Help! Something ate my apple tree from the inside

[Danaya]

Hi everyone, my heart is in shambles, something made a horizontal hole in my gorgeous mini golden spur tree and then proceeded to make tunnels up and down the trunk. I've tried to fill it with a sealant to some degree, but I don't know if this can help it at all. The tree is so beautiful and bears lovely apples every single year that are so tasty. I really don't know what to do. Shall I leave it to see if it survives (it's just about to start flowering), or shall I try to save it by cutting it down below the level of the damage (there are only 2 very small branches below the point where I guess the tunnel ends at the bottom end)?
Thanks

 

[Chuck]

Apple tree borers. I don't know how to get rid of them except I've known folks who inject the tree with Neem Oil. Perhaps researching tree borers would help.

 

[oneeye]

Borers only attack stressed or weakened trees. Ensure proper watering, fertilization, and pruning to keep your trees in good condition to prevent an attack. Once a tree is attacked it most likely a goner. Apple tree borers, especially flatheaded borers and roundheaded borers, and can weaken or even kill trees.

 

[Danaya]

Thank you for replying. The tree has a nice open shape, and I feed it with chicken pallets. The only thing I'm not able to do lately is watering. It's at my allotment and there is no water supply at the moment. I only had one barrel of rain water, which I used about 10 days ago. I don't know what to do. The tree is so lovely but I don't know if it can survive above the damage level. I don't really want to cut it down, but I don't know if it has any chances, you can see from the picture the proportion of the hole to the size of the tree, and it continues up and down in the centre of the trunk. I at least tried to stop it from going further down with the sealant, but even then, it can just go around it, I guess.

 

[Danaya]

Now I understand why I've seen trees painted white with slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) in other countries. Do you think this might help prevent damage to my other fruit trees?

 

[oneeye]

Now I understand why I've seen trees painted white with slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) in other countries. Do you think this might help prevent damage to my other fruit trees?

If the trees are already sick, white washing won't help. However if the trees are ok, just use white latex paint as a preventive every year.

During a drought your trees would fair better with a couple inches of hardwood mulch around the base of the trees. Mulch will block the Sun from drying out the soil and keep it cooler.

 

[Danaya]

The tree is/was perfectly healthy, very happily growing and is full of flower buds, I was watering it the last few weeks, as it hasn't rained lately, and it does have wood chips around the base.

Apparently, I've been told, the goat moth's larvae eats all sorts of trees on the inside like that, and the ones with softer barks are easier to reach. It stays inside the trunk and later in the branches for a few years and comes out of the branches as adults.

 

[StormySky]

I hesitate to recommend this as your tree looks very young, but we have olive trees and I remember my father dealing with insects that bore into the tree by wetting a piece of cotton with alcohol, inserting it into the hole with a wire, and sealing any visible holes with plasticine or other malleable materials. The fumes from the alcohol suffocate the insects and the plasticine prevents new ones from entering. However, the trees I remember had thicker trunks and olive trees are hardier than apple trees. I am also unsure whether you should keep the lateral branch. In general you want to remove branches that are sick or damaged to prevent deceases from spreading.

 

[oldigrow]

I hesitate to recommend this as your tree looks very young, but we have olive trees and I remember my father dealing with insects that bore into the tree by wetting a piece of cotton with alcohol, inserting it into the hole with a wire, and sealing any visible holes with plasticine or other malleable materials. The fumes from the alcohol suffocate the insects and the plasticine prevents new ones from entering. However, the trees I remember had thicker trunks and olive trees are hardier than apple trees. I am also unsure whether you should keep the lateral branch. In general you want to remove branches that are sick or damaged to prevent deceases from spreading.

i had the same problem with my cherry tree. i found a tube of something and squirted in the holes. i think something like model airplane glue would kill them and seal the holes.

 

[Danaya]

I've tried to reach inside with a wire and poured some Provanto Arbrex Heal and Seal natural resin in the part below the hole. It won't seal it, though, covers it for a while and then goes down. I'll bring blue tag with me tomorrow and try with some more sealant The thing dug approximately 10cm downwards and 15cm upwards in the trunk, that's how far the wire went. I've been told this might be effective, as long as the larvae didn't reach some of the side branches. Hopefully, I caught it in time. Although, the tree is a miniature variety and just 5 years old. Quite a bit of the trunk center is missing. Only time will tell.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

The centre of the trunk is 'dead' wood, it's function is to support, all the food going up and down the trunk to the leaves and roots will travel in the layer just under the bark, so I would expect the tree to survive the experience, but it might well need some strengthening support, having a hole through the middle of the 'tough' bit won't help if there are high winds.
Alcohol and a seal is not something I have heard of before, but it sounds a good idea to make sure there is nothing still living in the hole, be it the original invader or anything else, such as a fungusthat came in with it, or insects exploiting the hole