White "stuff" in my soil

While doing the spring turning of the soil yesterday, I noticed in one of the found there is some very very white "stuff", sort of web-like, specifically on anything wood. ie sticks, chips, and even a couple spots on the inside of the beds below the soil line.

A fungus, or type of mold maybe?

Sunsanvil wrote:While doing the spring turning of the soil yesterday, I noticed in one of the found there is some very very white "stuff", sort of web-like, specifically on anything wood. ie sticks, chips, and even a couple spots on the inside of the beds below the soil line.

A fungus, or type of mold maybe?

Mushroom fungus.  I used to have it all through my wood chips.

I agree, sounds like fungi; see the photos here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycelium
They are eating the wood and releasing nutrients into your soil/MM. Fungi are part of a healthy soil ecosystem.

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:see the photos here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycelium

Looks exactly like the first photo on that page. Good to know. This might be a stupid question, but how much of my bed frames is it going to eat?

Sunsanvil wrote:

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:see the photos here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycelium

Looks exactly like the first photo on that page.  Good to know.  This might be a stupid question, but how much of my bed frames is it going to eat?

Eventually - all of it. But how long it takes depends on the climate. My beds are just cheap pine, and the oldest will be three years old this May. I can see some grooves along the grain of the wood under the soil line, but I think they have several more years in them. I'm in central Pennsylvania, in a location that is fairly humid. Various pages online suggest they should last for a total of 5 to 6 to 10 years. I plan on moving in the next few years (to somewhere with more/better gardening space!), and I like having an excuse for resizing my beds now that I better understand what works for me, so I'm ok with the limited life-span.

Some people use rot-resistant wood, like cedar. Railroad ties aren't recommended for food gardens because of the creosote chemical(s) they are treated with. Old (pre-2003) pressure-treated wood is problematic due to arsenic leeching into the soil under certain conditions. Newer pressure-treated woods don't have arsenic, and may be safe to use for gardens - but plenty of us are still leery after the arsenic thing. After I move I'll probably see what the research is saying about the newer stuff and consider whether I want to use it for new beds or not.

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:Some people use rot-resistant wood, like cedar.

Ours are made of white cedar, a full 2" thick so no panic but I'm curious how far the stuff will go.

Yep, good stuff!


"Electron micrograph of a nematode being trapped by fungal rings."

Good stuff!

Yeah.  My first SFG (the original) used RR ties.  I was poor.  I ate well out of that baby for 4 years...who knew?

Now I use untreated wood.  The lumberyard is always so incredulous...yes, kids, untreated.  Un

New RR ties are fine  No need to worry.

Not to worry, be happy. Your fungi is growing and will in time become one with your plants root system ( rhizosphere)
Fungi develops symbiotic relationships with root systems, supplying nutrients that are otherwise in accessible . In turn the plants supply carbon that they so badly need to survive...Fungi is the oldest living material on planet earth.
There are 3 books that every one who is interested in gardening should read....
1st picture is flowers (mushrooms) being sent up from fungi below thanking me for helping them.
Rest are the books I am referring to...

Yep. At least "Teaming with Microbes". I'm still amazed how Mel's All New SFG method is so compatible with microbes and worms.

sanderson wrote:Yep.  At least "Teaming with Microbes".  I'm still amazed how Mel's All New SFG method is so compatible with microbes and worms.

I feel that they were made for each other.