Any idea what this is or what is causing it? (and better yet how to kill it) It seems to crop up overnight every few days. There seem to be two types the yellow and the orange. The yellow seems to be more frequent. The texture is very wet and gooey. When I shovel it out I find yellow flecks (spores?) in the mulch below, but it don't seem to see them in the soil. As an aside I have not seen any in my big pile of excess mulch pile.
A slime mould. Harmless, and helpful; it is helping to break down the mulch into nutrients that the plants can use.
It doesn't look like the fruiting body of any slime mold I have seen, but I haven't seen many. In any case despite its alleged "harmless and helpful" status it has an visual aspect that is unacceptable. Anything I can do other than continuing to shovel it out? Any second opinions on the ID?
SD Gardener - check out the "Slimy stuff in my lawn" thread and click the contained link for more info about the probable suspect. It's definitely a grex of slime mold, and by definition won't hurt your plants, in fact as Micheal F said it's helping them... If it's really that offensive to you, you might be able to kill it with a solution of tea-tree oil in water, which will also not hurt your plants. Or, if you prefer, a chemical fungicide. I'd urge you not to.
Frog and Lorax! THANKS! From the previously mentioned: http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/june99.html My yellow stuff looks just like this: http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/images/phyplas1.jpg So I get that it is harmless (but I am not sure I am up to eating it yet). Is it OK if it gets on to the plants / trees, or What about the orange stuff: http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=34983&d=1205812773 Also harmless? Or something different? Thanks!
Well, since the normal attitude of a slime mold is to eat matter that's already dead or in partial decay - vis. your mulch - you shouldn't have any problem with it invading your living plants - vis. your trees etc. The orange one looks to be a different variation on the same theme.
I can't comment on the taste, but it is definitely different, not just more dried out. I suspect it is related, but it is a different color when fresh, and grows more slowly.
