Gardening

Well, this was a new one on me. I went out to check on stuff this morning and noticed a creepy sponge-like growth on a couple of my cucumber plants. It was wrapped totally around the stems and when I dug at it with a stick it smelled like mushrooms. I cleaned it all off my plants and hosed them down, then came inside to research.

Apparently this is called "Dog Vomit Slime Mold" 😵‍💫 o_O and is quite common, though I have never seen it before... at least in my garden.

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Of course the recommendation is to NOT hose it down because that will spread the spores but too late now.
 
Beth Gallagher said:
Well, this was a new one on me. I went out to check on stuff this morning and noticed a creepy sponge-like growth on a couple of my cucumber plants. It was wrapped totally around the stems and when I dug at it with a stick it smelled like mushrooms. I cleaned it all off my plants and hosed them down, then came inside to research.
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I have seen that before, too.
 
Beth Gallagher said:
Well, this was a new one on me. I went out to check on stuff this morning and noticed a creepy sponge-like growth on a couple of my cucumber plants. It was wrapped totally around the stems and when I dug at it with a stick it smelled like mushrooms. I cleaned it all off my plants and hosed them down, then came inside to research.

Apparently this is called "Dog Vomit Slime Mold" 😵‍💫 o_O and is quite common, though I have never seen it before... at least in my garden.

View attachment 1186

Of course the recommendation is to NOT hose it down because that will spread the spores but too late now.
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I don't recall ever seeing it before. Maybe something like 3% hydrogen peroxide would kill the spores? That is pretty innocuous and leaves no residue. I really don't know though.
 
Don Alaska said:
I don't recall ever seeing it before. Maybe something like 3% hydrogen peroxide would kill the spores? That is pretty innocuous and leaves no residue. I really don't know though.
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One article I read said to use one part white vinegar to 2 parts water and spray it. Unfortunately I had already spritzed it with Dawn PowerWash and hosed it down. It's not toxic and won't hurt plants so it turned out to be a big nothing burger.
 
Marie Miller said:
A wise man does not add to his work load:)
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This is true. I just dig the holes.

I remember, years ago, the Missus had this low, sprawling, prickly shrub of some sort, and she decided she wanted to move it.

I spent a couple of hours digging that thing up, the roots were nearly twice as wide and deep as the plant itself.

And the worst part? A couple years later, she decided it would look better 'over there'.

All told, I moved that blasted shrub from hell four times.
 
I was just thinking about a fire hazard in the garden.

I once thought I found the answer for controlling my vegetable garden weeds. I purchased a weed dragon. it was basically a flamethrower powered by a propane gas tank. It could also be used to melt snow.

I remember trying it on a small patch of the garden, I used it in a sweeping motion similar to painting a wall and found it didn't work that well. if it was a very heavy weeded spot, you had to leave it in one spot for a few seconds. it was concerning when you did tall dry weeds, they would catch fire.

I was using it on a bright sunny day and I noticed too late unfortunately that the flame or heat is a lot larger than what you can visually see. I was burning Weeds about 5 or 6 ft from the house. I had one of those plastic compost bins that look like a garbage can against the house. well let me tell you it ignited so fast by the time I shut the torch off, and grabbed it and pulled it away from the house it was fully engulfed with flames. I grabbed the garden hose and put it out. Once the adrenaline stop pumping I had a strong pain in my left hand. There was molten plastic from the compost bin stuck to my hand, I quickly pulled it off and ran water on the spot where it had been.

After that day I never used the weed Dragon again it's still in my barn somewhere collecting dust.
 
Tony Page said:
I was just thinking about a fire hazard in the garden.

I once thought I found the answer for controlling my vegetable garden weeds. I purchased a weed dragon. it was basically a flamethrower powered by a propane gas tank. It could also be used to melt snow.

I remember trying it on a small patch of the garden, I used it in a sweeping motion similar to painting a wall and found it didn't work that well. if it was a very heavy weeded spot, you had to leave it in one spot for a few seconds. it was concerning when you did tall dry weeds, they would catch fire.

I was using it on a bright sunny day and I noticed too late unfortunately that the flame or heat is a lot larger than what you can visually see. I was burning Weeds about 5 or 6 ft from the house. I had one of those plastic compost bins that look like a garbage can against the house. well let me tell you it ignited so fast by the time I shut the torch off, and grabbed it and pulled it away from the house it was fully engulfed with flames. I grabbed the garden hose and put it out. Once the adrenaline stop pumping I had a strong pain in my left hand. There was molten plastic from the compost bin stuck to my hand, I quickly pulled it off and ran water on the spot where it had been.

After that day I never used the weed Dragon again it's still in my barn somewhere collecting dust.
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I use my torch quite often @Tony Page but never near the house and water is always nearby. It does not only clear weeds, but slugs, snails, and many of the pests that roam the soil. I never use it when it is very dry or windy either. I wish I could get a walk-behind version, but the ones I have seen offered are just too expensive. We are starting to reduce our garden size, so the size and complexity of the gardens here will be less. The torch works best if you use it lightly and frequently, and don't allow the weeds to get too big. You can also use it when things are wet, as the heat will still cook the weeds, although the flame is somewhat less effective, it is safer if the weeds are too tall. Multiple passes over several days works better if the weeds are too bad.

My youngest son sometimes uses my older torches to melt the snow before augering the hole in the ice for winter ice fishing:)
 
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Don Alaska said:
I use my torch quite often @Tony Page but never near the house and water is always nearby. It does not only clear weeds, but slugs, snails, and many of the pests that roam the soil. I never use it when it is very dry or windy either. I wish I could get a walk-behind version, but the ones I have seen offered are just too expensive. We are starting to reduce our garden size, so the size and complexity of the gardens here will be less. The torch works best if you use it lightly and frequently, and don't allow the weeds to get too big. You can also use it when things are wet, as the heat will still cook the weeds, although the flame is somewhat less effective, it is safer if the weeds are too tall. Multiple passes over several days works better if the weeds are too bad.

My youngest son sometimes uses my older torches to melt the snow before augering the hole in the ice for winter ice fishing:)
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You're right I saw some walk behind units they're over $1,000. Where I tried to use it is the side of the house between the fence and the house it's about a 17 ft distance and for me it's just too close to the house and the fence (wood) to use it. If I was gardening in my rear plot at the end of my property it's 55 ft wide I might have tried to use it again.
 
Don Alaska said:
I suspect it might be a way to feed the soil bacteria and fungi rather than a real fertilizer. My Portuguese(?) isn't very good though :LOL: Some botanists up here recommend using blackstrap molasses diluted in water to get soil flora going early in the spring.
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For a foreign language video, you can turn on English captioning. I watched it on Youtube so I could read the comments; some people were wondering why he bothered straining the mixture before pouring it on the soil.
 
Beth Gallagher said:
For a foreign language video, you can turn on English captioning. I watched it on Youtube so I could read the comments; some people were wondering why he bothered straining the mixture before pouring it on the soil.
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I think the reason you can't put the oats in the ground you have to strain it, is it has a high nitrogen content.
If you remember when you mix the oats with water they say leave it for exactly 30 minutes. Any more dissolving than that would make the nitrogen level too high that's my belief. It would burn 🔥 your plants.
A long time ago I used a high nitrogen fertilizer (90) to sterilize a section of my garden it worked well.
 
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