I was walking in the back of my yard today and almost slipped on this slippery mold-like substance. It is spread out over a vast area. It looks like little piles of slimy poop, but no animal could possibly scatter that much in the area without me seeing it! It’s everywhere! Can you help me identify it? It’s black, in piles about 3 or 4 inches around.

Our response, which we hope was helpful:

It seems like this could be a version of Dog Vomit fungus (nice name right?) – in which case you might take a look at this recent post on our blog: I Have Slime Mold In The Mulch In My Garden!

It could also be a mold called Nostoc, which starts out bluish/greenish but can turn black.

All mold/fungus is slimy and slippery, usually popping up after significant rainfall especially if the area never has a chance to dry out.

What can you do?

For long-term, you may want to look at how that part of your yard is draining. If drainage is poor, you may want to get a landscaper in to correct the slope or lay some drainage piping.

Short-term, try these techniques:

Most organic approaches:

• Apple Cider Vinegar – Use 1-2 Tablespoons per gallon of water. This is a good natural herbicide.
• Corn Meal (any kind of corn meal is OK) – Dry Method: Work 2 pounds of cornmeal into the soil for every 100 square feet. Water well, to activate the fungus killing properties. Wet Method: Cornmeal Juice – soak 1 cup of cornmeal in 1 gallon of water overnight. Strain liquid and use as a spray.
• Milk – 3 ounces of any kind of milk in a gallon of water used as a spray.
• Baking Soda – One tablespoon of baking soda per gallon of water, use as a spray. Follow up with compost at 1 cubic yard per 1,000 square feet to reestablish microbial population, as baking soda is very hard on the soil microbes.

Last resort – non organic:

• Bleaches and Peroxide – great fungicides. 1-2 tblsp per gallon of water.

Good luck!

Joyce & Gayle

I thought I did everything right! I put up two fences around my garden to keep out animals. One fence was a made of three foot chicken wire which I buried about one foot deep and the other was a four foot wire fence that was loose on top so animals could not climb up and get in. I planted six tomato plants, six lettuce, six cucumbers, and six zucchini plants. Everything was great. I mulched with the grass clippings from my lawn and watered regularly.

Then one morning I went out to watch my garden grow and notice all my zucchini plants where gone. Whatever got into my garden ate just my zucchini plants and left the rest of my garden alone.

The only thing I can think of is something got into my garden started chomping away on my zucchini and then got interrupted by a noise.

If I didn’t think of something fast I might lose the whole garden to an unknown critter. I can’t stay up all night and keep guard over my garden! I have a motion detector light that is close by, but clearly that did not help. I need something that moves and makes noise but what? Later that day when I was rinsing out plastic and tins for recycling, it came to me. Pie tins!

And that’s what I did. I hung pie tins on all sides of my garden. They make noise in the slightest of breeze and if something was trying to climb my fence they would surely make a clatter. I also added a small beach ball to roll around gently inside the garden just in case those critters get past my pie tins.

It’s been a month since I installed my pie tins and my vegetables are flourishing including the zucchini plants that I replanted.

I still don’t know what ate my zucchini plants but I’m sure glad I decided to make a pie!

Got a gardening question or issue that you just can’t figure out? Click here to send us a note with your garden problem and we’ll do our best to find you a good solution!

]]> http://www.borntogarden.com/2009/07/one-more-vegetable-garden-problem-solved/feed/ 0 http://www.borntogarden.com/2009/05/i-have-slime-mold-in-the-mulch-in-my-garden/ http://www.borntogarden.com/2009/05/i-have-slime-mold-in-the-mulch-in-my-garden/#comments Sun, 24 May 2009 17:41:01 +0000 Planter1 http://www.borntogarden.com/?p=112 About a month ago I mulched my beautiful garden and thought I was all set for the summer months. Then just the other day I went outside to admire my flower garden only to see what looked like dog vomit. There was a blob of yellow brown slime in my garden! Yuck! It looked terrible and it seemed to be growing! What is this growth in my mulch and how do I get it out of my garden?

