Conks Can Tell You Disease Severity

 Q. A friend has a beautiful, large, old (and productive) fig tree on a property she owns in an older neighborhood. She just observed for the first time large conks. Is there anything that can be done to save the old guy? She loves the tree and is pretty devastated, and is willing to invest to save it if possible. She would definitely have you out to consult if that could be productive. Thank you, and I have been loving your blog for years!

Conks, or bracket fungi, can be diagnostic on trees as to which disease is present and how aggressive it might be.

A. Nice pictures. My presence there wont help her or the tree I think. It is possible this "rotting disease" was brought to your tree on dirty equipment. Your decision to remove the tree is probably necessary at some time. When, I am not sure. If the tree develops weaknesses that could lead to damage or other safety issues, it is time for pruning or removal.

The conks are because of some internal rotting. The color, shape and size of the conks may be an indicator of what disease it has and how aggressive it is. To my knowledge, there is no armillaria root rot locally. To me it looks more like oyster mushroom type of internal wood decay.  Presence of conks low on the tree can mean the rotting is in the roots or crown of the tree. In this case they seem to be higher on the trunk. Try identifying which disease it is by the conk.

Figs regrow very easily from new suckers coming from the base if it has to be cut down. The internal rot CAN be an indicator of a problem and how serious it is. If you an invite an arborist to look at it, of course they will recommend removal. If the tree looks otherwise healthy, then I would knock them off if not wanted and watch the tree for safety weaknesses. It would be a loss to lose fruit but it could be fruiting again in a fairly short time after cutting back.

Make sure any pruning is done using sanitized equipment. Eventually, most likely, the tree will have to be removed. How soon you have to do that depends on how aggressive the disease is. (think cancer, some are more aggressive than others). Maybe removal as soon as a few months to a few years.