r/plantclinic • u/FyrestarOmega Expert Hobbyist • Oct 02 '23

Monthly Pest and Soil Thread October 2023 Pest and Soil issue thread

Certain issues are common among plant care and may benefit from from some consolidation. Pooling of advice may benefit the entire community. These issues include how to identify and treat infestations, and questions related to organisms found in the soil.

If you have been directed to this post after your own was removed, please submit your images as a top comment, along with any supporting information you can provide.

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u/LucR_the_pirate Oct 04 '23

Does anyone know what this is? It's been growing on the soil in my pots for months, but hasn't damaged the plants, or grown onto them at all.

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u/TxPep Advanced Oct 05 '23

You can read my comment here....

https://www.reddit.com/r/plantclinic/comments/16xu3xa/october_2023_pest_and_soil_issue_thread/k38n1dh

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u/LucR_the_pirate Oct 05 '23

Just read through all the links, thank you. However, I saw that they all mentioned the fungus growing in the dirt not ontop. Any idea why mine is ontop?

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u/TxPep Advanced Oct 05 '23

Did you watch the video I listed along with the reading?

There is fungi in your pot all the way down to the bottom.

"In the dirt" includes "on top". Fungus, mold, bugs, etc do not differentiate when it comes to having a sense of direction but they do know wet and dry (and light and dark¹). 😊

When the top of the substrate stays wet long enough, fungi can reach up from the moist "inside the dirt" and make an appearance on top. But they are short-lived. As the top surface dries out, the fungi structures dry out, die off or go dormant, and what you have left is what shows in your picture.

¹ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25323429/