[MassChestnutOrchards] ma-tacf chestnut question from Meiklejohn

[John Meiklejohn]

Hi Charlotte,

I have several questions.  Yesterday, I visited a chestnut [~5"dhb] on the property of Dr. Wayne Fowles, a veterinarian in Westfield.  I had visited it for the first time last year when it was in good health.  He had me come back because he thought it was beginning to show signs of the blight.  The tree is still very healthy to a casual glance but, indeed, the trunk about 8' up was starting to crack dramatically and showed some concave signs but no discoloration on the bark.  As a treatment we did two things:  wiped the area thoroughly with a Clorox wet wipe, at his suggestion, and then I used your method of the mud pack mixed with the white powder you gave me wrapping the mud pack in saran wrap and then with duct tape, top and bottom.  

This process got me thinking about several blight treatment issues.  Here are my questions:
    1.  What is the "mystery" white powder that I was applying in the mud pack?  Over the winter it had become moisture-laden.  Should I get a fresh supply from you to apply to the diseased trees in my orchard this season?  I still have more of the old supply.

    2.  Since bleach, i.e. Clorox, kills fungi is there any purpose to wiping or spraying the infected area of a  tree with a bleach solution independent of or before applying the mudpack?  My layman's thought is that a spray will penetrate the bark and cracks more readily than a mudpack and might enhance the effect of a mudpack if applied first.

    3.  Dr. Fowles indicated that copper sulphate is used to treat a fungal disease in horses [thrush].  He indicated it might be useful in treating fungal diseases across species including in trees.  He wondered, and so do I, if anyone has tried using copper sulphate to weaken or slow chestnut blight.  Any thoughts on this?  Would you advise trying this on diseased trees in my orchard?  I'm game to try anything that seems reasonable or that hasn't already been ruled out as useless.  Dr. Fowles said he could obtain some copper sulphate solution for me.

Look forward to hearing from you.  Hope the innoculations are going apace and that you are getting plenty of help.

John Meiklejohn
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