What can be done for a whitish crusty 'fungus' that appears on/in the mulch covering flower beds? It gets worse each time it rains. When you dig into it, there is a yellow "goo". Any suggestions are appreciated! Thank you,

Jeanne Heitmann

Is this the stuff that looks like thick white paint poured on the ground? I have it in patches in my yard. I've glanced at it but not poked at it too much because there is a lot and I don't want my outdoor dogs to pay attention to stuff like that. I've picked the big toadstools as they emerge to keep those out of the diet.

It's amazing what all of this rain is bringing out, isn't it? (Wouldn't it be nice if that white goo was the perfect treatment for fire ants--I have a whole bunch of those popping up after the rain also!)

Good luck finding an answer.

Material that isn't broken down completely (wood mulches, unfinished compost, dead roots, etc.) will cause mushrooms and other fungus to grow in your yard & garden when the soil is wet. This tends to be more pronounced during exceptionally wet weather. You can use cornmeal, cornmeal juice, baking soda, etc. to control this problem. Usually the fungus is nothing more than a visual problem unless it is growing around a desirable plant.

Good point. I didn't do anything about the fungi except to pick the toadstools to keep my dogs away from them.

My first thought would be to spray it with milk until I could get some corn meal.