Maple: Nectria canker
categories: Maple Maple Diseases Ornamental trees Ornamentals
last review date: 2025-07-07 10:14
Photo by: R.S. Byther
Biology
Nectria is a fungal infection which often attacks via wounds and forms cankers on twigs, branches, and trunks.
The cankers are often sunken areas that develop conspicuous yellow to orange-red fungal fruiting bodies in the dead bark. Nectria cankers may girdle twigs and kill them or become elongated and enlarge year after year.
Older cankers may develop a characteristic target or bull’s-eye shape. Infected branches are susceptible to breakage in windstorms and should be removed.
Management Options
Use Integrated Pest Management (IPM) for successful plant problem management.
Non-chemical Management
Select non-chemical management options as your first choice!
- Provide proper culture to maintain healthy, vigorous, disease-resistant trees.
- Avoid wounding trees.
- Prune and destroy infected twigs and branches.
- Prune properly to reduce risk of infection through pruning wounds or stubs.
- To minimize infection risks, do not plant in cold pockets or on poorly drained sites.
Chemical Management
IMPORTANT: Visit Home and Garden Fact Sheets for more information on using pesticides.
- None recommended
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