It has been observed that elm stumps with wet wood, are protected from decay for at least three years. Damage to the tree is primarily aesthetic, but slime flux soaked wounds do not close properly as tree tissues involved in wound closure are killed by the seeping fluids. The fluid can cause a brown patch with a distinctive white border on the bark. The condition may also result in branch dieback. Bacterial wetwood is usually not the cause of the death of the tree.
Liquid dripping from a branch infection can prevent turf growth beneath the dripping wound.
Bacterial wetwood in elm trees can cause symptoms very similar to Dutch Elm Disease. Wetwood liquids can be forced into sap conducing tissues of the tree by the high gas pressures. If this happens, the liquids flow up into the tree crown. In older trees leaves will curl upward and fall off, but remain green. The result is often dead branches.