# Cure for oak galls?



## Saint Louisan (Jul 31, 2019)

Hello folks, I've got more questions!

My immediate area has a severe oak gall outbreak, its been like this since we bought the home 4yrs, not sure when it started. Moved from 5 miles away, no galls there or areas just miles away but there's a few square miles that it's basically in every oak to a varying degree.

I've got two mature oaks in the back yard (I believed they were white oaks but the tree trimmer said they are pin oaks) that are fairly well infested but otherwise appear healthy.

I've heard several experts on local am radio and they seemed to contradict each other a bit on the long term prognosis and especially on the subject of treatment/treatablity.

There's little info available on curative measures to treat the affliction so I figured I'd post here and see if anyone has delt with this in the past.

Is it cyclical or will it continue to grow worse until it affects the overall tree health? Is there anything that can be done to improve the situation?


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## Babaganoosh (Apr 21, 2019)

Removal.

I've lived at my house for 5 years now and one of the oaks gets worse every year.


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## FlowRider (Apr 7, 2019)

I have noticed this on my two live oaks in my front yard. Other than being unsightly, I don't plan to address it (yet).

From what I read from local tree arborists, the tree will have a problem for one to three years, then the wasps move on, and the tree is left alone. As I understand it, it does not really harm the tree, it is just common in nature these days....

I plan to prune some branches this year, to open up the canopy, so I plan to target the gnarliest looking branches....


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## Saint Louisan (Jul 31, 2019)

My understanding of the lifecycle is wasp stings/lays larvae in young tree tissue and that grows into a gall over some years, until the branch breaks at the gall landing on the ground. At that time the larvae crawls out of the gall and borrows into the soil for a season or longer, eventually emerging from the ground as a small wasp that finds a mate and flies directly up into the canopy to continue the cycle.

I've seen neighbors trees treated with insecticidal soap and others yards tilled up, fertilized with organic compost and mulched over only to turn into weed gardens. I'm yet to notice a difference between treated vs untreated trees.


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## Saint Louisan (Jul 31, 2019)

The experts consensus is that it generally isn't harmful for the trees. The exception being very severe cases of infection where the tree will show deformed leaves similar to a mineral deficiency, caused by the overwhelming number of galls stiffening the photosynthesis of the tree. By that time it sounds like removal is the only solution.

A few of the trees around here look like heavily weighted fruit frees with the branches drooped under the weight.


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## Babaganoosh (Apr 21, 2019)

My tree is pretty bad branches have multiple galls. You can easily roll your ankle if you come across one in the grass while walking or mowing. I've got two trees that need more immediate removal or I'd probably have this one taken down.


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## FlowRider (Apr 7, 2019)

You can spray them with insecticide if the problem is really getting out of control.

A hose end sprayer works well for that purpose. Insecticide and a little soap, and hose it down.

I don't like to use a lot of insecticide, but for certain insects, I make exceptions. Wasps and poisonous spiders die.

Fire ants, roaches, scorpions, carpenter ants or carpenter bees, or anything trying to get into or on my house, all die.

I have remodeled houses over the years, and when you open up walls, the nests invasive insects make are nasty.


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## Saint Louisan (Jul 31, 2019)

What type of insecticide, where do you apply it, when it the right time to apply? I'll try anything.

I have killer water pressure but can't imagine I could reach more that 10%-20% of the foliage on the tree.


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## FlowRider (Apr 7, 2019)

Saint Louisan said:


> What type of insecticide, where do you apply it, when it the right time to apply? I'll try anything.
> 
> I have killer water pressure but can't imagine I could reach more that 10%-20% of the foliage on the tree.


Sorry, Saint Louisan, I did not know you had asked a question.

If you click on the quotation marks, you can quote a poster on the forum, and the forum's system will automatically notify that poster you commented or asked questions.

Not sure if you are asking me, but I will answer since I have one.

I use Cross Check Plus by LESCO Multi-Insecticide for insectide around my property and house.

The Active Ingredient is Bifenthrin, at 7.9% concentration.

I spray it in my handheld pump sprayer, or my tow behind electric pump sprayer, but you can also use a hose end sprayer.

Mix rate is one liquid ounce per 1000 square feet.

If you have a very large tree, you may have to hire a specialist with a tree sprayer set up.

My pump can reach up to 12 to 15 feet with the right spray tip.

Use 3/4" hose if you use a hose end sprayer - it will help increase the spraying pressure.

I buy mine in bulk, 96 ounce bottle, to save some money. I spray my exterior and brick weep holes with this.

I also buy bifenthrin granules for fire ant mounds. I use a lower concentrate level indoors to control crawlers....



This is a powerful chemical insecticide, so use it very carefully and per the label. Close up of the label:


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## Saint Louisan (Jul 31, 2019)

FlowRider said:


> Saint Louisan said:
> 
> 
> > What type of insecticide, where do you apply it, when it the right time to apply? I'll try anything.
> ...


Thanks, I didn't know about the quotation marks. That'll come in handy I'm sure.

I'll play around with the hose and see how high I can get into the tree. They are huge though, I'd guess 60' tall or more. Canopies are about 40'

I plan to have 1 of the 2 oaks removed to get more sunlight to the pool, but I'd like to keep the other one as long as possible. Best price I can find for removal is $3,700 cut, hauled off and stump ground. Uggg

But these galls are tough to deal with, hell on mower blades and they'll twist an ankle if your not careful. And a bit unnerving when a baseball sized one lands 2-3ft away while your swimming in the pool alone.

I've looked at hose end chemical sprayers and they seem to get mixed reviews.

Is there a model of hose end sprayer that's torture tested and TLF approved? I keep bifen I/T on hand for general lawn and home spraying. I'm not exactly sure I understand how those things operate either,I need to do a little reading and YouTubing to be sure I don't bungle the mix ratios.

Thanks


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## gene_stl (Oct 29, 2017)

Sprayiing Oak Galls won't do much unless you spray when the wasps start coming out and otherwise attacking the trees which is a probably a two or three week period. You would need a sprayer that can reach the top.

A possibly more effective strategy would be to systemically treat the trees using one or two techniques.

One would be drilling holes in the ground and filling them with sand or gravel but drop some systemic insecticide such as Acephate into the holes.

The other method would be to use one of various injection systems to inject Acephate or some other insecticide (or possibly IGR , Insect Growth Regulator. These were developed to combat dutch elm disease which was insect born. At my old place I tried drilling in and tapping in Acephate plastic injection dispensers. It didn't work but I may have been too late.

I have five galled Oaks. When I moved the arborists said there is not much that can be done about them. They are otherwise healthy and are not as bad as they were when I moved in three years ago (Creve Coeur)

http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/help-for-the-home-gardener/advice-tips-resources/pests-and-problems/other/galls/gouty-horned-and-other-twig-galls.aspx


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