Xtremehorticulture

Yellow Vomit-Like Thing Could Be Mushroom Related

Q. I found this thing in the picture I sent to you under my Joshua tree this morning. It is about 6 inches long?  Is it mold?  I only water three times a week for 5 minutes Yellow “Thing” Under Joshua Tree A. I get a picture of this once a twice a year, usually in the spring when it is cooler, there has been rain and there is plenty of wood chips for it to feed on. This is called a slime mold. Kind of resembles vomit. Slime mold on wood mulch at the orchard. They can range in colors from yellow to orange and are related to mushrooms in a very loose sense. Like mushrooms they are a decomposer and feed off of decaying organic matter like wood mulches or undecomposed organic matter in the soil. We see them in the orchard a lot feeding off of decaying wood mulch. Slime mold in a lawn. It is feeding on decaying grass either as thatch or clippings or both. No treatment is necessary. It is a good guy since it breaks down woody debris. Does not attack living plants. If you want to be an industrialist, destroy it with the back of a rake and rake it into the mulch and soil. It will probably come back at some time but like a pest would but it is a pest only because we are afraid of it. I will post pictures of some on my blog.

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This Thing in My Lawn and Dwarf Fig

Q. This thing is throughout my lawn and I don’t know what it is. Can you tell by the picture? I also want a dwarf fig and the local nurseries do not carry them. I looked on the web and found several and wondering what one you might recommend. A. The lawn grass picture is not something that I recognize immediately. The first two things that come to mind are the mushrooms that pop up in lawns after some rains and during the cool times of the year and earthworms surfacing and pushing up soil.             It is hard to see it from the picture but the mushrooms make the most sense. These do not look like typical mushrooms since they don’t have the caps that normal mushrooms have and so homeowners immediate response is to say no it’s not a mushroom.             These mushrooms come from decaying organic material in the soil like woody soil amendments were buried or even dying roots from trees and shrubs. Sometimes they look like vomit (sorry for being coarse) on the lawn or wood mulch. They will disappear with the heat and as they exhaust the supply of wood in the soil.             If it is the mushroom then just destroy the mushrooms with a rake turned upside down. If it is earthworms, jump up and down for joy (not on the lawn) and punch some more holes in the lawn with an aerator. I don’t think I was much help on this one.             Blackjack fig is a good one and stays somewhat small and I see it in most nurseries.

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