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Willow Bacterial Wetwood: Slime Flux Diagnosis and Resource

Nicole: mother's willow not blooming. Pus on top branches, trunk bark peeling, bark appears dark at times. Asks: cause and cure?

Expert Diagnosis

Steve: bacterial wetwood (slime flux). Liquid oozes from bark cracks/pruning wounds. Wet/stained bark. Fermentation smell attracts insects.

Resource

PDF bulletin (FSA-7552) on this disease provided.

Key Insight

Bacterial wetwood is chronic but rarely fatal. The "pus" is bacterial exudate. Management focuses on tree health maintenance; no cure for established infection.

Plant Diseases: Identifying Lichen vs. Disease on Maple Trunks and Managing Frost Cracks; Sapsucker Damage on Young Oak: Same Culprit, Different Tree; Woodpecker Damage and Borer Infestation in Willow Trees; Plum Tree Loose Bark with Magenta Spores: Complex Diagnosis Needed; Kilmarnock Willow Scab and Canker: Pruning and Cultural Control; Borers in Weeping Willow: Signs and Management; Bark Beetle Damage on Elm: Signs and Last-Resort Treatment; Weeping Willow Oozing Smelly Sap — Bacterial Wetwood, Not Curable; Maple Trunk Bark Peeling: Wound Care (Bark Scoring); Sapsucker Bird Damage on Curly Willow: Not an Insect Problem

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