Identify this bizarre (fungus? cocoon? something else???) on my strawberries...

[Elad]

I've never seen anything like this. Anyone know what it is?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Could be a slime mold.

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/dg1148.html

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. When and if you do find out, pls. let us know.

Looks like those puffy things may be a home to some wee insect in the inside, judging from the holes.

2nd question I would want answered is what, in the animal kingdom, would like to snack on that white stuff!

I had to take our strawberries out after armadillos kept digging up the patch.
At least they were identifiable.

[Curmudgeoness]

3. From what I see, this doesn't seem to be hurting the plants.

Is that correct? At first, I thought insect cocoons, but it looks like it is just spreading along. That would not seem to be a cocoon. The first picture has me baffled....what is that in the very front? Insects? Insect legs? Or part of the plant? Since I am always so curious, I would open one of those big ones up to see what is inside, if anything. That may help answer the question of what it is. Or we can wait for someone who knows exactly what this is.

Also, next time, if possible, put a penny down to give scale to the photos. It helps sometimes to know the size.

On edit, I think that I did find this using The Velveteen Ocelot's suggestion of a slime mold. If you go to the bottom 4 or 5 photos here, you will see what appears to be the same thing (Fuligo septica):

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/slime1.htm

You can check by seeing if your problem is hard like cement, and if you can find the spores under the surface by scraping the surface as shown in these photos.

If this is what it is, you don't have to worry about it. It will do no harm. At least, that is what the link from TVO says.

[Botany]

4. a slime mold* ..... no biggy

Last edited Mon Sep 2, 2013, 06:35 PM - Edit history (1)

just wash it off w/ a hose

* myxomycetes

[ConcernedCanuk]

5. I have absolutely no idea what that is, but I have advice

.
.
.

I wouldn't touch it, or eat anything off the plants until I was certain what the growth is.

I have grown many vegetable gardens, including a greenhouse - never seen anything like that.

Advice would to be to get a number of people to actually see it, neighborhood gardeners,

a person from a florist shop, a horticulturist etc, -

it could be inert, it could be poison.

Don't take a chance.

Check it out.

CC

[Elad]

6. Slime mold seems to fit the bill.

It doesn't seem to be harming the plants. It "poofed" a fine brown spore mass when I hit it with a hose. Probably going to try letting it dry out.

[NCarolinawoman]

8. I never thought of slime molds getting on green growing plants.

The ones I have seen are always "crawling" along some kind of decaying organic matter on the ground. The most common ones that I have seen look like shiny yellow flattened scrambled eggs. Hard to notice movement except they will not be in the same place the next day.

I have been told that they have some form of "brain" and scientists have discovered that the molds can out-perform rats in figuring out mazes; with the molds moving at a slower pace ("slower pace" being quite an understatement). Sounds really bizarre, but fascinating.

[ellenrr]

9. it is fascinating. sounds like they are some kind of link being between plant and animal.