White stuff on the trunk
- Thread starter Matte91
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cmeg1
Imperial Masterpiece
It’s either a fungus from deadwood underneath......it really doesn’t look like woolly aphids it looks more like fungus this is all I could find....but Google it
What is this white fungus-looking growth on my oak tree? - Ask an Expert
Branches above it have died and it appears to be working its way up the trunk. It also appears to multiply much faster when there is...
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sorce
Nonsense Rascal
It’s either a fungus from deadwood underneath......it really doesn’t look like woolly aphids it looks more like fungus this is all I could find....but Google it
What is this white fungus-looking growth on my oak tree? - Ask an Expert
Branches above it have died and it appears to be working its way up the trunk. It also appears to multiply much faster when there is...ask.extension.org
You know, I was thinking it was fungus, but it looked like it grew on sawdust that was on the surface.
Possible I guess.
Sorce
0soyoung
Imperial Masterpiece
Were it mine, I would be fiddling with the patch near the chop cut (diagnostic abuse will have little impact on the tree's future should this prove to be nothing to worry about). Do the white things rub off? Does the bark readily lift off here? Anything else unusual? Maybe remove the bark from this area (with the white stuff, down to the wood). Is the cambium dead underneath?
Matte91
Shohin
What do you mean? Sorry i'm not that good at English.
I have been rubbing some of it off with a toothbrush? Works fine.
No.
I have tried to scratch in the bark and it's green underneath.
0soyoung
Imperial Masterpiece
Your comprehension is good, so not to worry.
Get some 3% hydrogen peroxide from your local grocery/pharmacy. Dilute a bit to about 0.1% (1000 ppm). Use this solution with your toothbrush to scrub off all the white stuff. Wait to see if the white stuff returns, or not. It doesn't seem to be anything serious. Let us be sure.
Hydrogen peroxide is an antiseptic = kills fungi and bacteria. Diluted it won't harm your trees in any way. It will not, however, kill insects.
Get some 3% hydrogen peroxide from your local grocery/pharmacy. Dilute a bit to about 0.1% (1000 ppm). Use this solution with your toothbrush to scrub off all the white stuff. Wait to see if the white stuff returns, or not. It doesn't seem to be anything serious. Let us be sure.
Hydrogen peroxide is an antiseptic = kills fungi and bacteria. Diluted it won't harm your trees in any way. It will not, however, kill insects.
Matte91
Shohin
Thank you and thank you for your help.
I will follow your guide, thank you. Do you wan't me to scrub the hole trunk or only the white areas? I have a couple of more questions:
Do you also think that it's some kind of fungus?
Some one else gave me an advice to use Lime sulphur. You don't think I should use that?
I will correct myself. I have tried to scratch in the bark, on one of the side branches and it's green underneath. I have not tried to remove the bark were the white stuff is. Should I do that or is it fine that I checked one of the side branches?
Thank you in advance!
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0soyoung
Imperial Masterpiece
Along with you, we're all trying to figure out what it might be. I dunno.
This is an odd time of year for an insect problem. But the white stuff might be eggs.
Most, but not all, fungi produce fruiting bodies before this time of year.
Now we all know that it scrubs off. If it is fungal, it will be back, sometime in the next 12 months. If it reappears, I will recommend that you cut away the bark and the burn the exposed wood and edges of good bark with a butane torch to kill the hyphae. But we don't yet know if this is appropriate. Hydrogen peroxide will kill any spores that are laying around but won't kill the hyphae inside the tree tissues. Similarly, lime sulfur will kill any spores that fall on it, but won't kill hyphae. Peroxide only works on what is there at the time. Lime sulfur leaves a residue that acts on spores that come around for some time subsequently. Fungicides like Daconil work similarly but are not as hazardous as lime sulfur.
If it is insect eggs, you will have removed most of them. The tree will be fine, but a stray egg here and there will hatch in the coming spring. Dormant oil sprays are good for this kind of problem and also works on sucking insects. It works simply by suffocating the bugs/eggs. I would wait and see, but if you feel you must do something, apply a dormant oil spray after you've scrubbed the stuff away. There will be no harm done if it turns out to have been unnecessary.
This is an odd time of year for an insect problem. But the white stuff might be eggs.
Most, but not all, fungi produce fruiting bodies before this time of year.
Now we all know that it scrubs off. If it is fungal, it will be back, sometime in the next 12 months. If it reappears, I will recommend that you cut away the bark and the burn the exposed wood and edges of good bark with a butane torch to kill the hyphae. But we don't yet know if this is appropriate. Hydrogen peroxide will kill any spores that are laying around but won't kill the hyphae inside the tree tissues. Similarly, lime sulfur will kill any spores that fall on it, but won't kill hyphae. Peroxide only works on what is there at the time. Lime sulfur leaves a residue that acts on spores that come around for some time subsequently. Fungicides like Daconil work similarly but are not as hazardous as lime sulfur.
If it is insect eggs, you will have removed most of them. The tree will be fine, but a stray egg here and there will hatch in the coming spring. Dormant oil sprays are good for this kind of problem and also works on sucking insects. It works simply by suffocating the bugs/eggs. I would wait and see, but if you feel you must do something, apply a dormant oil spray after you've scrubbed the stuff away. There will be no harm done if it turns out to have been unnecessary.
