring and use the wax from it. Easy to use and last in weather. Just keep it in the box it came in. Grate for grafting too. They are usally made from bees wax some are made from a vegetable wax. Show us update. Waxing the ends will help branches recover

Thanks, that is simple enough to do. You are talking about just covering the cuts, not the buds, right?

Bumping this thread. I just temporarily uncovered my one inground figtree and noticed the same white fuzz on the tips of the branches. What does this mean as far as new growth goals? The branches are all green underneath. I need to recover it obviously to protect from future cold after the heat wave that we just had. Is there anything I can do to help mitigate the fuzz? Please help!

Sorry but the whole top of your tree is dead, nothing will bring it back. Carefully clear any mulch or grass in a 3 ft.+ circle around the tree so the soil can warm and get it growing from the roots sooner, be careful to not pull up any suckers because they would grow the soonest. In a few weeks you will be able to see a clear line between live and dead wood on the trunk.

How can it be dead if it's green under the bark. I just uncovered it removed and replaced the soggy insulation after spraying down the tree with hydrogen peroxide. Is it possible that new buds will appear since the wood is green?

Is a dormant tree supposed to have green buds on the branches or not?

The green will fade and the branches will dry out. I've dealt with it many, many times before. You will either see a line between live and dead on the trunk in a few weeks or more likely a new growth will emerge from the roots. There is no need to protect the tree any longer, high humidity could make it worse by spreading the fungi down into the roots.

They usually grow from below the ground even when the whole top is dead, if the lower part of the trunk is OK it will grow from there.

It was probably damaged in the fall before you wrapped it. The humidity got the fungi growing on the damaged parts and it spread, it may not look like much but can digest cellulose which is what counts in this case. More ventilation may have helped, try to think what is different between the ones that got damaged and the ones that were OK. 

3% H2O2 will be fine for mold...

Fungi thrive continuously moist/humid conditions with poor air circulation. 
Clearly something must be done to save the buds, and the earlier the better.
If I can, I'd like to do a controlled experiment to find out what works best on
dormant cuttings and a growing branch: rubbing alcohol, 10% bleach, hydrogen peroxide or
what I've used in the past: anti-bacterial soap scrubbed with a toothbrush.

I unwrapped the two large ones today and they seem to be fine as well as the small Kadota. The Mission and Kadota on the othe other end were the only two that had a little bit of fuzzy mold like in the previous picture. There was moisture buildup on the bottom where the insulation is. Less so on the three trees that remained unaffected. I'm thinking that may be the culprit on the two other ones that have the white fuzz on them. They were tightly wrapped and the moisture buildup could have formed to cause the mold even though the trees were dry to the touch. So I rewrapped with rocks underneath so that insulation won't come in contact with the soil and get wet.

I would just be upset if the two smaller trees that have some white fuzz on them died back completely to the ground. I'm hoping that they will bud off of unaffected wood only because full die Always yields only a handful of figs at the end of the season.

I'm hoping I intervened early enough to protect the remainder of the affected trees so that they put out new buds. Being that there's no more moisture underneath the wraps, and that the buckets are being kept off as weather permits, they should be fine. I'm going to use that tactic of keeping the insulation and wrap a couple of inches off the ground next year as well. I'm not sure why the two large ones and the one little one are fine and the other two are problematic. Maybe the wacky temperatures this winter allowed excessive moisture buildup. I may also have to consider wrapping the insulation a little bit more loosely as well.

Has anyone else had this problem, with good yield the following season?

Below are a few pictures of the two healthy trees.