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Fungus growth on apple tree?

juice734juice734 Posts: 14
in Problem solving
We’ve been away a few weeks to find this growth just below eye level on the trunk of our apple tree. It feels soft / spongy and so assume it’s a fungus that should be removed then treated to prevent it coming back. There’s also a slimy trail below it which looks like snail tracks -  but a bit high up to be a snail or slug? 
It looks like several tarantulas might burst out of it!

Has anyone had similar and successfully stopped it coming back / spreading?

thanks

Posts

  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    A bracket fungus like that on a tree is the fruiting body of the fungus that is feeding on rotten wood within the tree. Sadly it means that the centre of the tree trunk is probably rotting and you are likely to lose the whole tree in a storm.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited September 2022
    I agree with @fidgetbones … the bracket fungus that you see is merely the fruiting body of a fungus already well-established in the heartwood of your tree. There is nothing you can do to prevent the tree’s eventual demise. 

    However dead and decaying trees are a scarce but essential part of our ecosystem and an invaluable resource for wildlife and invertebrates. If it is possible and safe, it would be marvellous  to allow the tree to remain standing to provide homes for woodpeckers and other creatures … or if it must be felled to allow it to remain either as a fallen tree or as a woodpile for small mammals, amphibians and invertebrates, as well as mosses, lichens and fungi. A whole new aspect of gardening.

     https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/habitats/deadwood/


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Also, slugs and snails climb up tree trunks high into the woodland canopy, grazing on the green algae that forms on the northfacing side of the trunks. Few trees are too high for a slug. 😊 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • juice734juice734 Posts: 14
    Thanks all for your replies. I’m so sad it can’t be saved!  It’s right behind my children’s playground so will have to take advice on whether it’s safe to leave it in position for now and have it checked out. 
    We’ve had tree surgeon come every other year to thin it out and they’ve never mentioned any concerns so I guess it can take hold very quickly.  
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited September 2022
    Probably a good idea to take it down and turn it into a log pile then … a great interest for your budding David Attenboroughs. 😊 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • SkandiSkandi Posts: 1,723
    It looks like an old specimen of shaggy bracket fungus, it doesn't mean the tree is going to die, it feeds on dead heartwood that most old apple trees have. Get someone to look at the tree, it may be that you can prop it as well to ensure it can't shed branches anywhere you don't want it to.
  • Arthur1Arthur1 Posts: 542
    If health and safety is a concerns you may be able to have some weight removed but retain the trunk and a branch framework. Could live on for decades.
    Heartwood is always dead, decay fungi are a normal phenomenon. 
  • juice734juice734 Posts: 14
    Thank you - I will definitely get an expert to take a look at it before doing anything drastic. 
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