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Trees - Tree Fungus?
Expert: Jim Hyland - 8/9/2008
Question
I had a a very large maple tree taken down and the stump grinded about 5 years ago and the last couple years, I have gotten a growth of fungus growing where the tree once stood. I keep digging it out, but it keeps coming back. How do I permanently get rid of this??
Answer
These are decay fungi that are breaking down the woody stump still left in the ground. The time it takes to decay the stump will vary with the climate where you live. Here in the Southern US a stump will be completely decayed by the second year. In the Western US this may take 5-10 years. Fungi do not possess chlorophyll and consequently must derive food from other sources such as wood stumps. For fungi to live and grow, they must have the proper temperature, moisture, oxygen and food conditions. Food is supplied by the stump or wood, and oxygen is supplied by contact with the atmosphere. For optimum fungal growth, the temperature should range from 50 to 90 degrees F. The wood moisture content should be approximately 20 percent to slightly higher, but not water soaked. These optimum conditions do not exist for long periods, thus stump rotting actually occurs intermittently and decay of the entire stump is a long-term process.
What you are seeing is the fruiting bodies of the fungi that is living in the wood. These is not anything that can be put on the stump top control this. The organisms that come along to decay the stump after the first year or so tend to be carbon-limited. That means that adding high nitrogen fertilizer no longer hastens the decay. The alternative is to add carbons (in the form of sugar) to the wood after the first year. Simply add some ordinary granulated sugar through those holes and the process will speed up considerably. Keep in mind that the heartwood of some species such as cedar, mulberry, bois d’arc and locust are naturally durable and will take much longer to decay than softer woods.
As the stump rots, depressions or holes will develop. These can be unsightly and a hazard. You can re-fill these depressions with topsoil as they develop.
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