Celeste fig, planted last year as a 2 ft plant, grew to about 8-10 ft. Fruit was delicious. But around May the trunk started splitting. Didn't affect growth, leaves or fruit. Here is one pic. Do you know what this is and why it happens? thanks for your help
this 2nd pic shows something that looks like gall to me. I googled gall on figs and found nothing. If it is gall, is that serious or just annoying?
Looks to me like something (maybe rabbits? deer? squirrels? porcupines?) has been stripping the bark off the tree, but there is also the possibility that it could be a fungal disease that killed those patches of bark. The 'galls' are just the bark re-growing from the edge of the wounded area, that is signs of recovery. With any luck, they will continue growing and eventually cover over the wounds.
Resin
My trees experience similar symptoms. I have no idea about the cause, but it does not seem to dampen the trees' enthusiasm at all. The Latarulla is now an enormous sprawl and I need to do a lot of pruning so the painters can get to the eaves. I've noticed that on limbs that have been pruned that gall-like appearance occurs, with the outer cambrium layer peeling back and curling under. The limb is not dead because new shoots appear soon after the surgery. The wood is very soft - small trimmings decompose quickly in the compost bin - and maybe that characteristic makes the bark more vulnerable. A few years ago a lightning bolt split the main trunk of the big tree down the middle into the ground, and I feared the whole thing was a goner. Not so...one half fell over to the side but continues to produce and has sent up some shoots, apparently as replacement insurance. The trees will be nine years old soon and seem to be happy with little attention except some watering during drought. They produce huge crops, often two a season. Yuska
Could be a yucky old canker too.
