With the moisture we’ve had the ‘Scoop has received plenty of inquiries about some gross looking thing in their mulch. People don’t panic!! Its prime season for slime mold. What it is NOT is a fungus.
Dog Vomit Slime Mold
Yup, that’s the name of this one… the stages of the mold is fascinating. Check out this Gertens article.
From the article: Scientists have discovered that it can move as much as two or more feet a day. It poses no threat to your landscape. Once it reaches its reproductive phase, it begins to dry out and develop mushroom-like fruiting bodies which burst, spreading more spores and disappear.
The black mass inside are the fruiting bodies or spores.
This stuff thrives in moist conditions. You can rake it our or let it be as it should be gone within 48 to 72 hours. It will NOT hurt your curious pets either! For confirmation on that I offer you this from the University of Washington Horticulture Department:
“Dog vomit slime mold is motile (capable of motion) but moves quite slowly. It is not harmful to animals or plants and usually vanishes in a short period of time. This species and similar slime molds feed on bacteria, fungal spores, and smaller protozoa found on wood chips. Slime molds feed much like an amoeba feeds; they ingest their food and then digest it (unlike fungi, which digest and then ingest). If conditions are favorable, these slime molds will produce reproductive structures (sporangia) that produce spores. When conditions are unfavorable (loss of food, dry conditions), the plasmodium will form hard, dormant, protective structures called sclerotia. Inside the sclerotia the plasmodium will divide into cells containing up to four nuclei. When conditions become favorable each cell will form a new plasmodium. Dog vomit slime mold is primarily an aesthetic problem in mulched garden beds. It can be physically removed, but more is likely to return. So, before panicking and taking your dog to the veterinarian, take a closer look and consider that that stuff is likely just Fuligo septica working away at cleaning the mulch.”
Scrambled Eggs anyone?
Stage 1
Ever entertained by nature,
