Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
PK writes:
| Granity wrote:
|
| It's not a problem on dead wood.
|
| errm yes it is!
|
| It feed of the dead wood and sends out bootlaces to find its next host!

Perhaps, but it's grossly overstated as a problem. If it were half
as lethal as is made out, none of the older English woodland would
exist.


in natural woodland there is a natural balance of competing fungi, in a
domestic garden that balance does not exist and HF can be very destructive.

I've watched it spread over 14 years in an arc across a garden i look
after in Wimbledon village taking out rose beds, azaleas/rhodos, a 30 ft
mature hawthorn. Armillatox seemed to help for a while, but eventually
HF won in an number of sections which are now herbaceous instead of roses

pk

Sacha wrote:
On 27/9/08 22:35, in article , "Granity"
wrote:

You used to be able to get Armillatox
to treat the ground with but I don't know if it's still available or is one
of those EU 'banned substance' thingies.


armillatox is still sold in the uk as an outdoor soap.

The international website give information re HF prophylaxis

pk

In article ,
PK writes:
|
| Perhaps, but it's grossly overstated as a problem. If it were half
| as lethal as is made out, none of the older English woodland would
| exist.
|
| in natural woodland there is a natural balance of competing fungi, in a
| domestic garden that balance does not exist and HF can be very destructive.

Er, no. That sounds plausible, but isn't how fungi fit into the
ecology at all. Also, I have known garden that had it for decades
with only minor problems.

| I've watched it spread over 14 years in an arc across a garden i look
| after in Wimbledon village taking out rose beds, azaleas/rhodos, a 30 ft
| mature hawthorn. Armillatox seemed to help for a while, but eventually
| HF won in an number of sections which are now herbaceous instead of roses

And I have had similar problems with another fungus in my garden.
Why daemonise just honey fungus?

Some plants are sensitive, and most woody plants become sensitive as
they get old - garden roses in particular are often on unnaturally
old rootstocks. In the wild, most roses are fairly short-lived.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article ,
Sacha writes:
|
| Perennials and grasses aren't likely to be bothered. It's shrubby, woody
| things that it attacks and then only if they're weak or damaged. Some
| things, like lilacs are more susceptible than others, apparently.

It can kill perennials, grasses and young, healthy plants - it's just
less likely to. The same is true of dry rot, incidentally!

Most general recommendations are to replant with less susceptible
species, to expect a few deaths and otherwise not worry. The RHS
is not alone in saying that.

| I really wouldn't panic about it but if you read the following it might help
| you worry a bit less:
| http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile...ney_fungus.asp

Yes. There's one major error on that page, though:

"... the white growth below the bark, as described above, is the most
diagnostic feature of a honey fungus attack."

Stuff and nonsense! White mycelium below the bark smelling quite strongly
of mushrooms can be due to a vast variety of saprophytic and pathogenic
fungi, and is NOT diagnostic of anything useful (except fungal presence).
The only reliable diagnostic features are the bootlaces and the fruiting
body.

As the behaviour and treatment of all such fungi is similar, there is no
critical need to identify the precise fungus concerned. Honey fungus is
merely the most lethal of the common ones in the UK. So the RHS advice
remains good, even if the fungus is misidentified - which is good news!


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Janet Conroy" wrote in message
...

We had a large conifer chopped down and the stump ground out last year.
In the last couple of days something that looks horribly like honey
fungus has popped up. I've read up about it and apparently it can grow
on roots. We can't do anything about the roots - they go under the
lawn, into next door, and, probably, under the house!
I know I need to clear the area, but what is the best chemical to treat
the ground with??

It's normal for fungi to live in/on/off decaying vegetable matter, including
decaying tree roots, it doesn't matter. There's nothing to be done about it
really because you have no idea how far it will have spread. What you see is
just a small part of the organism.

If you did manage to kill it something else would take over. I'd leave it to
get on with its work.

What do you think is the problem? Apart from its reputation of course - most
bad reputations only have a smidgeon of truth in them.

By the way, I've seen honey fungus in my garden, I intended "doing something
about it" but didn't get round to it and then realised that I couldn't see
it any more - or since. It was near a stump of Russian vine which we'd
recently cut down and very close to a timber shed I bought when i was
seventeen - I'm now sixty nine. The shed is still standing six years after I
saw the fungus.

Don't panic! Life's too short. Leave it to the red tops.

Mary

The message
from Janet Conroy contains
these words:

We had a large conifer chopped down and the stump ground out last year.
In the last couple of days something that looks horribly like honey
fungus has popped up. I've read up about it and apparently it can grow
on roots. We can't do anything about the roots - they go under the
lawn, into next door, and, probably, under the house!
I know I need to clear the area, but what is the best chemical to treat
the ground with??

