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Crop-specific reading path · Auricularia species

Wood ear: understand the problem in context.

State the species rather than assuming A. cornea and all other wood ears share the same disease evidence.

Keep the original cultivation guide open →

Three things to record first

  1. Separate substrate scar symptoms from fruit-body rot.
  2. Record hydration/drying and postharvest history.
  3. Photograph a healthy same-strain comparison under the same lighting.
Normal is not always the same across mushrooms

Brown pigmentation and changes during drying can be normal. Colour alone does not diagnose brown rot.

Evidence boundary: Scar and brown-rot studies are host- and country-specific; the library preserves these limits.

Read the relevant condition guides

These links are a differential list, not a claim that your crop has all these diseases. Each entry states whether it is an established host report, a regional study or a generic process/safety risk.

Pests & vectors

Pests & vectors

Nematodes / eelworms

Crop decline in wet substrate may justify examination for nematodes, but the presence of nematodes alone does not establish the cause.

Nematode function depends on identity; not all are harmful to mushrooms.

Signs, checks & response →

Environmental disorders

Environmental disorders

Rosecomb, residues and chemical injury

Unexpected forms or lesions after cleaning, spraying or nearby fuel use need an exposure history as well as a disease differential.

Rosecomb is classically described in Agaricus; broader crop filters cover exposure investigation, not identical symptoms.

Signs, checks & response →

Viruses & culture health

Food & worker safety

Fungal diseases

Fungal diseases

Wood-ear brown rot

A reported Trichoderma-associated rot needs to be separated from natural wood-ear pigmentation, drying and general spoilage.

Confirmed in a particular A. cornea production study; not every brown Auricularia is diseased.

Signs, checks & response →

Competitor moulds

Competitor moulds

Fast-spreading orange mould

Rapidly spreading orange growth is an operational contamination problem. A history of food use for selected Neurospora strains does not make an unknown colony safe.

Generic substrate-contamination differential; not a confirmed disease report for every crop listed.

Signs, checks & response →

Crop-specific sources

  1. Characterization of the mitochondrial genome of Scytalidium auriculariicola

    Scientific Reports · 2019

    Used for: Revised identity of the slippery-scar pathogen; earlier reports used S. lignicola.

    Limit: Taxonomy has changed. A scar requires laboratory examination, not identification by colour.

  2. Pathogenic invasive microbes Trichoderma pleuroticola transform microbial community diversity in Auricularia cornea production

    Frontiers in Microbiology · 2023

    Used for: Auricularia cornea brown rot and confirmed pathogen in the study.

    Limit: Do not extend one host’s diagnosis to all wood-ear species. CC BY; experimental and natural panels must be distinguished.

  3. Slime molds (Myxomycetes) causing a disease in crop plants and cultivated mushrooms

    Frontiers in Plant Science · 2024

    Used for: Records across shiitake, Auricularia, Hericium, maitake and other crops.

    Limit: Review. These organisms are not true fungi; their presence is not automatically proof of parasitism.