Fungus on tree stump

Melbourne Beach, FL(Zone 10a)

I have a scrub tree that fell down in our hurricanes a couple of years ago. My grass mowing guy cut it up for me but a good sized stump was left. It's in the middle of one of my beds where I have a split leafed philo and amaryllis and other stuff growing. The stump has white fungus growing on it and I'm afraid it may spread to my other plants. Does anyone have a suggestion for killing the fungus? I've tried to get the trunk out but I can't -- it's got lots of deep roots and I'm not comfortable using a chain saw or something similar. Thanks for any help!

-- Vicky

Peoria, IL

The fungus that is decaying your stump won't hurt your plants. As the fungus works to decompose the woody material, it returns organic matter to the soil which is beneficial for the other plants.

The stump is woody carbon material that is slowly decaying... You could add some high nitrogen based material to the stump to help speed up the decay process.

The Woodlands, TX(Zone 9a)

Totally agree with joe.

Melbourne Beach, FL(Zone 10a)

Great! Thanks for the answer. A neighbor told me it would kill my plants and I'm so glad to know she was wrong!

-- Vicky

Griffin, GA(Zone 8a)

Vicky, is the fungus pretty? Is it small or a type of shelf fungus?

Okay yes, I am a freak. In addition to taking pictures of bugs, I also take pictures of fungus, so I admit to being curious as to what type of white fungus you have. I have seen both large, white shelf fungus and little, bitty* white mushroomy fungus associated with decaying logs/stumps. Rather strangely, I haven't seen many inbetween size white fungus - the inbetween fungi are usually brown and of the shelf variety.

*So small that a fingertip dwarfs them and a springtail sitting next to it looks like a horse beside a bush. Now there's an image - heh.

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