Two Rotstop Ò preparations, one containing a Phlebiopsis gigantea strain from Finland (Rotstop F) and the other one from Sweden (Rotstop S), were used in different concentrations to treat thinning stumps of Picea abies against spore infections by Heterobasidion spp. in southern Sweden. Trees were cut on three sites during the summer of 2004, and 285 stumps were treated manually ensuring 100% coverage. Spore concentrations in the treatment suspensions were ca 5 · 10 6 and 10 · 10 6 spores/l, and approximately 10 ml of suspension was applied per 100 cm 2 of stump surface. An additional 31 stumps on one of the sites were treated mechanically with Rotstop S; in this treatment the spore concentration was high, about 20 · 10 6 spores/l, but the coverage was incomplete. Three months later there was a significant reduction in frequency and relative areas of Heterobasidion spp. infections on stumps with manual treatment compared with the untreated stumps. However, there was no significant difference between the preparations or the concentration of active ingredient in terms of their reduction of Heterobasidion infection. Mechanical treatment with incomplete coverage failed to control infection. Therefore, in conditions of moderate Heterobasidion spore load in the environment there seems to be no reason to use higher concentrations of P. gigantea in the treatment of spruce stumps.

Pine stumps are not being treated against Heterobasidion spp. in Sweden. To determine whether they should be, the frequency of stump infections and the species of Heterobasidion involved were investigated in nine newly thinned pure Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stands in southern Sweden. The incidence of Heterobasidion was measured in roots of standing Scots pine in another 15 stands. Infections by both H . annosum (Fr.) Bref. s.s. and H . parviporum Niemelä & Korhonen were numerous in stumps six months after a summer thinning. The pathogen, mostly H . annosum , was found in 44 of 60 sampled root systems, from 14 of the 15 stands. Twenty of the infected pines were assessed as healthy on the basis of crown symptoms while 24 trees had defoliated crowns. Infected root systems were most frequent among trees with thin crowns in stands on former agricultural land, where previous thinnings had been carried out during the growing season when airborne spores are plentiful. The study suggests that stump treatment may be a profitable way to reduce disease development in Scots pine monocultures on sandy soils as well as in mixtures with Norway spruce [Picea abies (L.) Karst.] on any soil.