Splitting Limb on Pickering

[Carbo]

This was transplanted about two years ago from a 3 gallon pot.  It has grown well since.  Took a walk around it yesterday to see if the recent cool front was forcing some blooms when I noticed one branch splitting and looking dried out.  Any ideas what I'm looking at?  The rest of the branches and leaves seem healthy.

[Squam256]

Looks like a bacterial infection. Appears to be occurring on the young stem as well.

[Carbo]

Ugh.  What causes this?  How best to treat it?

[Squam256]

Ugh.  What causes this?  How best to treat it?

Xanthomonas or Pseudomonas species. You can try different bacteriacides like copper (of dubious effectiveness). Or decapitate the tree below the point of infection. Or just take good care of the tree and hope it goes away on its own

[Carbo]

What about sulphur?  I read that sulphur is often used on bacterial infections.  Is one product, copper vs sulphur, superior to the other?

[Squam256]

What about sulphur?  I read that sulphur is often used on bacterial infections.  Is one product, copper vs sulphur, superior to the other?

Sulfur Won’t do anything for this type of bacteria.

[pineislander]

Could just be hurricane damage which didn't get noticed.

[Guanabanus]

I have heard that copper deficiency can also cause tree splitting.  The source of the info was dubious....

One of my customers had a 'Carrie' with almost all the branches, and even the nearly 1-foot-diameter trunk, with the bark split wide open to the trunk.  I sprayed it a couple of times with "Liquid Copper" and it all healed up.  Might have anyway--- I didn't have a second tree with splits to leave untreated as a contol.

[Carbo]

Thank you for the replies.  I have some Southern Ag Liquid Copper.  I'll give it a treatment or two and see what happens.

[FruitFreak]

This is all very interesting as I have a couple jackfruit seedlings with split trunk and branches.