Gumming (Gummosis)
Non-pathogenic (physiological response to injury/stress)
33 host plants
Last updated
Gum oozes from prunus trunks and branches in response to stress, frost damage, or canker infection. Gummosis itself is not a disease but a plant response to injury and stress. Provide proper culture with steady moisture and moderate fertilizer, avoid over-fertilization, and prune out disease cankers. Healthy trees resist problems.
Manage gumming (gummosis) by breaking the disease cycle at the points you can control: remove infected tissue and debris, reduce moisture on susceptible foliage, and maintain plant health through proper watering and fertilization. Healthy, well-sited plants resist infection more effectively than stressed ones, so addressing underlying site conditions often solves the problem better than repeated chemical applications.
Quick Reference
Management
Cultural Controls
- Provide proper culture to maintain a steady growth rate.
- Avoid over-fertilization or other practices which produce large amounts of soft growth or sudden growth spurts.
- Control diseases which cause gumming.
- Prune or cut out disease cankers.
- Prevent injury to trunks and branches when possible.
- Sunscald can be prevented by shading or whitewashing trunks.