Slime Mold

I have slime mold! Slime mold lives in moist, cool, and shady places on decaying wood, leaves, and organic matter that retains an abundant amount of moisture. They feed on decaying organic matter and bacteria. That is why it is common to see this grow in on mulch. Slime mold has many different colors they can be yellow, orange, red, or cream colored. Slime mold may appear as a slimy mass and as the fungus matures, the slime mold will usually become more hard or powdery in appearance. It will eventually dry to a white, yellow, tan, or dark brown crusty blob.

Getting Rid of Slime Mold

There does not seem to be any effective chemical treatments.

You can use a rake to help break it up, or wait a week or so until the mold dries out. Either way, the slime mold will eventually disappear.

Slime mold may grow near plants and flowers, but don’t worry they will not harm them.

I removed my slime mold by scooping it up with a shovel and placing it in a wooded area of my yard.

Got a gardening question or issue that you just can’t figure out? Click here to send us a note with your garden problem and we’ll do our best to find you a good solution!

Here is a list of 20 plants you need to have in your vegetable garden. These plants may surprise you! I had no idea that these plants not only looked beautiful and tasted wonderful, but also can help deter pests and bugs from the garden.

1. Basil - A favorite herb of mine anyway – and I already had some in my garden of course! Basil repels aphids, flies, mosquitos, and mites. It also has fungicidal properties. If you plant basil around your tomato plants, you won’t have to worry about icky hornworms.
2. Borage - This one I was really not familiar with, but found out that it is an herb sometimes called the starflower. The leaves taste like fresh cucumber and are used in salads and soups especially in Germany. The flowers are sweet like honey and are often used as edible decoration. It is also good for planting around your tomatos as it repels tomato worms.
3. Catnip – Cats love it, but ants, fleas and mosquitoes hate it! I see this herb in the supermarket and until now have just passed it by not knowing what to use it for. Next time I see it, I’m buying it!
4. Chamomile – Great for a relaxing pre-bedtime tea, the camomile plant keeps cabbage moths out of your garden.
5. Chives – A baked potato isn’t the same without them, but aphids don’t feel the same! Plant chives especially around your roses and lettuce.
6. Feverfew - A really pretty flower that almost looks like a daisy, and found in old gardens. It is often used as a medicinal herb. For my purposes, it is known to keep moths away. I’ll put some in pots by my front door and see if it truly works!
7. Lavender – Smells fantastic, great for making relaxation teas AND keeps slugs out of the garden. Excellent news as I am not a slug fan at all.
8. Marigolds – These are traditional flowers that my mom always planted among our vegetable plants in the gardens we had as kids. Bugs cannot stand the smell of marigolds, so plant them liberally around your garden. French and African varieties also keep nematodes out of the soil.
9. Mint – Another great herb that no kitchen garden should be without anyway. But did you know that mint plants repel aphids, cabbage moths, and cabbage worms? I sure didn’t!
10. Nasturtium – A plant I’ve read about in magazines but didn’t realize is quite prevalent. This pretty little flowering plants keeps away aphids and whiteflies. Be sure to plant these around fruit trees, cucumbers and squash.
11. Onion – If you love to cook, you love the onion. We have lots of wild onions in our neck of the woods. Onions keep ants at bay. Which is good because we also have lots of those!
12. Oregano – Growing up half Italian, I believe I have oregano streaming through my blood. Either way, its great in tomato sauce and italian dressing, and oregano plants keep away cucumber beetles.
13. Pennyroyal - In the mint family, pennyroyal leaves have a strong spearmint smell. Ants don’t like it, so I definitely do!
14. Petunia – I knew a little girl named Petunia once…but I digress. Pretty flowers and the added benefit of repelling aphids, leafhoppers, and Mexican bean beetles.
15. Radish – A great entry for salad ingredients, the radish is smartly planted around cucumbers and squash to keep away beetles.
16. Rosemary – I love rosemary bread and so always have fresh rosemary around. Plant this in your garden to ward off the cabbage moth, bean beetle and carrot fly.
17. Rue - As in “you’ll rue the day” I guess, because this medicinal herb smells terrible! But it does keep away Japanese beetles (and gardeners…yuck!). ***GOOD TO KNOW: don’t plant rue anywhere near your basil – they don’t play well, and so neither plant will grow.
18. Tansy - Another pretty little flower, Tansy is disagreeable to ants.
19. Thyme – One of the herbs we can’t do without, Thyme plants deter cabbage worms and slugs.
20. Tomato – Yep, you’ve probably got these in your garden already. And if you also have asparagus, plant them together. The tomato plants will ward off asparagus beetles.

