Discolouration on my Yew

Today I noticed this discolouration on the tip of one branch of my Yew:


I may be worrying unneccessarily, but this is my best tree and I want to stop any problems asap.

The rest of the tree is bright green and the discolouration seems to wipe away (although that may be wishful thinking). I did consider that as this is the lowest point of the lowest branch of the tree, rain may have splashed dust/dirt up from the soil onto the foliage, but the tree is partially under cover so I doubt enough rain would reach it to do that.

Any ideas?

Hi Steve,

I had same problem with one of my yews. Couple of branches looked discoloured and today I found out that they are dead. Rest of the tree seems to be in perfect health. Don't think there's any problem with the tree. These two branches had deep wire marks and I think thats what the problem was.

Hope you're well.

Regards,

Faisal

Hmmm, thanks Faisal.......I think!

I'm not sure the wire is the issue here, it was only put on at Burrs (by Mario), so I doubt that (a) the tree has thickened enough to cause damage and, (b) Mario cocked-up!

I did notice that the discolouration seemed to wipe off slightly with gentle rubbing, so maybe it's a fungal thing?

Whatever it is, it's picked the wrong branch to appear on.

Possibly, that might be the case with your tree. But yes, It's definitely picked up the wrong one :-)

By 'wrong branch', I meant that it's a main branch, not that I was going to kick it's arse, lol.

Harleyrider wrote:By 'wrong branch', I meant that it's a main branch, not that I was going to kick it's arse, lol.

I would have loved to see the branch kick the hell out of you now

It could be dust, try to spray it of with a hose or something, if its funghii it will not come easily of.
Hope your well my friend.

Peter

Thanks Peter. I'll give that a go tomorrow. It did seem to be less discoloured after I rubbed it between my fingers.

I'm fine, my friend. And you?

Hello Steve. Difficult to see from the photo what the colour the problem is. I was wondering if its limescale from tap water?

Hmmm....doubtful Will. It's only ever been watered with rainwater since I got it.

I'll try to post a bigger pic.

How's that Will?

If that was on my citrus leaves I would look under the leaf above for a bug that excrement was causing a fungus/mold on my leaf. It really looks like what we get when we have citrus white fly.

When you wipe it, what colour is it and without the Finbarr Saunders retort. Im wondering if its algae.

Fnarr, fna....oh, sorry.

Ermmmm......mucky brown/green....ish.

Sort of.

Steve check further down the branch... is it drooping from near the internode? if this is the case the branch could ave been nibbles by a nasty... usually slugs.. BUT it is a wee bit early for those... mind you we did have a very warm few days and the blighters attacked some tender flowers in the garden!

I think it's Algae and put it down to your wet weather. Too cold for bugs this time of year.

will baddeley wrote:I think it's Algae and put it down to your wet weather. Too cold for bugs this time of year.

Yep... Will has hit the mark... its grim up North

T'int much better down South either. 6c and chilly.

@ Tony: Hmmm, come to think of it I did see a few early bird molluscs a few days ago. I'll check the internode when I get home in daylight tomorrow.

@ Will: Yes, that was my initial thought. However, the tree is under shelter (apart from horizontal rain) so I don't think it's been too wet. Think being the operative word there! Plus, there is a branch right next to it that is perfectly fine.

Trees eh, who'd have 'em!

I shall keep you updated on any worsening/improvement of said condition.

Well, I checked as much of the branch as I could get to and found no signs of nibbling or breakages. Also, I think my earlier comment about the colour 'wiping off' may have been wishful thinking. I tried again today and nothing seemed to come off this time.
When compared to the other branches on the tree, this leaves on this one look dull, sparse and untidy, as opposed to bright green, shiny, plentiful and orderly, as they are on the rest of the tree.

I'm getting concerned about the possibility of whatever this is spreading to the rest of the tree.

Being as the rest of the tree is so healthy, the branch in question may have lost vigour and the tree doesn't need it anymore?

There are far more knowlegable persons than I here, but I would be keeping this tree away from the others for a while - just in case.

Yew has been subject to some nasty fungal diseases in recent years. If it were just a sooty fungus, that would indicate that the tree was loosing sap as a result of yew scale insects. However, it is too early for that I would have thought.

If it is a lower branch dying off it would make me want to investigate the potential for some root die back directly below the branch. If that were a fungal problem you could catch it in time and also avoid the risk of your other trees being affected.

I'm not saying that's the problem but its worth ruling out.

Could it be sooty mould? I have seen this before on one of my own yews.

Dave Martin wrote:Could it be sooty mould? I have seen this before on one of my own yews.

Could be Steve; often diagnosed as rust mite when in fact it is sooty mould. What about adding a mycorrhizal fungi which will greatly benefit the Yew, mist spraying with a well diluted organic feed (I can hear Will shouting ..."don't mist") but in this-instance there is a genuine purpose. In addition, and I'm 100% certain it won't be stood in a wet soggy soil, but just in case, this can give problems as they so don't like wet feet ... at all. I know you know that but worth saying if anyone is new to Yew.

Mike

Thank you all for your many and varied suggestions about this 'thing'. I'm going to Tony's tomorrow and will take the tree with me to see if he can confirm just what the hell it is. I'll let you know the outcome.