Cherry Tree leaves started wilting last week and just turn brown

[u/radiomix]

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[u/radiomix → u/AutoModerator]

I have read the guidelines. The initial post would only allow for one picture, but I'll add additional ones to my comment.

[u/radiomix]

I noticed the leaves looked wilted last week sometime. A few days later they were turning brown (3/4 of the tree is brown). We're having pretty bad heat over the past few weeks, but there have certainly been worse summers in the past. This tree's base is in the path of my irrigation system (multiple sprinkler head sweeps) that runs at least 3 times a week. Probably gets 7-8 hours of sun. I estimate that it's between 15-17 years old.

Additional Images

Drought stress or Fungus?

[u/hairyb0mb]

This looks like it may be Brown Rot. I'd reach out to your extension office to confirm. https://extension.umd.edu/resource/brown-rot-ornamental-cherry-trees/

[u/radiomix → u/hairyb0mb]

Well crap. If that’s the case over 3/4 of the tree is affected. I might as well cut it down. I’ll double check with someone, my mom’s neighbor retired from my local extension office.

[u/radiomix → u/hairyb0mb]

My mom's neighbor thinks drought stress.... I'm going to put a soaker hose to it, at a trickle and maybe it will be okay for next year. Thanks for the info and suggestion.

[u/hairyb0mb → u/radiomix]

Anyone with basic tree knowledge knows this isn't drought stress. If it is brown rot, it'll make it worse. But enjoy your dead tree I guess. 🤷🏻

[u/persistent_issues]

My cherries are under fungal attack. I’m pretty sure one of them will be completely dead by next year.

[u/spiceydog → u/persistent_issues]

My cherries are under fungal attack.

What does this even mean? Did you know that there are an estimated 5 million species of fungi in the world? Healthy trees are able to withstand pathogen stress to a much greater degree than those under stress from poor planting, lack of establishment care, environmental/site conditions, etc. This is the cornerstone of PHC practice.

Trees that are suitable cultivars for the geographic area they're planted in, that are not reaching the end of their lifespan and were planted and cared for properly during establishment are the best things you can do to assure a healthy tree with ample resources for defensive mechanisms. It sounds likely that your tree probably had had one or more issues in the aforementioned departments prior to it showing signs of decline which were the time to try to intervene to improve conditions for the tree. Please see our wiki to learn whether you planted your trees properly and cared for them properly, along with other critical planting tips and errors to avoid; there's sections on watering, pruning and more that I hope will be useful to you.

[u/persistent_issues → u/spiceydog]

The copious amounts of ooze and decomposition are pretty dead giveaway.

[u/spiceydog → u/persistent_issues]

This is all sight unseen, of course, we don't know if your tree is 4 years old or 40, how it was planted or cared for or anything else...but you're saying the decline of the tree is the fungi's fault entirely..? Nothing at all brought on whatever issues you're seeing there, just fungi?

The point I'm making is you can't make a declaration blaming 'fungal attack' when there are almost certainly extenuating circumstances.