Question

Bracket fungi on tree   QUESTION: "I found what look like bracket fungi on the trucks of a few of my trees in my front yard (see attached pic). From what I read on the internet, it can be harmful to trees and the best way is to cut down the tree and burn it. Do you have any other suggestions to kill the fungi? Perhaps a spray that I can purchase from a garden store?"



ANSWER: What you are seeing is the fruiting body of a decay fungi. The fungi is living on the dead woody cells on the inside of the tree trunk. They will not damage living cells and therefore will not kill the tree. What they will do is cause the trunk to become hollow and could weaken the trunk causing it to break during a wind storm. There is not anything that can be applied to control the fungi. About the only thing is to fertilize the tree with 10-10-10 fertilizer at the rate of 1 lb per inch of trunk diameter scattered around the tree and watered in good. This will increase the overall health of the tree and its strength.

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QUESTION: What is 10-10-10 fertilizer and where can I buy it?

Answer
The three main nutrients that have been identified as absolutely necessary for plants are nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). These three are also known as macronutrients, and are the source of the three numbers commonly found on organic fertilizer labels. The numbers found on our Organic All-Purpose Fertilizer, for example, are 10-10-10. This is the percentage by weight of the N, P, and K found in the fertilizer.

It can be found at tree nurseries, or most garden type stores. They may have only 13-13-13 if so use about 3/4 lb per instead of the 1 lb per inch of trunk diameter.