Greetings!

We just recently moved to SD, and the previous owners of our house left us their two dead and two live apple trees. In the year that we've been here, the disease that seemed to have killed the two other apple trees has killed the smaller of the two apple trees that were still alive. We now only have one tree still alive, and the disease has begun attacking it.

Here are some pictures of the still-live tree, all three being of the trunk: (the black color isn't a shadow, I assure you. It's the tree's ailment)




And here is a picture of the most recently killed tree:


A friend suggested I spray apple cider vinegar water on it in case it is a fungus. My questions:
Is it too late?
Should I apply the apple cider vinegar water?

Also, I don't know the exact cultivar (I suspect honeycrisp), and I'm not sure if the cultivar's identity will help to save the tree. Just in case, I included a picture of a bloom from the tree:


I would appreciate it if any of you are able to save my apple tree!

Hi Johannian,
I used to have a coworker that worked in an apple orchard and said that botryosphaeria canker was a very common problem. Goes after trees that have been stressed by things such as freeze, drought, poor management, etc. Not something you can spray for. Can only improve the general health of the tree to help it fight the infection. It looks like the main stem of your tree is dead for a large part of the circumference---I'm not sure if it is saveable at this point.
A link to some info: https://ipm.illinois.edu/disea...

Thanks Laurie, I figured it was a goner. So is it for sure botryosphaeria canker, or just a possibility?

Your pictures do look like a canker to me, so botryosphaeria seemed likely. It probably wouldn't matter if it was some other canker--there wouldn't be much you could do. But now you know to watch for this problem in the future if you decide to get more apple trees. General good care of the trees: proper planting, mulching, appropriate watering, etc. can help limit canker infection/spread.