Asked by lessjord33 ·January 27, 2022 ·20.7k readers

Any ideas on how to fight ganoderma

Hello, so where I’m from ganoderma is pretty much a death sentence for palms. My family’s been in landscaping and trees (traditional ag) for a while and as far as they know there is not really a solution once infected. It rots the inside of the tree it is also known as hurt rot or white rot. It can kill pretty much any palm tree slowly but with ease. One benefit is i learned that the fruiting body is reishi which is great cuz now we have a few kilos of those. However i thought maybe there was a way to fight it with some JMS, IMO3/4/liquid, maybe some trichoderma heavy IMO. Maybe LAB or something could put compete it. I’ve been applying OHN but i think it’s to late for that ( may be wrong) Any ideas would be greatly appreciated much love :) edit reply to comments below: Not sure if this is how i reply to you @dagoofman So I’ve lived here my whole life and am very familiar with it as far as the UF extension office or pretty much any tree service goes it’s a death sentence, and the typical treatment is to dig a 20’x2’ hole in the ground to hopefully stop it from comming back. I was hoping there was some kinda natural treatment that could make other microbes thrive to the point that the ganoderma wouldn’t take over that tree or any more. Like i said by all traditional means i am extremely familiar with ganoderma and what it means so was hoping there was an alternative route. Getting ready to apply some imo4 to it and was thinking a heavy dose of LAB couldn’t hurt trying to out compete it With ganoderma there are 0 fungicides that are able to help, by all traditional means it is uncureable and you can never have a plam tree for long in that spot. It spreads easily because if you trim or cut a tree with it and then use those same tools it will likely give it to any other palm as it is extremely contagious

fungus ipm disease mushroom help

From the KNF library

From the KNF library Drafted by Claude from Office Hours and the books · Sep 2026 · 5 sources

The library says nothing about Ganoderma or palms. It does show what LAB, IMO and OHN are meant to do.

Do not lean on LAB to stop it. Cho's recipe book gives LAB about a week of resistance to some fungi, and no significant effect on disease damage. (Cho, Recipe, p. 53) If you apply it anyway, the student manual mixes it with water at 1:1000. (Student's Manual, Basic Course, p. 18)

Cho links soil-borne disease to a broken balance of soil microbes. He calls IMO the medicine that vitalizes badly damaged soil. (Cho, Theory, p. 39) For established trees, Cho applies IMO5. (Cho's Solutions, p. 11)

OHN is a herb mix whose common function includes fighting pathogens. (Office Hours Jan 2026, 24:21) Your OHN is a reasonable thing to keep doing.

The library does not say whether any of these can stop a tree that is already infected. It also does not cover tool sanitation or dosing for palms.

Sources

24:21 Office Hours (Jan 2026) — Colorado Potato Beetle IPM, OHN for Digestion, Free RTK GPS · “OHN (Oriental Herbal Nutrient) is a mix of herbs whose common function is aiding digestion and fighting pathogens”
p. 11 Cho's Solutions · “To feed established trees and crops, IMO5 is applied.”
p. 18 Student's Manual, Basic Course · “LAB is mixed with water at a ratio of 1:1000.”
p. 53 Cho, Recipe · “LAB have an about a week-long resistance to some fungi (13) There is no significant effect of LAB on damage done by diseases and insects.”
p. 39 Cho, Theory · “An especially effective medicine that can vitalize soils fallen in near death following the exploitation and robbery is Indigenous Microorganisms (IMO).”