Help with removing bracket/shelf fungus on trunks

0soyoung

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So mushrooms feed on certain portions of the tree that are dead. It shouldn't kill your tree but it will deteriorate the dead wood excel-rating the rotting of it. Allot of them like sap wood since it often contains some sugars still and isn't as dense. For the mushroom to fruit 3 things have happened. Its been there for a while an is well established under the surface and stored enough energy. Most likely the temperature shift colder with fall has hit its happy range that it likes. It has gotten enough moister with resent rain to cause the fruiting. I force fruit my shiitake logs when I hit good temperature by submerging them for 24 hours in water. I have never used fungicide but that may work not sure on the roundup. The simplest element to remove that it needs to live in the future is water. A wood stabilizer will do that and harden and soft material to preserve the look. The traditional bonsai lime sulfur method of treating treas is going to make condition that the mushroom find hard to get a foot hold. Lime Sulfate may soak into the wood and make unfavorable conditions as well but not sure how deep it will penetrate.

I would clean the surface good move the tree to a bit more sun so the wood is good dry then apply a wood stabilizer. The wood stabilizer will prevent water from entering the wood which the mushroom need to live preventing further decay of the dead wood.
Might it be said, that the fungus has been in the deadwood for some time and this is just the time of year that the fruiting body appears?
 

Lars Grimm

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So mushrooms feed on certain portions of the tree that are dead. It shouldn't kill your tree but it will deteriorate the dead wood excel-rating the rotting of it. Allot of them like sap wood since it often contains some sugars still and isn't as dense. For the mushroom to fruit 3 things have happened. Its been there for a while an is well established under the surface and stored enough energy. Most likely the temperature shift colder with fall has hit its happy range that it likes. It has gotten enough moister with resent rain to cause the fruiting. I force fruit my shiitake logs when I hit good temperature by submerging them for 24 hours in water. I have never used fungicide but that may work not sure on the roundup. The simplest element to remove that it needs to live in the future is water. A wood stabilizer will do that and harden and soft material to preserve the look. The traditional bonsai lime sulfur method of treating treas is going to make condition that the mushroom find hard to get a foot hold. Lime Sulfate may soak into the wood and make unfavorable conditions as well but not sure how deep it will penetrate.

I would clean the surface good move the tree to a bit more sun so the wood is good dry then apply a wood stabilizer. The wood stabilizer will prevent water from entering the wood which the mushroom need to live preventing further decay of the dead wood.

Any recommendations for wood stabilizer? Kaizen sells some but I don't want to ship from the UK. Amazon Prime is my go to...
 

Lars Grimm

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I did some cleanup work. On some of the longer dead stumps (shown in the original picture), there was very soft pulpy wood throughout the heart wood. I could scrap most of it out with a hand tool and then clean up the rest with a brush on a dremel. The fungus itself was very superficial though. Lower down on the trunk, I removed bark that had fungus but it was overlying deadwood. All that fungus was contained in the bark. I then applied some lime sulfur as an initial clean up. It was overall pretty superficial clean up work.

I did realize though that there is a huge hollow core which I will have to figure out how to attack. Likely when I repot, I will need to open up a larger hole on the bottom or back side to get access. For reference, it is the large grey oak I have on this thread.
 

0soyoung

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Any recommendations for wood stabilizer? Kaizen sells some but I don't want to ship from the UK. Amazon Prime is my go to...
Based on other Nut's experiences, I have used and recommended to you
PC Petrifier
because it
is easy to apply without making a shiny mess.
It may be available in your local hardware store. If not, Amazon can put it on your doorstep.

Best wishes for your tree.
 

Lars Grimm

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Based on other Nut's experiences, I have used and recommended to you

because it

It may be available in your local hardware store. If not, Amazon can put it on your doorstep.

Best wishes for your tree.

The ones on Amazon all say milky white. Is that what you have used?
 

Mash

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Might it be said, that the fungus has been in the deadwood for some time and this is just the time of year that the fruiting body appears?
Yes. My mushroom logs normally need at least a year from fresh cut branches till they will fruit.
 

0soyoung

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The ones on Amazon all say milky white. Is that what you have used?
This is my bottle
IMG_20200903_165808505.jpg

This is a link to what I bought. Yes, I see Amazon does say 'milky white'. The fluid has a milky white appearance, but it acts as though it is clear and doesn't leave any shine. Check with @Dav4 as my recollection is that he most strongly influenced me to buy it and use it.
 

Lars Grimm

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This is my bottle
View attachment 326853

This is a link to what I bought. Yes, I see Amazon does say 'milky white'. The fluid has a milky white appearance, but it acts as though it is clear and doesn't leave any shine. Check with @Dav4 as my recollection is that he most strongly influenced me to buy it and use it.

Should get here today or tomorrow. Thanks!
 
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