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Matte91
Shohin
I should maybe say that the tree has been collected in fall and has been kept in a unheated shed. The soil has perhaps been to wet for too long, the white stuff is placed at the soil line. I don't know if that has coursed the problem.
Roger that. Thank you for a good explanation.
You don't wan't me to apply Lime sulphur after I scrubbed with Hydrogen peroxide, to leave a residue? Or do you wan't me to apply a dormant oil spray after I scrubbed? Or both? By dormant oil do you mean like neem oil?
Matte91
Shohin
.
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0soyoung
Imperial Masterpiece
Matte91
Shohin
Perfect!
And last question: 1000 ppm hydrogen peroxide should be enough? I doesn't sound as much, but what do I know
And last question: 1000 ppm hydrogen peroxide should be enough? I doesn't sound as much, but what do I know
0soyoung
Imperial Masterpiece
It is effective as dilute as 300 ppm. At 3%, it can cause some harm. In the end, peroxide becomes just ordinary water. So there is nothing to accumulate in your garden.And lastly are 1000 ppm hydrogen peroxide enough? It doesn't sound as much. But what do I know
Lime sulfur is actually pretty nasty stuff. You've need to protect your skin and eyes. Until it has dried, it emits hydrogen sulfide = rotten egg gas that is toxic. In my area, people wear hazmat suits when they spray fruit trees in their small orchards. However, most growers use other stuff.
You could scrub with plain water, but peroxide is eco-friendly and brings a bit more to the party. It is my standard anti-fungal until problems arise that demand exercising the nuclear option. Daconil is the next step. Then copper-sulfide based stuff. But what one uses depends upon identifying the fungus. Then, if you have a chronic problem, there are systemics that will cure infections as well as prevent new ones, but I've heard that some countries have banned systemics or certain ones.
Matte91
Shohin
Roger that.
You don't use Lime sulfur then?
Good to know. We hope peroxide will work.
May I ask wich kind of dormant sprays you use for winter wash? I was thinking using this one in the future: https://m.facebook.com/notes/houston-bonsai-society/dormant-spraying/1335155469848406/
ABCarve
Masterpiece
I’m confused with the math of the dilution rate. .1% of 3% ? Or .1 of 100%. How about a tablespoon/gallon rate.
0soyoung
Imperial Masterpiece
Sorry for glossing over this.I’m confused with the math of the dilution rate. .1% of 3% ? Or .1 of 100%. How about a tablespoon/gallon rate.
I mix 2 tablespoons of 3% peroxide with a quart of water. This works out to a solution with about 900 ppm concentration of peroxide. Close to 1000 ppm = 0.1%
Europeans don't use our complicated measurement system. As you know, instead of quarts they measure liters (litres in the UK, IIRC) so it is a little bit more straight forward to figure out about 33 ml of 3% in a liter of water to make a solution that is about 1000 ppm.
The exact concentration is not all that important. I know that it is effective as dilute as 300ppm, so I can use a bottle opened several weeks ago to make about 1000 ppm and it will still be effective. Likewise, I can use the residuals in a hand sprayer for several weeks and know it will still effective. Two tablespoons in a quart is an easy thing to remember while working in the garden - little mental labor.
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0soyoung
Imperial Masterpiece
I only paint it on deadwood to whiten it. I often put a few drops of india ink into the diluted solution that I paint on so that it is a bit darker when it dries. It can also be painted on Japanese maple trunks to make them be white during the winter = nice effect. Otherwise, no, I don't use it. It does its job,. but I prefer to avoid it because it is so caustic and stinky (especially when sprayed). Carefully mix lime sulfur with a copper sulfate solution and you've got Bordeaux mix! A few more neutrons and you've got an atomic bomb
Wires_Guy_wires
Imperial Masterpiece
Yeah it's fungus, and I don't think peroxide is going to cut it.
Copper sulphate is a good place to start, but in general it works better when you add a trace-element mixture that contains iron, zinc, molybdenium and all those other metals that plants like. Over here it's sold as a 'indoor plant revitalizer'.
I think most garden stores in Denmark should sell something like it as well.
Copper sulphate is a good place to start, but in general it works better when you add a trace-element mixture that contains iron, zinc, molybdenium and all those other metals that plants like. Over here it's sold as a 'indoor plant revitalizer'.
I think most garden stores in Denmark should sell something like it as well.
Matte91
Shohin
Haha roger that. I will remember the advice regarding whitening Japanese maple trunks, i didn't knew that.I only paint it on deadwood to whiten it. I often put a few drops of india ink into the diluted solution that I paint on so that it is a bit darker when it dries. It can also be painted on Japanese maple trunks to make them be white during the winter = nice effect. Otherwise, no, I don't use it. It does its job,. but I prefer to avoid it because it is so caustic and stinky (especially when sprayed). Carefully mix lime sulfur with a copper sulfate solution and you've got Bordeaux mix! A few more neutrons and you've got an atomic bomb
I assume peroxide works preventive for fungus also then?
Matte91
Shohin
Thank you for your reply. I think that copper sulphate has been illegal to sell in Denmark(thank you European Union..not). I can't find any suppliers that sells it.
After some search I can't find a brand that sells those metals. It's only available to find metal products when they are mixed with npk fertilizer.
I also read some where that copper sulphate only works preventive and doesn't work if the tree already have fungus??