If any of this information surprises you, you’re not alone. We’ve always had gardens and while we knew about some of these helpful plants, we were surprised by a great many too.

If you have any great garden tips, please send them to us using our handy contact form or by leaving a comment on this post. We’d love to hear from you!

You need to watch your cucumbers when you grow them. They can suffer from various ailments that you can prevent and cure.

• First up is the cucumber beetle. These little pests, in addition to eating the leaves, can carry the bacteria responsible for bacterial wilt. The best way to stop them is to control them. Insecticides, covers for the cucumbers, and wilt resistance cucumber plants are all great solutions.
• Next up is the cucumber mosaic virus and the tobacco mosaic virus. These viruses can cause the leaves of the cucumbers plants to become deformed and turn yellow. The fruits can also become discolored and misshapen.

The cucumber mosaic virus can be spread by aphids (tiny insects) and other infected plants. If you find an infected plant, pull it up and destroy it immediately, before other plants catch it.

The tobacco mosaic virus is spread by smoking near the plants or by touching the plants after smoking. It can be prevented by washing your hands. Both of these viruses are incurable. Again, the only thing you can do is to pull up he plants and destroy them.

• Another cucumber sickness is misshapen or deformed fruit. Don’t worry its not a virus or an inscect this time, it usually means too much fertilizer or too little water.

If you have hollow cucumbers then you need to fertilize the cucumbers more. Another good thing to do would be to keep the soil moist around the plants. The hollow cucumbers are still safe to eat, but they may be a little bitter.

If your cucumbers are bent, like in a c-shape, you might want to water them. This is usually caused by hot dry conditions. It happens more in the late summer, though. It is also helpful to mulch the ground and add compost to it.

• The final cucumber calamity for today is powdery mildew. Powdery mildew is a fungus that spreads across the leaves of a plant a drains them of nutrients, sometimes killing the plant. It causes the leaves to turn brown and yellow and can kill the fruit.

The best treatment is to pick off the dying leaves and fruit and discarding them. Do not use these discarded leaves for compost, as they will infect other plants. Increase air circulation around the plant and keep it well watered and fertilized.

These tips and helpful hints will help you on your way to a cornucopia of fresh, delicious cucumbers!

Have a tip for growing cucumbers or your favorite fruit or vegetable? Click here to tell us all about it!

1. Fence them out
2. Scare them out
3. Smell them out

Keep in mind that since every garden is different, and the area surrounding your garden will have its own unique kinds of pests and vermin, you may have to try more than one of the following suggestions in order to find what type of animal repellant works best for your particular garden situation.

Fence them out

Fencing out unwanted animals can be a bit of work, but it is probably your best option in keeping your homegrown vegetables or garden flowers all to yourself. Also, once a fence is built, you need only maintain it and it can last many years.

Fencing suggestion: wire fencing, also called chicken wire, is your easiest and least expensive fencing option.

• Deer supposedly cannot jump any higher than 8 feet unless they have an uphill advantage. Install a fence that is at least 8 feet high – or  at least 6 feet high with a slope outward at a 45 degree angle. The bottom of the fence should be at ground level or below, to prevent deer from getting underneath. They’re wiley, those deer – and smart when it comes to getting free food from your garden buffet. You can also install an electric fence. An 8 foot high solid fence would block the deer’s view from seeing your garden (but they can still smell it).
• Rabbits don’t climb buy they can jump. Luckily, not that high. Rabbits are burrowing animals, but the burrows are rather shallow. Install a wire fence (chicken wire) that rises at least 3 feet high and extends a minimum of 10 inches underground. The 10 inches underground will deter rabbits from digging underneath the fence.
• Woodchucks(aka: groundhogs), like raccoons, are good climbers – but they also burrow. That’s what you call “multi-talented”. If you leave about 18 inches at the top of your fence unattached, it will be ”floppy”, and discourage woodchucks, groundhogs and raccoons from climbing over. Your fence should be a minimum of 4 feet high, and at least 10 inches straight down underground. NO EXTRA CHARGE HINT: Dig your fence trench at least 8 inches wide, then bend the fencing 8 inches forward, making an “L” shape. With the bottom “L” facing outward or away from the gardent, pin it securely to the ground. This is some added insurance to prevent the woodchuck (groundhog) from burrowing under the fence.

