Lumpy Growth on Apple Tree!

**chris** · 24-05-2012, 11:56 AM

Can you provide a picture?

Welcome to the forum by the way

**veggiechicken** · 24-05-2012, 12:01 PM

Hi Mark and Welcome! Does the growth look like a knobbly knee and go right around the branch?

**Mark the Bodger** · 24-05-2012, 12:09 PM

Hi Guys thanks for the speedy reply,

I forgot to add the pics so here they are.

thanks again

Mark

Attached Files

**veggiechicken** · 24-05-2012, 12:18 PM

1st Photo - That's what I meant by a knobbly knee!! I have it on one of my trees that was grown from a cutting and its all over it. Problem is, I can't remember what causes it! An expert will be along soon (I hope) because I'd like to know the answer too!
PS the 2nd photo looks like lichen?

**Linnea** · 24-05-2012, 01:31 PM

looks like a gall to me. bacterial infection if I remember rightly
Agree with VC that the second photo looks like lichen

**FB.** · 24-05-2012, 05:13 PM

Originally posted by veggiechicken View Post

1st Photo - That's what I meant by a knobbly knee!! I have it on one of my trees that was grown from a cutting and its all over it. Problem is, I can't remember what causes it!

Apple trees which will grow from cuttings often do so because of burr knots.
Burr knots are clumps of knobbly outgrowths on the branches (usually when branches are 3 years old or more) and these outgrowths are capable of producing both shoots and roots.
Therefore if a sizeable piece of branch with these burr knots, taken just as the leaves are falling, will often root if pushed into the ground and left undisturbed for a year.

Only a limited number of varieties produce burrknots and some more or less than others.
Burrknot quantities seem to be increased when grown on dwarfing rootstocks, or if a grafted trees root system is dying from disease.

A good feature of a modern rootstock is production of burr knots, which allows quicker rooting and establishment, and also makes it cheap and easy to grow-up rootstocks in the nursery.
Layers or stools of the modern rootstocks will often root within a few months in the same way as taking a cutting from a tree with burr knots.

Out of interest, which variety did you grow from a cutting?
Noting your location as Wales and If I remember correctly, the old variety named "Burr Knot" (how original, eh?) comes from the South Wales area.
The Welsh Burr Knot is a late summer to early autumn cooking apple.

**FB.** · 24-05-2012, 05:17 PM

Originally posted by Mark the Bodger View Post

Hello everybody,

I'm new to this site, but already have seen some useful hints and tips from many posts.
Could end up spending a lot of time on here and woundering where the time has slipped away.

I moved into an new house last september and just let my garden do its own thing to see what was already planted there. However, I have an apple tree in the garden, (it only managed 1 small apple last year!) and it seems to have a funny lumpy growth on some of the branches

, can someone tell me what it is and if this is somehow restricting the life of the tree as it doesn't have much colour to it - i would have expected a few more leaves on the tree by now.

cheers!

Mark

Your picture is a bit small to see the detail of the lump, but I see three options:

1.
Burr knots.

2.
Galls (caused by bacteria or fungi).

3.
Woolly aphid damage (usually accompained by white fluffy/mouldy-looking coating - hence the woolly name).

Which variety do you have? That could help identify the problem.

In any case, the problem doesn't look like imminent life or death, but it would be prudent to find out what it is before it gradually gets worse. A closer picture of some of the lumps would be helpful (preferably a close-up picture of several different lumps in case they vary a bit).

**veggiechicken** · 24-05-2012, 05:23 PM

Thanks FB, that's very interesting. I don't know the variety as it was given to me by an allotment neighbour who had stuck a cutting of his tree in the ground and it rooted. So I dug it up and brought it home. For some years it fruited very well, now it seems to have split in 2, one half fruits and the other half does nothing. Its been in the garden in Cardiff at least 10 years.
Next time I'm home I'll take some photos and you can tell me what you think, please.
I can't remember whether it has flowered or not this year. I think its an eater with yellowy fruit but don't rely on this as I have so many apple trees I get confused!!

