armillaria mellea

[Graham]

I had a client a few years ago who was losing a privet hedge to Honey fungus.

 

She used something called, I think, Bray's emulsion. I arrived one day to find that section of her garden smelling strongly of phenol/Jeye's fluid where she'd treated the soil.

 

The infected section of the hedge never worsened and it seemed to halt the spread of A. mellea completely.

 

I have a feeling Armillatox was based on similar petro-chemicals.

[Peter]

Armillatox makes a white emulsion, and smells just as you describe. It is certainly effective on honey fungus, trouble is it is extremely non-selective!

[Peter]

Just been looking the Armillatox website. The "UK" site markets the product as a soap based outdoor cleaner, as the cost of pesticide licensing has become prohibitive.

 

If you go on the worldwide website however, you will find lots of information on using the product to control honey fungus ect. Worth a read through, while bearing in mind the source of the information obviously!

 

From their website

 

"Armillatox is made from the finest polyalkyl phenolic types available emulsified in the purest vegetable oil soap. It is therefore a NATURAL product which will enhance the soil rather than pollute it, i.e. it is completely bio-degradable. Remember that these polyalkyl phenolic types are obtained from plant life and it is the polyalkyl phenolic types in growing plants which give them their natural resistance to diseases.

In order to maximise the fungicidal, insecticidal and herbicidal power of the material while keeping the phototoxicity low, it was necessary to exploit the synergism of a blend of over 100 fractions of polyalkyl phenolic types. The complex mixture ensures that not only is the spectrum of control very wide but that resistant strains of the attack cannot evolve."