A field trial has been set up near Dundee, to assess the biological control potential of a Trichoderma viride isolate T60. This isolate has been shown in laboratory tests to be particularly effective in protecting wood against certain basidiomycete decay fungi. Wood was treated with T60 spores using vacuum-pressure impregnation in a pilot preservation plant. Scots pine and Sitka spruce stakes were planted in the field site along with CCA-treated and untreated control samples and also in an accelerated decay facility employed to give a comparison to the field trial results. This paper presents the results of the first uplift (at 9 months) from both the field and fungal cellar. Preliminary results indicate that there is a noticeable reduction in the rate of sapstain colonisation in T60-treated stakes from the field site, in comparison to untreated stakes. The amount of soft rot decay in stakes treated with a biocontrol agent is significantly lower than that detected in untreated controls from the field site, however this reduction is not apparent in fungal cellar samples.

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