Stumbled onto a weird trick for spotting root rot before it spreads

Was doing a routine check on a big old oak in a client's yard near Charlotte last week. The leaves looked fine but something felt off with the soil around the base. I stuck a metal probe in about 6 inches deep and pulled it out smelling like rotten eggs. Told the homeowner we needed to dig around the buttress roots and sure enough found a hidden fungal patch starting at the root flare. Has anyone else used the smell test like this or am I just lucky so far?

2 comments

2 Comments

kelly_hill23d ago

Oh man, I've definitely had my nose get me out of trouble before... kinda hard to forget that rotten egg smell once you've caught it! I used the smell test on a maple in my own yard once and felt like a total goofball standing there sniffing a metal rod, but sure enough there was a fungal issue hiding down there. Better to look silly and save the tree than pretend I'm too cool for a whiff test, right?

smith.jordan23d ago

The first time I did that root flare test on a maple in my backyard I felt ridiculous too. It was this big old maple I'd been worried about for months and the smell was like wet gym socks mixed with dirt. Honestly smelling that rot saved me from a tree falling on my shed that next spring.