Honey fungus

[flaxton]

Because I am known as the "mushroom man" or that sad b....... in some circles with the proliferation of Honey fungus this year I keep getting asked for id's of the said fungus and advice as to what to do. We have mentioned a few times that it is thought that some of the Armillaria family is "PANIC PANIC PANIC" whereas others are not. Can anyone tell me where there is definitive information on this problem. I don't want to be giving people the "dig the whole garden up" advice if it is unnecessary.

Thanks
Mal

[gleditsa]

Originally Posted by flaxton

Because I am known as the "mushroom man" or that sad b....... in some circles with the proliferation of Honey fungus this year I keep getting asked for id's of the said fungus and advice as to what to do. We have mentioned a few times that it is thought that some of the Armillaria family is "PANIC PANIC PANIC" whereas others are not. Can anyone tell me where there is definitive information on this problem. I don't want to be giving people the "dig the whole garden up" advice if it is unnecessary.

Thanks
Mal

i don't now if its what you are looking for, but there is some very interesting stuff on Armillaria sp on Tom Volks website, which may help,
(see the "humongous fungus" page)
as for "dig the whole garden up" ,on the self same webpage it states that one Armillaria has covered approx 3.4 square miles, in which case, unless all the neighbours take the same action at the same time, it would be just a matter of time before the garden in question was revisited by the Armillaria again,
i dont think a garden fence will prove an effective barrier

j.

[watsthat]

Hi Mal

Iv`e thought long and hard about this problem in the past, being a keen gardener. Nowadays I take a more relaxed attitude to Honey Fungus, Club Root, Potato Blight, Grey Mould, etc, etc ad infinitum.
I once had a garden with rampant Honey Fungus, this was partly my own fault for leaving a large sycamore stump in the ground next to our septic tank. We eventually moved, not without some relief at leaving the problem behind. We moved again this year and inherited a garden with lots of old tree stumps and obvious signs of Honey Fungus. I`ve removed all the offending stumps, (pity really as there were lots of fungi possibilities), and addded lots of soil conditioner/compost. We have now replanted now but I don`t think we will have a domesday scenario. After all, these fungi occur naturally anyway and will always take advantage if the conditions suit them. I know I`m teaching granny to suck eggs here mate but IMO we just have to live in peaceful co-existence.

BTW sorry I missed your talk at the Arboretum

Cheers

Pete

[flaxton]

Thanks J and Pete. Tom Volks page is interesting and implies that some are virulent pathogens, others are opportunistic pathogens, and some are innocuous saprobes but it doesn't say which is which

Mal

Ps Pete sorry you couldn't make the talk there were only 45 people this year and as it is such a good money spinner for the Arboretum I am booked for next year

[fairplay]

I believe it is accepted that A.mellea is the one to be most feared, but that possibly within this species there may be less virulent strains.

Neil.

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