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Author Topic:   Moldy Soil
LittleLadyLeo
Knowflake

Posts: 71
From: New Franklin, MO, USA
Registered: Apr 2004

posted June 19, 2004 10:45 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for LittleLadyLeo     Edit/Delete Message
It has been so wet and hot here (Central Missouri). Raining almost every day, temperatures in the high 80's, low 90's. Hot, humid, typical Missouri summer. The only problem is I have mold growing on the soil in my garden!! The veggies do not seem to be affected yet, thankfully. Does anyone have any suggestions, other than spending hours out there with the hoe breaking it up. I'm a single mother and time is not something I tend to have a lot of (at least not until 10 pm when the boy goes to bed.)

Thank You!!

LLL

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juniperb
Moderator

Posts: 4926
From: www.Heaven.Home
Registered: Mar 2002

posted June 19, 2004 07:00 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for juniperb     Edit/Delete Message
LLL, boy thats a tough one. We`ve had the rains as well and I have moss growing everywhere

I know what professional landscapers do but It`s a horrid treatment. Formeldahyde is one of the chemicals.

A fungus of the soil eventually will reach the plants. Lets hope harvest time arrives first!

The only thing I know besides steam or a chemical is hoeing it up & mixing sand (for drainage). I would do it this fall anyhow for preventative measures.

I`m sorry I can`t be of more help

If Skywych was around she might have an idea....

juniperb

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If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans. ~James Herriot

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jwhop
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Posts: 1581
From:
Registered: Aug 2001

posted June 27, 2004 01:17 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for jwhop     Edit/Delete Message
LLL, if you were out west, I'd wonder if what you're seeing isn't alkali rising to the soil surface after it's been flooded. Generally, that forms a white crust on the soil surface.

You might take a sample of an infected patch to your state or county agricultural agent in a plastic ziplock bag. They've seen just about everything and can generally identify specimens quickly and better, tell you what to do about it.

If it is mold it should be a grayish white color and I'd take a rake and aerate the top inch of the soil to let in some air and hopefully some sun, (if the soil is dry enough to work). If the patches will hold together, you could rake them into the walk
ways between your rows. That isn't much of a job and you could probably do 100 feet of row in a half hour or so because you're really just scratching the soil surface.

I always mulch my planting areas so there's always mold....leaf mold and possibly other types which don't seem to have any affect the plants. It's just a sign of slow decomposition I also get at the edges of the compost pile.

An actively growing fungus is a totally different matter and hopefully, that isn't what it is.

Good luck.

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juniperb
Moderator

Posts: 4926
From: www.Heaven.Home
Registered: Mar 2002

posted June 27, 2004 11:48 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for juniperb     Edit/Delete Message
jw, is it because of the humidity? A true pathogenic fungus is very rare here (fortunately) and I may have seem it once or twice.
Leaf mold is a given and harmless as you said and for some odd reason the chickens love it

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If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans. ~James Herriot

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jwhop
Knowflake

Posts: 1581
From:
Registered: Aug 2001

posted June 27, 2004 08:14 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for jwhop     Edit/Delete Message
I think it is the moisture, food and humidity that promotes mold growth. Don't know if there were any organic materials added to the soil that are now being eaten by the mold or even if it is mold.

Always the possibility and even probability of getting it wrong when you can't see the problem first hand. Soil samples are the best way to have the problem identified.

Fungus is common here in Florida but it attacks the plants directly that don't have a built in genetic immunity and you almost never see evidence of the fungus in the soil itself.

You know how mold grows on food, kind of grayish white and fuzzy? I don't know if this is what's being described or not.

Chickens like leaf mold? Maybe that explains all the birds scratching around the edges of my compost pile.......when I had a compost pile Natures penicillin for chickens

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Randall
Webmaster

Posts: 17755
From: Columbus, GA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted June 28, 2004 12:38 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message

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"Never mentally imagine for another that which you would not want to experience for yourself, since the mental image you send out inevitably comes back to you." Rebecca Clark

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