Worried About My Ficus

Question

I have a Ficus on my balcony and I recently noticed rust a colored trail down the length of its trunk, as well as a strange cluster of black squiggly lines (super weird to me anyways!). Can you help me figure out what this is and if I need to take any special care?

Answer 1

Interesting… There aren't many fungal infections that exhibit black mycelium like that. That is common in many species of Honey Mushroom (Armillaria), though. It is likely that your tree is infected with the pathogenic mushroom. They, mostly, infect sick trees. They can, however, take a perfectly healthy tree. This is especially true within the Fig (Ficus) Genus.

You can try treating the tree with fungicides, but Armillaria will kill almost all of the hosts that it infects.

This article will help with fungicide use: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/info/using-fungicides-in-garden.htm

This article will explain more about Armillaria rot: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/disease/armillaria-root-rot-control.htm