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Can you starve honey fungus to death

B3B3 Posts: 27,505
Or does it lie in wait?
How long before you could plant non - resistant plants?
In London. Keen but lazy.
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  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    edited November 2021
    I think once you have it, that's it there forever. 
    i have it in the garden here and had it in my previous garden. It's not been any real problem. 
    A contorted willow in my previous garden died the year after I sold it. ( maybe it was just pining for me ? )
    Devon.
  • I think it just pops up when it feels like it... having killed a rowan tree last year, it's just biding its time now in my front garden, apparently.  The rugosa rose hedge planted 3ft from the dead stump is unaffected so far.  Fingers crossed...
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    It seems to be very widely spread and I have never heard of a way of getting rid of it. However, we have it in our garden and it really isn't a problem, except for trees that are already weakened by something else.
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    Fungi live off bacteria and other fungi mostly.
    Occasionally they get a taste for meat and trap nematodes for food.
    The spores are in the air so they just pop up when they land somewhere suitable

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • steephillsteephill Posts: 2,841
    Honey fungus doesn't lie in wait, it actively seeks out new victims. It is thought that the largest organism on earth is a patch of honey fungus in Oregon which is over 5km across and is over 8,000 years old.
  • didywdidyw Posts: 3,573
    @steephill - wow!  Now I know I have honey fungus in my garden I'm careful about what I choose to plant, deliberately choosing the most resistant. My tree surgeon told me that you can stop it travelling with a resistant barrier species, like oak. A client of his had planted a new orchard when HF was discovered so they planted a row of oaks between it and the orchard.  But only time will tell.
    Gardening in East Suffolk on dry sandy soil.
  • Here’s some fruiting bodies that popped up on a tree stump. 


  • The rhizomes spread from a 'home base', usually a dead tree or an infected living plant and don't survive once broken, so regular fairly deep cultivation of the soil between a known source and prized woody plants will limit the spread, as will a barrier, if you can't access and remove the source (an old Ash tree stump, next door, in my case.)  I've noticed the fruiting bodies can pop-up anywhere, but especially where the 'seeking' rhizomes hit impenetrable barriers, such as walls or some of my paths which have fairly deep foundations.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • The rhizomes spread from a 'home base', usually a dead tree or an infected living plant and don't survive once broken, so regular fairly deep cultivation of the soil between a known source and prized woody plants will limit the spread, as will a barrier, if you can't access and remove the source (an old Ash tree stump, next door, in my case.)  I've noticed the fruiting bodies can pop-up anywhere, but especially where the 'seeking' rhizomes hit impenetrable barriers, such as walls or some of my paths which have fairly deep foundations.
    Very interesting. You therefore need to be very vigilant about removing all the fruiting bodies before they release their spores.
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    Well, in theory, but your chances of success are limited. I think it's another case of keep calm and carry on.
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