Titanum Leaf Cuttings/ Fungus

From: Dan Levin levin at pixar.com> on 2002.07.02 at 22:58:45(9058) Bill, With regard to the fungus growing in your two pots of A. paeoniifolius: +More I have been plagued intermittently over the course of many years by what may be the same fungal critter. I wonder if it favors our particular region of California as I live very close to you heading up SF bay, in Piedmont (approx. 40 miles north). The fungus I've been seeing most definitively puts up yellow fruiting bodies, and when not having sex remains visible in the upper layers of the potting medium. In this stage it appears to me as looking like masses of spider eggs- small fuzzy spheres tending to clump together in colonies and being a light yellow to cream color. Does this sound familiar? Any mycologists or knowledgeable individuals out there who have a hunch what this might be, please speak up! To answer your question re: stopping it... The only compound I've had any success with to date is PCNB which (used to be?) sold here in the US as Terraclor. It is one of the very few chlorinated hydrocarbon compounds used as a soil fungicide. There may be other products just as effective but as you noted, this thing seems to laugh at the more common chemistries. One last note: as hard as I've tried to eradicate this fungus, I'm not convinced it causes any direct/ significant problems or attacks plants in any way. That being said it is extremely unsightly and always leads to a decline in plant vigor if not addressed. -Dan Levin

From: Scott Hyndman hyndman at aroid.org> on 2002.07.03 at 04:05:11(9060) Dan and Bill, Your similar fungi sound as if they are just a saprophytic (as opposed to parasitic) species that are probably just growing off of the decomposing potting medium. I have especially seen this fungus, i.e. the fruiting bodies, on soil mixes containing composted bark. The Terraclor probably would control it, but not eradicate it. Apart from the unappealing toad stools, the fungus is probably not affecting your plants. Scott +More ----------- Scott Hyndman, Research Greenhouse Manager USHRL, ARS, USDA 2001 South Rock Road Fort Pierce, FL 34945 Office: (561) 462-5889 Fax: (561) 462-5986 Cell: (561) 216-6534 E-mail: shyndman@ushrl.ars.usda.gov Homepage: http://www.ars-grin.gov/ars/SoAtlantic/fp/ on 7/2/02 5:57 PM, Dan Levin at levin@pixar.com wrote: > Bill, > > With regard to the fungus growing in your two pots of > A. paeoniifolius: > > I have been plagued intermittently over the course of many > years by what may be the same fungal critter. I wonder if > it favors our particular region of California as I live very close > to you heading up SF bay, in Piedmont (approx. 40 miles north). > > The fungus I've been seeing most definitively puts up yellow > fruiting bodies, and when not having sex remains visible in the > upper layers of the potting medium. In this stage it appears to > me as looking like masses of spider eggs- small fuzzy spheres > tending to clump together in colonies and being a light yellow to > cream color. Does this sound familiar? > Any mycologists or knowledgeable individuals out there who > have a hunch what this might be, please speak up! > > To answer your question re: stopping it... > The only compound I've had any success with to date is PCNB > which (used to be?) sold here in the US as Terraclor. It is one > of the very few chlorinated hydrocarbon compounds used as a soil > fungicide. There may be other products just as effective but as you > noted, this thing seems to laugh at the more common chemistries. > > One last note: as hard as I've tried to eradicate this fungus, I'm not > convinced it causes any direct/ significant problems or attacks plants > in any way. That being said it is extremely unsightly and always leads > to a decline in plant vigor if not addressed. > > -Dan Levin >

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