Scare them out

• Scarecrows: Fake owl or snakes, also know in gardening circles as “scarecrows”, will work for a while, but eventually animals will figure it out. Then they’ll just snicker as they make off with your lettuce, carrots and rutabagas.
• Beach balls, balloons, reflective mylar tape, pinwheels: Place objects in your garden that will move around as the wind blows. Movement like this scares the hay out of woodchucks (groundhogs) and the like.
• Visit your garden frequently: Woodchucks (groundhogs) are also easily frightened by humans.
• Motion-activated lights, alarms and sprinklers. No one likes that kind of surprise.

Smell them out

Animals depend on their sense of smell to determine what is safe to eat. Strong odors or undesirable scents will deter animals from your garden and encourage them to find another desirable location for food. Here are some of the odors you can actually buy and use to keep animals out of your garden.

Deer:

• Grate Ivory or Irish Spring soap, then sprinkle around your garden. Apparently deer don’t like “clean”.
• Coyote Urine - encircle your garden with it. Coyotes and deer are like oil and water.

Woodchucks (groundhogs):

• Fox Urine or Wolf Urine – encircle your garden with it. If it comes down to eat and be eaten, groundhogs will move on.

Rabbits:

• Collect human hair clippings or hair from your brushes and spread it around your garden. If you don’t have any hair, get some from your neighbor.
• Sprinkle Fox or Wolf Urine around the perimeter of your garden.
• Sprinkle dried blood meal, vinegar or hot pepper flakes around the perimeter of your garden.

For those living in apartments or condominium complexes, cats and dogs might be the pests you deal with. Cats often see gardens, even container gardens, as convenient litter boxes. Not so convenient for the gardener. Click here to see your options for keeping dogs and cats our of your garden.

Click here to let us know if you have a good method for keeping unwanted animals out of your garden. We would love to hear from you. For more information, visit our Pest Control page.

Click here to shop for animal repellants.

Poison Ivy (toxicodendron radicans):

• is native to North America
• grows as a shrub or vine
• every part of the plant, including the roots and stem, contain an oil called urushiol
• urushiol oil can give you an itchy rash if you come in contact with it
• even in winter, when the plant is dormant, you can still receive a rash as the urushiol oil is present all year long.

Recognizing Poison Ivy in the Winter
Although the plant will be without its distinctive three leaflets, you can still recognize it by the brown and hairy looking bare vines it wraps around tree trunks.

And beware of the trees this ivy chooses to cling to! Even if you have successfully removed the poison ivy vine from the tree the urushiol oil can still remain on the bark. If you’re using firewood that had a poison ivy vine wrapped around it, you can get a rash. Don’t burn any poison ivy vines. The smoke contains urushiol, if breathed in, the oily smoke could cause extreme sickness.

The urushiol oils will get on any object it comes in contact with including: clothes, garden tools and even the fur on your dog. This oil can remain active and can cause a rash months or even years later. So, it’s important to wash your tools, and any clothing that has or may have come in contact with the plant. The urushiol oils also remain active for several years on dead poison ivy plants.

What to Do if you Come in Contact with Poison Ivy

If you come in contact with poison ivy, wash with soap and cold water immediately. Do not use hot water because hot water can open your pores allowing more oil into your skin.

You may also want to keep some anti-itch creams around the house or the garden shed, such as
Repel Sting Eze the ultimate in pain relief from the itch and swelling of bug bites and stings, poison ivy and poison oak for older kids and adults, or Classy Kid Itchy-Boo Anti-Itch Cream which relieves pain and itchiness from insect bites, scrapes, and minor skin irritations. This kid-friendly first-aid cream also dries out oozing rashes associated with poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac.

So, when your outside getting your garden or yard prepared for spring planting or even cutting down brush to extend your garden take care and look out for poison ivy. If you get a poison ivy rash, be sure to follow the instruction above.

If you find your garden has been taken over by poison ivy, you can try to eradicate it using a product such as Bonide Poison Ivy Killer (safe and effective, it contains Trimec for effective weed control to the roots. easy-to-use quart, RTU systemic, rainfast after drying).