Mold Spores From Mulch On Vinyl Siding

Bark mulch whether natural or dyed adds an attractive finished look to the garden while keeping down weeds and holding in moisture.

Mold spores from mulch on vinyl siding.

Power washing may work on brand new only vinyl siding that still has a shiny oily sheen. The black tar like spots that are all over your vinyl siding are more than likely a fungus called sphaerobolus stellatus better known as artillery or shotgun fungus although it s most often found on the east coast it can grow anywhere and especially thrives in areas that have cool damp springs or rainy fall weather conditions. You can also add about three inches of fresh mulch on top of the existing to suffocate the spores and stop them from latching on to your siding. Artillery fungus is a common fungus in north america.

Here is a photo of what the actual fungus that produces the black spores. There is no fungicide registered as an artillery fungus treatment. In effect it looks like someone shot your house with little tiny bullets. Its primary job is to decay dead wood.

How do i get the artillery fungus off my house siding. Here is what the spores look like on the vinyl siding. How to get rid of mold spores in bark mulch. Also the use of gravel or plastic mulch will not.

Even with new landscaping it s a good idea to have the proper cleaner for artillery mulch on hand to avoid mold looking stains on your property. To remove artillery fungus from siding you have to physically scrape it off. It will get up into the air and attach to siding. Artillery fungus lives in mulch.

These sticky black dots cling to vinyl siding like glue. Also known as artillery or cannonball fungus sphaerobolus it uses internal water pressure to forcefully fire its spores similar to seeds up to 20 feet away the fungus sets its sights on bright areas so that means it will aim for any pale surface that reflects light such as the siding on your house. There is research to suggest that blending mushroom compost at a rate of 40 with landscape mulch can suppress the spores. We have not found a good efficient way to get them off without leaving a stain or damaging the siding especially on old dry siding.

It s hard to see shotgun fungus itself because it s only 2 millimeters wide. When it is time for it to reproduce the fungus lives up to its name and shoots tiny spores in all directions. The benefits of. The worst thing about this fungus is that it shoots spores up to 20 feet which often land on siding cars.

In order to kill artillery mold you must remove the spores from your siding and from the contaminated mulch that brought the spores to your home. The spore masses of the artillery fungus stick like super glue. In home gardens it often takes up residence in wood mulch. This mold found on house siding looks like small black dots.

The artillery fungus or shotgun fungus is a wood decay fungus that likes to live on moist landscape mulch.