Slime Mold Found After or During the Rain

Q. About 2 weeks ago I noticed a strange growth at the base of several different plants. The largest was about 4"x6" and shaped like a smooth, white, used bar of soap; slightly moist and slippery on the outside and like a semi-hard cheese on the inside. It seemed like it was attached to the soil but was also around the stems and branches that came out of the ground.  It broke into slightly smaller pieces as I worked it out of the soil. What is it and what do I do to remove it?

Reader didn't send a picture. This is slime mold in Las Vegas after a rain. Rain will contribute to their growth when there is a lot of rain.

Slime molds are a type of mushroom or fungus. They can come in lots of different colors and forms.

A. Without a picture it is difficult to tell but it sounds like it is “slime mold.”  Search it out. 

Slime Mold

Slime mold is a type of fungus, or mushroom, which does not cause problems for plants. It is what is called a “saprophyte” and feeds on moist or wet dead wood or woody debris. It feeds on the rotting wood below the surface of wet soil. We see that a lot in soils covered in wood chips, or woody compost used for enriching the soil, buried rotting wood in the soil and even dead or dying roots. It is a plant that is a “decomposer.”

Use a shovel and pick it up and put it in the garbage so the dog or kids don’t get into it. No other treatment is necessary. One person reported a rash from it so be careful in case you are in this minority.

Puffballs and Other Mushrooms Comon to Desert Landscapes

Q. These odd things grow in my back yard from time to time and I was wondering what they are. Do you know?

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.