Control of Pests and Disease on Southern Live Oak Quercus virginiana
Live Oak trees are great trees to plant in south Florida but they are not pest free so we will show you how to control Pests and Disease of Southern Live Oak Quercus virginiana.
Live Oaks trees are one of the largest spreading of all the oak trees wich can Reach up to 60 feet in height with a spread of up to 100 foot spread.
Finding an appropriate location to plant live oak trees is vital to there growth since live oaks can live for hundreds of years. They should be planted in huge open areas away from structures and power lines to minimize the need for constant pruning.
A common problem of live oak trees is planting them in the wrong place, in communities they are planted between the roadways and sidewalks creating a problem in the future such as roots damaging sidewalks and streets. HOA Home owner are suddenly faced with huge repair costs. Plant them with plenty of room to grow since the trunk can grow to more than 6 feet in diameter.
Insect Pests of Southern Live Oak Quercus virginiana
Galls by gall-forming wasps
Scales
Aphids
The live oak root borer Archodontes melanopus
Insect pest control treatments can be easily made to protect live oak trees either by a systemic root drench or a trunk injection once per year with the active ingredient imidacloprid found in Dominion 2L.
Diseases of Southern Live Oak Trees
Live oak decline is a wilt disease that is attributed to Ceratocystis fagacearum. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fr336
Leaf scorch in live oak caused by the bacteria Xylella fastidiosa . https://www.freshfromflorida.com/content/download/4634/29574/Distribution%20of%20Xylella%20fastidiosa.pdf
Leaf blister in live oak caused by Taphrina caerulescens https://www.freshfromflorida.com/content/download/4616/29466/Oak%20Leaf%20Blister.pdf
Canker diseases http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=18801
Powdery mildew http://ceventura.ucanr.edu/newsletters/Vol_17_No_2_July_200329836.pdf
Armillaria Root Rot Shoestring root rot https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ep478
Stuff that grown on the branches that can couse damage to live oaks
Mistletoe (Phoradendron spp.) http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/resources/health/field-guide/mistletoes/true.shtml
Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) http://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/cs_tius.pdf
Diseases may be spread by insects, pruning tools or transporting infected wood.
Disease control is one of the hardest service to perform on live oak trees because of the amount and complexity of the disease. Once we identify the disease then we can recommend a treatment option and follow up regimen.
Here is a key to identifying diseases in live oak http://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.cfm?number=B1286
For additional information on live oaks visit the following links
http://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/pg_quvi.pdf
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/st564
