Blame the Weather, Not the Dog, for Unsightly Mold

— Written By Donna Teasley and last updated by
en Español / em Português
Español

El inglés es el idioma de control de esta página. En la medida en que haya algún conflicto entre la traducción al inglés y la traducción, el inglés prevalece.

Al hacer clic en el enlace de traducción se activa un servicio de traducción gratuito para convertir la página al español. Al igual que con cualquier traducción por Internet, la conversión no es sensible al contexto y puede que no traduzca el texto en su significado original. NC State Extension no garantiza la exactitud del texto traducido. Por favor, tenga en cuenta que algunas aplicaciones y/o servicios pueden no funcionar como se espera cuando se traducen.


Português

Inglês é o idioma de controle desta página. Na medida que haja algum conflito entre o texto original em Inglês e a tradução, o Inglês prevalece.

Ao clicar no link de tradução, um serviço gratuito de tradução será ativado para converter a página para o Português. Como em qualquer tradução pela internet, a conversão não é sensivel ao contexto e pode não ocorrer a tradução para o significado orginal. O serviço de Extensão da Carolina do Norte (NC State Extension) não garante a exatidão do texto traduzido. Por favor, observe que algumas funções ou serviços podem não funcionar como esperado após a tradução.


English

English is the controlling language of this page. To the extent there is any conflict between the English text and the translation, English controls.

Clicking on the translation link activates a free translation service to convert the page to Spanish. As with any Internet translation, the conversion is not context-sensitive and may not translate the text to its original meaning. NC State Extension does not guarantee the accuracy of the translated text. Please note that some applications and/or services may not function as expected when translated.

Collapse ▲

Get ready gardeners. It’s time for the disgusting, but harmless, slime mold to rear its ugly head in Burke County landscapes and it is now being reported all over Burke County. Slime mold is a fungus-like organism that appears in mulched areas in summer. This organism feeds on bacteria found in decaying plant material. When trees are cut and dragged through the forest they pick up the fungus from the forest floor. When the trees are turned into mulch and spread in your garden beds, the spores lay in wait until weather conditions are just right and then they quickly grow into a nasty looking mass of yellowish goo that many people mistake for dog vomit. Hence, the common name for this phenomenon is dog vomit fungus or even sometimes scrambled egg fungus although it isn’t really a fungus at all.

But even though it sounds awful and looks even worse, slime mold is completely harmless. There are over 900 species of this organism throughout the world and it is found on every continent-anywhere moist mulched areas exist. There is no chemical control for this summer nuisance but it can be lifted out of the mulch with a pitchfork and deposited in a plastic bag to be thrown in the trash. It might come back and even grow up around landscape plants but it does no harm. If it grows around desirable plants just wash it away with the water hose. When weather conditions turn drier the problem usually goes away.

So, my best advice to area gardeners is don’t accuse our fuzzy friends of throwing up in your landscape and I definitely would not entice the neighborhood canines with any Pepto-Bismol-coated dog biscuits!