**Mark the Bodger** · 25-05-2012, 11:33 AM

Originally posted by FB. View Post

Your picture is a bit small to see the detail of the lump, but I see three options:

1.
Burr knots.

2.
Galls (caused by bacteria or fungi).

3.
Woolly aphid damage (usually accompained by white fluffy/mouldy-looking coating - hence the woolly name).

Which variety do you have? That could help identify the problem.

In any case, the problem doesn't look like imminent life or death, but it would be prudent to find out what it is before it gradually gets worse. A closer picture of some of the lumps would be helpful (preferably a close-up picture of several different lumps in case they vary a bit).

Thank you for your reply, unfortunately I don't know the variety of the tree, but I can't recall any woolly stuff on it since we got here. My main concern is that the leaves don't seem to have grown as much as I would have expected, should I prune back past the knobbly bits or spray something on it ??

Cheers.

**FB.** · 25-05-2012, 12:38 PM

If you wanted to get rid of them, the lumpy bits should have been pruned out while the tree was dormant, around December to March, depending on the season.
Pruning them out now will lose the resources put into any leaves which are also removed.
At this time of year the plants have just put all their winter reserves into making leaves, and now need some "payback" from those leaves gathering some summer sun. Removing those leaves will weaken the plant even further.

Lack of adequate growth of leaves and shoots could be due to a variety of things, including:

Galls affecting sapflow.

Bad weather.

Root disease afecting sapflow.

Not fertile enough soil (especially if on dwarf rootstock which requires very good growing conditions to thrive).

Some of my apple trees are still dormant, while those which have come out of dormancy are barely growing and many look very unhappy - a couple have actually died; I've just lost Egremont Russet and James Grieve, which were suddenly and completely overwhelmed by a massive attack of canker due to the very heavy, never-ending rainfall we've had here in recent months (we had about six weeks with rain every day, which is unheard of here).

**FB.** · 25-05-2012, 12:45 PM

For those pondering over my comment about Egremont Russet and canker.....

I appreciate that Egremont Russet is considered by many people to be resistant to canker.

However, in recent years, I have had suspicions that because Egremont Russet was becoming very popular across the UK because of its disease resistance and compact nature (suitable for pots) - and being adopted by commercial growers for supply of "russet" apples to supermarkets, that the diseases were/are gradually evolving to overcome its resistance.
It now appears that Egremont's disease resistance has been defeated by certain strains of canker and scab, which, as with many other varieties which have been grown too widely for too long, may soon result in Egremont Russet gradually becoming difficult to grow.

**veggiechicken** · 26-05-2012, 07:42 PM

Hi FB. Here are the growths on the apple tree that was grown from a cutting. I'd be grateful for your opinion on what they are please

Attached Files

**FB.** · 26-05-2012, 10:37 PM

Hi veggiechicken,

They're burr knots.

So maybe you have the variety "Burr Knot", or one of the other old varieties which would grow from cuttings.
There are other self-rooting varieties. If you can get some pics of the ripe fruit it may be possible to identify it.

It is also possible that you have taken a graft from a rootstock, since most good rootstocks are selected because they root quickly and easily in the nursery. It is possible that the rootstock remained after the grafted scion had died but the rootstock subsequently grew a new tree - a rootstock such as MM106, MM111 or M25 is quite possible. M26 is unlikely to produce nice fruit (it's a crab stock) and the really dwarf rootstocks are not easy to propagate as their vigour is very low.
Lack of woolly aphid attack around the burrs could point to one of the MM rootstocks, which were bred for resistance to woolly aphid.

The MM rootstocks were bred from the American variety "Northern Spy" crossed with old English rootstocks M1 and M2.
The MM rootstocks can, in certain locations, produce fruit of reasonable quality - usually fairly late ripening and fairly good keeping quality.

**veggiechicken** · 26-05-2012, 10:55 PM

Thanks FB. I couldn't see any sign of flowers on it, either coming or going so it doesn't bode well for fruit this year. It was a very nice eating apple but there has been less and less fruit over time.
I'll have another look at it tomorrow. I must admit that because there are so many old apple trees in this garden, this one got stuck in a corner and has been left to do its own thing.

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