Dunno about the ground, but treat the caps with boiling spiced vinegar
with a touch of sea salt, after soaking them and discarding the slimy
water.

Bottle, and seal.

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
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The message
from PK contains these words:
Granity wrote:


It's not a problem on dead wood.





errm yes it is!

Erm, no it isn't.

It feed of the dead wood and sends out bootlaces to find its next host!

Which is already on the way out, if not already dead.

In an area of endemic HF, alaways stump grind any felled tree and remove
as much root as possible

Nonsense! Always harvest the caps and eat them while young and tender!

Split and dry the stalks, and powder them in a liquidiser, and add the
powder to casseroles, etc.

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
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The message
from "Malcolm H" contains these words:

Fungi are positively beneficial and serve to dispose effectively of dead
material which would otherwise polute the environment.

and sequester carbon...

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
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The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:

Actually, almost no trees are immune, though the rest vary between
being very sensitive and fairly resistant. It isn't the only fungus
that breaks down dead wood, by eany means - there are at least
hundreds in the UK, more probably thousands.

And AFAIK, none of them is very poisonous.¹³² (Many are tough and/or
have an unappetisingflavour, though.)

¹³² Some of the Scleroderma are mildly poisonous, but that doesn't
prevent them being used as truffle substitutes, especially in some
varieties of German sausages. Why 'truffle substitute' I can't fathom,
as the things don't taste remotely of truffle...

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
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The message
from Sacha contains these words:

You used to be able to get Armillatox
to treat the ground with but I don't know if it's still available or is one
of those EU 'banned substance' thingies.

I believe it is not officially tested, so can't be used as a fungicide,
though it may be available under a different name for (allegedly) a
different purpose.

IME, it didn't work, anyway.

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
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The message
from Sacha contains these words:

Didn't the OP say one of the stumps was against the fence - or something?
That might make it more difficult to remove all the woody material, so
Armillatox or similar might be the answer in terms of saturating the ground
round about.

In that case, paint the stump with diseasel oil. Find a friendly farmer
and buy a gallon of red diseasel - no point in paying the Eyebrows when
you don't need to.

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
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The message
from Janet Conroy contains
these words:

Thank you for the replies, altho I'm not sure I'm any the wiser.
The tree was in a smallish front garden, right beside next door's
boundary. The stump was ground out but it was a big tree (over 20ft)

Ickle tree...

so goodness knows how far any remaining roots go.

Usually about the same area as the spread of the branches, except in the
case of willows and poplars. Willow roots can 'travel' a quarter of a
mile to get a drink.

I have perennials and grasses in the bed now.
Should I clear the bed?

No.

What is susceptible?

More-or-less any tree or shrub, but probably only if it's already on its
way out.

If it's harmless why do you hear so many horror stories?

Halifax syndrome.

Listeria hysteria.

Salmonella scares.

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
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The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:

And I have had similar problems with another fungus in my garden.
Why daemonise just honey fungus?

When I pick a mushroom (for mushroom, read anything with a cap atop a
stipe) and it has uninvited guests in it, I put it gills-down (or
tubes-down) in a likely place, either in the garden, or under a tree
with which it associates, just in the hope of having 'similar
problems'...

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
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"Rusty Hinge 2" wrote in message
k...
The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:

And I have had similar problems with another fungus in my garden.
Why daemonise just honey fungus?

When I pick a mushroom (for mushroom, read anything with a cap atop a
stipe) and it has uninvited guests in it, I put it gills-down (or
tubes-down) in a likely place, either in the garden, or under a tree
with which it associates, just in the hope of having 'similar
problems'...

I've tried that. It's never worked.

I started cooking the uninvited guests along with the mushrooms, no-one
would know. Even I forget by the time I'm eating them.

Mary

Rusty Hinge 2 writes
The message
from Janet Conroy contains
these words:

We had a large conifer chopped down and the stump ground out last year.
In the last couple of days something that looks horribly like honey
fungus has popped up. I've read up about it and apparently it can grow
on roots. We can't do anything about the roots - they go under the
lawn, into next door, and, probably, under the house!
I know I need to clear the area, but what is the best chemical to treat
the ground with??

According to Garden this month, no chemical treatments are available to
the amateur.

Honey fungus is one of the commonest species in the UK, being
encountered on 31% of forays run by the British Mycological Society - in
other words, it is all over the place, and where it isn't, its spores
are.

Dunno about the ground, but treat the caps with boiling spiced vinegar
with a touch of sea salt, after soaking them and discarding the slimy
water.

Bottle, and seal.

But only if you are sure that it is indeed honey fungus.


--
Kay