I’ve planted twice so far, spring and fall. Each time I had sprouting fairly quickly but then nothing grew any further beyond the second week. Everything stayed as small seedlings. Nothing died but it was like they just stopped growing. After three months I gave up and something eventually ate the seedlings.
Anyway to fix it?
This is the sunniest area of my small patio, 3.5 hours full sun in winter and 6 in summer. Dirt is a mix of home-depot soil and dirt from around my apt.
by godoftofu
35 Comments
This is NOT mold…. this is mycelium colonizing the wood chips. Very beneficial and the worms love to come eat it. You’re fine.
Fungi break down dead things in the soil into nutrients plants can use. Healthy soil is full of different kinds of fungi.
i would bet to differ and say no this is not mold it looks like a mycelium has inoculated your soil. it looks just like some mycelium rich soil i’ve seen before
Idk if this matters to you but that clover looking plant is probably invasive to your area and if you can dig it up and remove the brown bulb at the bottom of the root your life will be a lot easier.
It’s the best kind. Cherish it.
This looks like mycelium.
I would caution against disturbing it too much as the soil will be much healthier. There are techniques in **no dig gardening** to let this develop networks as it results in soil that makes very healthy plants.
Okay so YES to what people are saying— and, it is helpful and good to, every few months, break up your mycelium-matted mulch. This does two things: 1. Encourages the mycelium to continue growing. 2. Allows more water to penetrate through to the roots of your plants. If the mat gets too thick, it can act like a concrete slab over your soil.
Last thing you want to do is break it up and expose it to the air and light, but oh well.
OK, I’m going to give a different opinion having suffered through the same thing. I put down a lot of leaf mulch and I don’t really water my front garden. I let nature take care of that. So every now and again, the mulch gets hard and white and hydrophobic. While mycelium is generally beneficial, too much is a problem. It creates a waxy seal in the mulch and won’t let water through. Hydrophobic is bad. You need make sure it doesn’t dry out by watering regularly or another solution is put less down which is probably the safer option. And if you do let it dry out, you will need to break it up to let water get through. Here’s a link from Michigan State that explains this problem: [https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/excess_drying_leads_to_poor_mulch_performance](https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/excess_drying_leads_to_poor_mulch_performance)
That’s mycelium, a beneficial and benevolent organism, and you’re just picking apart its brain for no good reason. Stop that and hope it recovers and doesn’t desire revenge.
IF (and its a big if) but if it forgives you, it will continue breaking down those wood chips into bioavailable nitrogen for any plants you’ve put there. The green parts of the plant need nitrogen to grow.
Some people here are saying it’s not mold, it’s mycelium, but listen….mycelium is the name for the network of fungus made of branches called hyphae. This is a fungus, aka mold. Yes, it’s a good thing to have this in your garden, but it’s not NOT mold.
It sounds like your seedlings were a bit overwatered. I would also add some compost when you plant next time, because it looks like there are a lot of wood chips in your soil which could be locking up nitrogen.
Give it a light watering and stir it up.
It will help the mycelium spread. Cover it with leaves of more mulch to really get it going.
its a good thing.
That’s the good stuff (mycelium)!!!
This is actually a very good thing. It means the soil is very healthy and teeming with life. Soil mycelium does a great deal if good for a garden. It helps retain that moisture and helps with nutrient fixing. Basically it helps break down decaying matter and then disperses it in the soil. I think this is right. Please correct me if i am wrong.
I bet you get ink caps in those beds. Looks like you have a lot of wood chips in there and the mycelium loves it. It’s just freeing up the nutrients for the soil.
Mushroom roots. Let em do their thing and break down that organic matter so your soil health can improve.
It’s fungi, but the good kind, let it be.
You are so lucky. Let it be and plant straight in, no dig no till style.
The mycelium from some sort of fungus (the white stuff) is colonizing and breaking down the wood chips. It will feed your garden.
Btw, those oxalis will spread and take over if you let them. I’m not sure where you are, but they are a noxious weed where I’m at in california.
Oh yeah. That’s the good stuff! 👍
Maybe you have a layer of clay that’s preventing the roots from expanding downward enough to mature?
Mycelium
Leave it alone!
Clover is growing, it fixes nitrogen. I think you should add some nitrogen to speed up breakdown of your “potting soil” aka sawmill waste.
Mold isn’t automatically bad! If your soil is alive it’s, gonna have mold!
They are not harmful, but if the aesthetic is the problem, you could add a teeny tiny thin layer of healthy fine mulch to cover it, and make sure there’s no drainage issues
That is beautiful soil development!
Why do people always think that’s a bad thing?
Before you plant anything in there again, get a good garden spade and/or garden fork and really get in there to dig down and break it all up. All that mulch (wood chip) and dried up dirt is creating an environment which is holding moisture strangely and could be causing your plants to die prematurely—- soil needs to breathe to be healthy. Adding in some dried leaves and composted soil won’t hurt but even just a good stir will help. The “wood chip crust” isn’t helping you at all!
Let the mushys be
Congrats. Your soil is alive. as it should be.
Meanwhile I’m inoculating my garden with this stuff on purpose
Mycelium, it’s supposed to be there
Mycelium