DECAY RESISTANCE OF WOOD REMOVED FROM POLES BIOLOGICALLY TREATED WITH TRICHODERMA

Wood blocks removed from a distribution pole previously treated with a biological control product (Binab FYT pellets) were exposed in soil block tests to selected basidiomycetes. The blocks were removed from regions of poles where Trichoderma colonization had been confirmed by extensive sampling and computer mapping of microbial inhabitants. The results indicate that material from pole interiors colonized by Trichoderma is able to resist decay by Lentinus lepideus and Antrodia carbonica. Any decay prevention was lost however when the wood was steam sterilized prior to exposure to the basidiomycetes. The implications of the results for the use of biological control of internal decay in creosoted poles are discussed.