Honey fungus

Hello Chris,

Sorry taken so long to reply but only just come across your post. Honey fungus is hard to control. In one large garden i manage it keeps occurring at random places throughout. I remove infected plants,as much root as possible, some have been significant features of the garden.

The fungus can be present without appearance of mushrooms, also possible to confuse with some other types. Though there is the ring on the mushroom stem.

Tell tale sign is to lift a portion of the bark near the base and see if there is a white mycelium sheet present just under the bark, soft tissue some times appears water soaked and there is a musty smell like mushrooms to the wood. Some roots may show signs of infection some wont. Most infection sign at the collar of the shrub around soil level.

Other signs to look for during the season, spotting on leaves, wilting, die back but not across the whole shrub and of course sudden death of shrub, profuse flowering.

No chemicals to control, removal of infected plants. scrape back soil around collar may help, forking around infected site to try break 'fungus bootlaces'. Have read that physical barrier can stop mycelium spread but not tried myself. Some herbaceous plants can get infected as well not just woody plants.

A bit more difficult is too try and identify any locations of previously felled trees where stumps have been left in. These can be the main feeding source for the fungi. I have tried to remove as much of the buried stem and roost when i have come across these, but some times not practical.

RHS site has more info' on previous and ongoing research into this fungus plus list of more tolerant plants. Might be a good investment to join RHS to make use of their pest and disease advisory service. Can also add a small charge for this to the client.

Again sorry not replied before, hope this helps, but in for a long battle, more of a tolerate and manage then control completely, if that makes sense.

Phil

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Philip Desmond December 1, 2017 at 3:13pm

Hello Chris,

Sorry taken so long to reply but only just come across your post. Honey fungus is hard to control. In one large garden i manage it keeps occurring at random places throughout. I remove infected plants,as much root as possible, some have been significant features of the garden.

The fungus can be present without appearance of mushrooms, also possible to confuse with some other types. Though there is the ring on the mushroom stem.

Tell tale sign is to lift a portion of the bark near the base and see if there is a white mycelium sheet present just under the bark, soft tissue some times appears water soaked and there is a musty smell like mushrooms to the wood. Some roots may show signs of infection some wont. Most infection sign at the collar of the shrub around soil level.

Other signs to look for during the season, spotting on leaves, wilting, die back but not across the whole shrub and of course sudden death of shrub, profuse flowering.

No chemicals to control, removal of infected plants. scrape back soil around collar may help, forking around infected site to try break 'fungus bootlaces'. Have read that physical barrier can stop mycelium spread but not tried myself. Some herbaceous plants can get infected as well not just woody plants.

A bit more difficult is too try and identify any locations of previously felled trees where stumps have been left in. These can be the main feeding source for the fungi. I have tried to remove as much of the buried stem and roost when i have come across these, but some times not practical.

RHS site has more info' on previous and ongoing research into this fungus plus list of more tolerant plants. Might be a good investment to join RHS to make use of their pest and disease advisory service. Can also add a small charge for this to the client.

Again sorry not replied before, hope this helps, but in for a long battle, more of a tolerate and manage then control completely, if that makes sense.

Phil