Tree disease
Pitch Canker
A fungal canker and the main disease of South Florida slash pine. It needs a wound to get in, from storms, insects or pruning. Outbreaks run worst where pines are pushed with fertilizer and irrigation, such as golf courses.
Trees it affects: Slash pine, Other southern pines
- Affects
- Slash pine, Other southern pines
- When it shows
- Flagging shows mostly late fall through spring.
- What we do first
- A lab isolation, because Diplodia tip blight looks the same in the field.
What you see
Signs in the field
- Shoot tips and branches turning red-brown and flagging
- Heavy resin flow at the infection point, with the wood under it soaked in resin
- Dead needles matted in resin, and old shoots fading to dull gray-brown
- Trunk cankers as sheets of dripping pitch, often in the upper branches
Wounds let it in
The fungus needs an opening. Storm breaks, coneworm feeding and weevils make most of them.
Less is more for pines
The worst episodes occur in heavily fertilized and intensively managed settings such as golf courses. Ornamental pines do best with as little fertilizer and irrigation as possible. We go further: we do not fertilize pines, enrolled or not.
Confirm before acting
Field symptoms overlap with Diplodia tip blight. A lab isolation tells them apart. No fungicide has been proven to stop pitch canker.
What we do
How Ptolemy handles it
Field condition first, then the recommendation. Treatment, removal and diagnosis calls are made by an ISA Certified Arborist, and the serious ones are confirmed in a lab.
- No fertilizer on pines, and irrigation kept off pines where it can be moved.
- Avoid wounding pines, above all in storm cleanup and pruning.
- Sanitation: dead and flagging branches pruned out and removed.
- Lab isolation before a confirmed call.
- We do not sell a fungicide program for it.
Next step
Seeing pitch canker on your property?
FAQ
Questions about pitch canker
Should we fertilize our pines to help them fight it?
No. Fertilizer and irrigation make pitch canker worse. Ornamental pines do best with as little as possible, and we do not fertilize pines.
Is there a spray for it?
No fungicide has been proven to stop it. Sanitation, avoiding wounds and keeping pines lean are what help.
Built on
Our own field records, our written specs, and these public references:
- FDACS Plant Pathology Circular 302, Pitch Canker of Southern Pines
- UF/IFAS ST463, Slash Pine
Keep reading
More tree problems
SeriousCanker fungi that live inside healthy wood and turn on a tree when it is stressed.
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KillerSmall bark beetles that move into stressed, storm-damaged, lightning-struck or drought-stressed pines.
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SeriousA conk on a trunk means a decay column is already inside.
Signs and what we doA fatal wilt of trees in the laurel family, carried into the wood by a tiny ambrosia beetle.
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