aptos blue redwood trees mold

Question

I hope you can help me with a serious problem im having

I have a 2.5 acre property that. I planted 150 aptos blue redwood trees around about 15 years ago.
I believe these trees have a mold (gray mold?) that has caused me a lot of health problems.
I can’t find any pictures of similar tree coloring .

Could you tell me if this is mold? Type?
Is it curable ? Or do I need to cut them all down?
Is there a place I can send a sample for testing?

Answer 1

This is a case of botrytis. This is naturally occurring everywhere, and is always present in the air, soil, and water, no matter where you are. This usually poses no harm, and very rarely causes any health issues except for those with already compromised immune systems.

This usually shows itself in areas of high humidity, heat, and rain, but oddly enough is most common in highly populated areas. (It tends to follow people, since they tend to create the perfect environment for it) You can find this in your refrigerator among many other molds, and they will also congregate near other contaminations in nature.

There is no cure, nor is there much that can be done, with the exception of some poisons labeled to control this, however it doesn’t really solve anything since the spores are, quite literally, everywhere. The best thing to be done is to increase air flow to the bottoms of the trees (meaning cut all growth off of the tree from the ground up to anywhere from 6 to 10 feet from the ground) and keep all debris and litter away from the trunks of the trees as well.

This is not fatal to the tree, and will clear up as the environment becomes less favorable to the mold, and more favorable to the tree.