Question

hole in red oak that i   Hi there.  I sent a question a few days ago and here is a picture to go with it.  I'm wondering if this white, foamy liquid oozing from my young red oak is white flux or if the tree has an insect problem.  A lot of sap has dripped down the tree.  My older red oak had this happen a couple years ago, and now it is dying.  We're also in a drought here in Texas.  Thank you very much for your information and your time.

Answer
Thanks for the picture it helped. Well with the picture I have changed my mind I think it maybe a combination of the slime flux and borer damage. The insect has bored into the bark and allowed the gas to escape along with the slime flux. The drought put the tree under stress and the borer infested the trunk. I would spray the trunk with either Merit or Onyx. This will kill the insect under the bark.

Since the tree is stressed I would water it with 1 inch of water every third day for several weeks until the drought is over or it start raining regular. After several weeks I would water weekly.  I would use the fertilizer recommendations for the slime flux. This will increase the overall health of the tree.