My bag of mulch has white specks in it that looks like powder. I don't recall seeing it on there last year. Could it be some sort of fungus?
I bought it and opened it last year. I stored the mulch in it's original bag and then placed that bag in a trash bag and tied it up. I've kept the bag in my spare room since I got it last year.
If the mulch has a fungus, wouldn't it be bad to use on plants such as tomatoes and peppers? I'm growing tomatoes and peppers in large pots and was going to use this mulch in the pots. I'm worried about the fungus infecting these plants.
It's hardly possible to protect anything from fungus, fungal spores are wafting everywhere and are extremely resiliant. I don''t even want to discus why you're storing mulch in your "room"(do you have a mulch fetish), but living healthy plants are for the most part immune from fungal damage (or there'd be no plants), and when plants do develop fungus there are treatments readily available, but they would have developed a fungus regardless of mulching, more often it's from improper/over watering and inadequate sunlight.
More important would be to keep it out of your lungs, you don't want to breathe a snootfull of spores, other than that it should be fine for the garden, were it mine I would just give it a rinse to hold the dust down and put it to use.
I found the same thing in bags of cedar mulch that were damp, and stored in my garage. I mulched almost everything in the garden with it and had no problems at all. The sun will take care of it, I guess. If you're nervous about it, spread thin layers first, wait a few days for it to dry in the sun, and then add another layer. If you're new to gardening and find that squash, cucumber & melon plants die with white powdery stuff on their leaves, be aware that this is common for that plant family, and probably has nothing at all to do with the mulch.
It sounds like actinomycetes, which is a fungal thread found in decomposing vegetation, which easily you can place mulch in the category. This fungi is beneficial. Most fungi is.
Could be. But even if it is, there are approximately 1.5 million species of fungi out there, very few of which are pathogens. In fact, I've had fungus for both breakfast and lunch today... yeast in my bread.
Chances that the fungus in your mulch will be pathogenic to your garden plants are pretty low. Most likely it's one of the wood-rot fungi, busy turning your mulch into compost.
Most fungus is not harmful. Especially after being a year old.
Many tree problems are associated with the following:
Troubles in the Rhizosphere
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Trees from the Nursery / Improper Planting
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and Look up "Tree Planting"
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Mulching -
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and
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Look up "Mulch"
Improper Pruning
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Fertilization (See A Touch of Chemistry)
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John A. Keslick, Jr. Arborist
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Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology. Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us that we are not the boss.
That's ok, Billy, we all have our moments, I've had plenty around here with some of the drivel that's been posted over the years.
I've got to get that book myself!
This one, too.
It's been delightfully cool around here, I've got so much done out there, yesterday I planted some canary creepers a friend out in BC sent me the seeds for, I replanted my carrots (some lousy something ate every single one of the tiny seedlings! ), I've got all my pot plants planted (no, not that kind of pot, lI mean all of the ornamentals I plant out on the patio every summer), I've been weeding and puttering all around out there.
I always steam my beans, and sometimes I add some summer savory, it's lovely with fresh beans. I'll have to try the shallots, I've got them out there for the first time this summer. Sorta went crazy with onions of all sorts, although I did lose all of my garlic (five varieties!!) to the strange cold-warm-frozen tundra weather we had in January and February :o( Anyways I've got bunching onions out there almost ready, Copra onions and shallots. Should be tastyQ
You didn't let anyone down, don't worry about it. I do wonder sometimes if a troll has taken over some people's ID's, it has happened in the past, so I thought that was a possibility. Now I understand, fuggitaboutit!
Ah. Are people still doing that crap? Amazing what goes on in cyberspace. Either I'm maturing or people are simply dee dee dee, as Carlos Mencia says. Ever watch his show on The Comedy Channel?
Maybe, hubby watches the Comedy Channel, I may have watched it and not known it. I'm not much of a TV watcher, I spend more time in front of this screen than that one - although they are in the same room!
There's a package coming to you soon, watch for it.
Torture!!!!!!!!!!! What is it? How is your brug doing? The ones I have in gallon containers are now almost 3 feet tall. Now I have way too many, but I am going to maintain them as mother plants and next spring I want to make a ton of money. I actually saw one being sold at a hoi palloy garden center (which has been on Martha Stewart) for THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS!!!!!!!!! It was bigger than the gallon containers I have, but not by much. Three gallon containers and about
4 feet tall with buds. How insane are people who'd spend that much on a plant you can get for 12 dollars mailorder? Oh well. You should check out Carlos Mencia. I laugh so hard I can't breath :)
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It's much slower than yours, the weather has just been reliably warm for the past three weeks or so, but it's doing fine. Thanx again!
Actually they're selling one around here from some grower for $30. It's pretty big, about three feet, well branched, should put on a good show! I have no idea why people pay what they do, but they surely do, why not cash in on it?
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