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Fri, Jul 29, 11 at 7:04
| I mulched around my plants with dried grass clippings (but found those to be a pain, sticking to the soaker hose when I tried to move it). Farther away from the plants and in the paths we put down partially decomposed wood chips. I've found orange slime mold in a few places (not on the hose) and removed it where it was close to plants, even scraped it off the stem of a gourd (?) or squash that I had transplanted from the compost pile and *not* mulched around. I assumed it would cause rot.
But since this is breaking my mulch down (a good thing for next year's garden), should I leave it where it's not actually *on* a plant? How close should I let it come? Other than scraping it off that one plant, I haven't broken up the masses - just picked them up and thrown them to the edges of the garden. Thanks |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by louisianagal z7bMS (My Page) on Fri, Jul 29, 11 at 10:44
| I have seen this in my gardens too. I usually just step on it if it is fairly small and crumble it underfoot, or break it off and put in my trug for the compost. My understanding is you will see it in places where there is high organic matter content. I do not believe it is harmful. |
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- Posted by lazygardens PhxAZ%3A Sunset 13 (My Page) on Fri, Jul 29, 11 at 12:25
| I ignore them. |
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- Posted by phytolacca (My Page) on Fri, Jul 29, 11 at 12:44
| Slime mold doesn't rot mulch and does not cause disease in plants. It eats the organisms that break down organic matter. Most of the time it's invisible to the naked eye. The orange stuff you see is the reproductive phase, when it makes spores. About the only harm it could do to a plant is smother some leaves if it travels onto them to sporulate. |
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| I figured it wasn't a good thing to have on the stem of a plant, even if it didn't rot (eat) the plant, it would hold in moisture. It's a sign of too much moisture anyway, right? I'll just leave it in the wood mulch. |
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- Posted by joepyeweed 5b IL (My Page) on Fri, Jul 29, 11 at 13:39
| Its not really a sign of too much moisture... it needs some moisture to grow, but so do your plants. IME, it isn't harmful. |
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| Slime molds may be disgusting looking but they do no harm to plants so there is no real good reason to remove them except cosmetic. They seem to appear, in my experience, in fairly fresh wood chip mulches since I've not seen any in year old mulch. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Slime molds
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