Aerating and Inoculating Soil

[treeseer]

Here's an infomercial for the wrecking bar and the Aqua-Cannon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr7X...m-upload_owner

Gift one to your arb buddies who manage fungi, instead of letting fungi manage them

 

[BC WetCoast]

Wouldn't an air spade be more efficient?

In my area armillaria, especially for the native species, is the kiss of death. Are tulip poplars able to grow through it?

 

[treeseer]

Looks Good, Del! Wrecking bar does Zero root damage if wiggled first and poked cautiously. I also use it in advance of my X-HFA Air/Water Knife, to get deep action with a lot less mess and splashing. Is an air tool more efficient? not if you don't own one, or don't have your compressor handy. For small jobs, manual methods work great, as Del confirms.

BC, armillaria is often a weak pathogen ime that gets waaay too much respect. You gotta try drying the site out before proclaiming it the kiss of anything.
Diseases of Trees and Shrubs pages 354-366, Dr. Sinclair describes many treatments:

1. Fracturing subsoil to allow deep drainage, as without water the disease cannot spread.

2. Amending soil to improve structure

3. Inoculating with microbes to outcompete or directly attack the pathogen.

4. Applying calcium fertilizers or soil amendment with gypsum. “…calcium calcium compounds interfere with sporangium formation and zoospore function and thus suppress infection."

5. Drenching with “suppressive fungicides to limit damage."

6. Drenching with “…resistance-inducing chemicals such as potassium phosphate.”

7. Surgery to remove inoculum. “(Armillaria sp.) derives nourishment from recently killed as well as living tissues, and it reproduces in the dead tissues."

8. Applying heat to kill pathogens and promote closure.

9. Injecting minerals or fungicides.

The A300 Tree Care Standard Part 2, Soil Management covers many of these treatments for soilborne pathogens. The first step in Soil Modification is 14.4, Evaluating site soil condition practices. IPM guides “emphasize environmentally safe, less-toxic IPM methods”.

 

[BC WetCoast]

Looks Good, Del! Wrecking bar does Zero root damage if wiggled first and poked cautiously. I also use it in advance of my X-HFA Air/Water Knife, to get deep action with a lot less mess and splashing. Is an air tool more efficient? not if you don't own one, or don't have your compressor handy. For small jobs, manual methods work great, as Del confirms.

BC, armillaria is often a weak pathogen ime that gets waaay too much respect. You gotta try drying the site out before proclaiming it the kiss of anything.
Diseases of Trees and Shrubs pages 354-366, Dr. Sinclair describes many treatments:

1. Fracturing subsoil to allow deep drainage, as without water the disease cannot spread.

2. Amending soil to improve structure

3. Inoculating with microbes to outcompete or directly attack the pathogen.

4. Applying calcium fertilizers or soil amendment with gypsum. “…calcium calcium compounds interfere with sporangium formation and zoospore function and thus suppress infection."

5. Drenching with “suppressive fungicides to limit damage."

6. Drenching with “…resistance-inducing chemicals such as potassium phosphate.”

7. Surgery to remove inoculum. “(Armillaria sp.) derives nourishment from recently killed as well as living tissues, and it reproduces in the dead tissues."

8. Applying heat to kill pathogens and promote closure.

9. Injecting minerals or fungicides.

The A300 Tree Care Standard Part 2, Soil Management covers many of these treatments for soilborne pathogens. The first step in Soil Modification is 14.4, Evaluating site soil condition practices. IPM guides “emphasize environmentally safe, less-toxic IPM methods”.

Guy, that's good information.

In our area, trying to dry the soil out isn't really an option except in Aug and Sept. Nature tends to prevent this.

The soils in our area are all glacially modified, so we have areas of unconsolidated glacial tills, bedrock, tills with clay/silt lenses and pockets of pure clays depending on the topography. So for most of the area, drainage isn't really a problem.

I like the idea of adding calcium.

We have really restrictive pesticide regulations, so if it isn't copper/sulphur/oil/Bt or soap, we can't use it.

The two primary species we find get attacked are the native Western hemlocks. These don't resist well and once attacked are usually dead within a relatively short time.

The other is arborvitae hedges, with usually individuals being affected. We haven't had much success treating these but I will try the calcium fertilizers.

 

[derwoodii]

Looks Good, Del! Wrecking bar does Zero root damage if wiggled first and poked cautiously. I also use it in advance of my X-HFA Air/Water Knife, to get deep action with a lot less mess and splashing. Is an air tool more efficient? not if you don't own one, or don't have your compressor handy. For small jobs, manual methods work great, as Del confirms.

BC, armillaria is often a weak pathogen ime that gets waaay too much respect. You gotta try drying the site out before proclaiming it the kiss of anything.
Diseases of Trees and Shrubs pages 354-366, Dr. Sinclair describes many treatments:

1. Fracturing subsoil to allow deep drainage, as without water the disease cannot spread.

2. Amending soil to improve structure

3. Inoculating with microbes to outcompete or directly attack the pathogen.

4. Applying calcium fertilizers or soil amendment with gypsum. “…calcium calcium compounds interfere with sporangium formation and zoospore function and thus suppress infection."

5. Drenching with “suppressive fungicides to limit damage."

6. Drenching with “…resistance-inducing chemicals such as potassium phosphate.”

7. Surgery to remove inoculum. “(Armillaria sp.) derives nourishment from recently killed as well as living tissues, and it reproduces in the dead tissues."

8. Applying heat to kill pathogens and promote closure.

9. Injecting minerals or fungicides.

The A300 Tree Care Standard Part 2, Soil Management covers many of these treatments for soilborne pathogens. The first step in Soil Modification is 14.4, Evaluating site soil condition practices. IPM guides “emphasize environmentally safe, less-toxic IPM methods”.

Armillaria is bad news for me so any IPM controls are worthy of keeping in my kit of counter measures. Its the ID of the problem 1st as more often its found way to late & tree DOA but these methods will be handy to trial and test if/when 1s Aid need arise.

I have kinetic crow or wrecking bar called The Slammer Kiwi tool http://www.theslammertool.com/ it may be even better for this dig and probe application

Oh and note once done clean it clean again before you go to next job pls

 

[ATH]

Wouldn't an air spade be more efficient?

.....

Marginally more efficient. Massively more effective.