bugs or guttation?

There is an article in the paper about trees in Baltimore letting loose so much water that people are thinking the skies have opened up .... the "experts" are saying it is either aphids sucking and spewing or guttation. Anyone ever heard of this? They still haven't come up with an answer. I just thought maybe SP would have the answer right off.

Or alternatively a journalist spouting a lot of nonsense :-)

Guttation is when leaves exude small drops of excess water; it is a phenomenon mainly seen in herbaceous plants. Some info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guttation

Resin

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.trees19oct19,0,6996260.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

Thanks Anne...I tried to copy and paste that but it didn't do it. Now Resin...what do you think of this article?

This was a popular thread

ROTFLMAO!! very popular ! 52 people veiwed it just no one wanted to comment! LMAO

maybe they don't know the answer......hmmmmm

Sounds similar to this thread I started. http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/613993/

Thanks...seems like you got the same response...

Hey, can this guttatation thing happen with Quercus velutina and Quercus rubra? Ours dripped clear fluid from mid spring to mid summer. Messed up the deck and patios and barbecue grill constantly. At first I thought it was common oak scale, but there was absolutely no sign of infestation. (We had worked to rid the trees of this nasty pest some years back.) Whenever a leafy twigg would fall we would rush out with white paper and tap to dislodge any insects - none. We looked at foliage and stems and bark through a magnifying loop. Couldn't see a thing. Called a certified arborist. He had no idea after first suspecting scale. Then as a last resort we called the county extension agent. She had no idea either. So they just dripped. We did have an awful lot of rain through those weeks and high humidity. We had the highest rainfall totals on record for that period. Could it have been?

Yes, I believe those are the precise conditions in which guttation occurs. But equally sure someone will come along and say how wrong I am, and why. LOL.

Sounds specious.

undercover-owl: Your theory about what it might have been? I can add further information if it helps. The fluid dripped was not as sticky as the fluid dripped from a common oak scale infestation.

At my parent's (and where I grew up), they live in a natural oak forest. The oaks weep non-sticky "sap" every year. I've always thought it is normal. Dad was always afraid it would eat up the paint on the cars, but it doesn't seem to do any dammage. I think he was liking it to his perspiration that seems to eat up the backs of his wrist watches.

It's pretty easy to induce guttation with a Chinese evergreen(Aeglaonema). It can look pretty Christmassy on this houseplant, with a glistening droplet at the tip of each leaf, and the bright red berries.

Rick

So what actually causes it?

Interesting info Rick. Our trees have dripped on two occaisions in 34 years. Once from common oak scale and once unexplained. Common oak scale is seen easily if you know what to look for. Also exudate from the scale insect is moderately difficult to remove. It really messes up a windshield. We live in a heavily forested area as well. One thing I never did and that I certainly should have done was to look at my neighbors trees and see what they were doing. My neighbors are not "tree people". To them oaks are simply a never ending source of firewood. Unlikely they noticed much. The stuff that rained down from our oaks was heavy enough, especially when the breeze blew, to make me wear a hat to garden! We could not eat on the patio during the whole time.

To the point of needing a hat! Wow! Certainly not my variety of weepage. (It's a word, I tell ya.) Unless you were looking for it, our rain would only be visable on smooth surfaces.

Leftwood, good at scrabble are ya? Yeah, it really did come down that much. If you gardened very long your hair got pretty damp and your shoulders too. It was nuts.