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Author Topic: Fungus?  (Read 5459 times)

Tony G

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Fungus?
« on: April 02, 2012, 01:50 PM »
 Things have been going well with the Ponderosa Pine I got from Andy last fall. We had the usual early spring and the buds started to swell and a bunch of flower buds formed around the strongest buds. I picked them off as per Andy's instruction. Then it got a little colder again and we had some rain. Now  the buds have what looks like needles growing out of then. However, after the rain I noticed some white cotton like stuff on some of the needle/buds. It's not a lot but it has me worried. I can't do pictures right now or I would have put some up. What is this stuff?
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gtuthill

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Re: Fungus?
« Reply #1 on: April 02, 2012, 02:46 PM »
Hi I have some of this af the moment as well, seems to have formed in late summer here, autumn now.  I have it on some JBP and some Scots pine, but not all.

I have sprayed a couple of test areas with some copper fungicide to see what happens, but not sure it is even an issue (other than it doesnt look great. 

Cheers
Greg
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oakandwalnut

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Re: Fungus?
« Reply #2 on: April 02, 2012, 04:36 PM »
I have had some too. It seems to be where some candles fell off due to some vermin early this spring. It went away after a few days/  week or so.
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Dave Murphy

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Re: Fungus?
« Reply #3 on: April 03, 2012, 08:23 AM »
I doubt it's a fungus...Mealy bugs, maybe, vs. normal?  As usual, pics would help.
« Last Edit: April 03, 2012, 08:29 AM by Dave Murphy »
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Treebeard55

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Re: Fungus?
« Reply #4 on: April 03, 2012, 09:16 AM »
Can you scrape off whatever-it-is easily with your fingers?
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oakandwalnut

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Re: Fungus?
« Reply #5 on: April 03, 2012, 09:29 AM »
I did, it scraped right away. Its was almost like the remainder of the candle is decomposing, and growing some white fungus.....
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John Kirby

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Re: Fungus?
« Reply #6 on: April 03, 2012, 12:29 PM »
The white that you normally see at the base of the needles will be adelgids, white wooly ones and there are some black species as well, harder to see.  Nasty little buggers, require fairly significant artillery to knock them down. I won't post a cure here as each state can have its own list of available agents to use. I would suggest, first posting some pictures, let us get a feel if you just had a dead tree/branch or an identifiable problem.
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gtuthill

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Re: Fungus?
« Reply #7 on: April 03, 2012, 11:03 PM »
Here of some pictures of what i've got.   

I scraped some off with my fingers and there are possibly some tiny critters in there, very hard to tell.  in one of the pictures you can see a small web.  Not sure if this is related.

Interestingly this is only on trees that i know have had a hard time over the last year, so are likely a little weaker. 

I seem to remember having someting like this a number of years ago and the solution i was given was to spray with a weak solution of detergent and water to wet the tree fully and hose off the "stuff" with a reasonable pressure.

thoughts?
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Treebeard55

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Re: Fungus?
« Reply #8 on: April 04, 2012, 12:52 AM »
From the first two pictures, I'd say mealybugs! The web's unrelated; maybe a spider, maybe spider mites, maybe bagworms ... other possibilities, anyone?
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Tony G

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Re: Fungus?
« Reply #9 on: April 09, 2012, 02:22 PM »
   Mine was on the new growth at the tips on about 3 buds. I took a dental pick and carefully removed it. It wasn't very sticky, it came off easily, and there didn't seem to be anything living under it. The weather is dryer now. I let you all know if it comes back.
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rockm

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Re: Fungus?
« Reply #10 on: April 09, 2012, 03:55 PM »
Definitely wooly adelgids,  since they're still there in the pic if you look closely. They are visible under the white fluff coating (Which will shed insecticide pretty effectively BTW). Since this is a small infestation, removing it by sliding your finger over the fluff will squish the buggers easily.

The web could be anything from a spider to spider mites...
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yamins

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Re: Fungus?
« Reply #11 on: April 12, 2012, 02:56 PM »
If the infestation happens to spread, and you are in a state where Bayer Advanced Protect and Feed 12 month systemic insecticide is available (granular or liquid are both fine), you might want to try that.   I have seen it completely zap bad blackpine adelgid infestations on a number of occasions.
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