Posts Tagged: mold

Dog Vomit Fungus

Avocado growers have been ecstatic at fruit prices and are walking their groves more avidly, checking things out and seeing lots of things they don't normally see. A recent grower find has been a blob of Fulgio septica - ‘Dog Vomit' or ‘Dog Fungus'. It's not vomit, it's not a fungus, but a slime mold that lives off the organic matter littering orchards and in mulched gardens. After the rains and when it starts to warm up, the spores of these non-animal, non-plants germinate and start moving around. They aggregate into a mass, called a plasmodium, a super individual that starts out as a yellowish, spongy mass that can move in a slow, amoeboid-like fashion. It gradually hardens and can take on the brownish-tan coloring seen in the image below. As it dries, it breaks up and blows away. It won't do harm to living plants, simply feeding on dead material. It will gradually disappear. So, as you walk your orchard or your backyard, enjoy the unusual appearance of a rainy year member of the web of nature.

dog vomit fungus

Earthworms, Soil Productivity, Citrus and Avocado

There are 4,000 species of earthworms grouped into five families and distributed all over the world. Some grow uo to 3 feet long, while others are only a few tenths of inches. We call them nightcrawlers, field worms, manure worms, red worms and some people call them little diggers.

In California, we have some native species of earthworms, but in many cases non-native introduced species have come to dominate. The predominant native species belong to the Argilophilus and Diplocardia while many of the non-native are of European in origin in the Lumbricidae family. Many of these non-natives were probably introduced by settlers bringing plants from home, which had soil containing the worms. A survey of California earthworms by the US Forest Service can be found at:

https://www.fs.fed.us/psw/publications/documents/psw_gtr142/psw_gtr142.pdf

This is a wonderful description of earthworm biology and their occurrence in the landscape.

When digging in citrus orchards, it is common to find earthworms in the wetted mulch under tree canopies. Many of our citrus orchards were initially established by “balled and burlap” nursery trees that brought worms along with the soil. In the case of many avocado orchards, on the other hand, it can be rare to find earthworms in orchards. Most avocado orchards have been established since the 1970s when potting mixes and plastic liners were the standard practice and worms were not part of the planting media. Even though there is a thick leaf mulch in avocado orchards, the worms have not been introduced, and it is rare to find them.

Numerous investigators have pointed out the beneficial effects of earthworms on soil properties. One of the first of these observers was Charles Darwin who published Earthworms and Vegetable Mould in 1881. He remarked on the great quantity of soil the worms can move in a year. He estimated that the earthworms in some of his pastures could form a new layer of soil 7 inches thick in thirty years, or that they brought up about 20 tons of soil per acre, enough to form a layer 0.2-inch-deep each year.

Earthworms, where they flourish, are important agents in mixing the dead surface litter with the main body of the soil. They drag the leaves and other litter down into their burrows where soil microorganisms also begin digesting the material. Some earthworms can burrow as deeply as 5 to 6 feet, but most concentrate in the top 6 to 8 inches of soil.

The worm subsists on organic matter such as leaves and dead roots near the soil surface. The earthworm ingests soil particles along with the organic matter and grinds up the organic matter in a gizzard just as a chicken does. This is excreted in what we call worm casts. The castings differ chemically from the rest of the soil, as they are richer in nitrogen, potassium and other mineral constituents.

Castings are a natural by-product of worms. When added to normal soils in gardens or lawns, they provide the same kinds of benefits as other bulky organic fertilizers. Castings today are not commonly used as fertilizer by commercial plant growers because of their cost relative to other fertilizers. However, castings are used by some organic growers and are sold commercially as a soil amendment or planting medium for ornamental plants grown in pots.

The physical soil churning process also has several important effects:

-Organic residues are more rapidly degraded with the release of elements such as nitrogen, sulfur and other nutrients.

-Some of the inorganic soil minerals tend to be solubilized by the digestive process.

-Extensive burrowing improves soil aeration.

-Burrowing can improve water penetration into soils

-The earthworm carries surface nutrients from the soil surface and imports them into the root zone of the plant.

Although earthworms are considered beneficial to soil productivity, few valid studies have been made to determine whether their presence will significantly improve plant growth. This may seem odd since many of us have learned from childhood that worms are good. It is something like the chicken and the egg analogy. The conditions that are conducive to earthworms are also ideal for plants. Both plants and worms need temperatures between 60 and 100 degrees F for good growth; both need water, but not too much or little; they both require oxygen for respiration; and they do not like soils that are too acid or basic or too salty. By correcting soil conditions that are unfavorable for one will also improve the outlook for the other. The earthworm is a natural component of the soil population. If the soil is properly managed this natural population will thrive. In this sense, the presence or absence or earthworms can be an indicator of the "fertility" of one's soil.

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