A white mold? Never seen this type before

[Stagemomma]

Originally Posted by mawipafl

LIcenter - very similar to scale, but scale is a bit more "bumpy" than the smooth blobs I have.

JanND ... perusing the links you gave, I think I did find it. Sclerotinia sclerotioum. Able to now go forward to battle it. Apparently salvia is one of the 400+/- plants susceptible. I will take out the plant and dirt and be vigilant to watch for this stuff throughout all my gardens. It can travel by air. Groovy.

So is it a mold/fungus? or a bug of some kind?

[arctic_gardener]

Originally Posted by mawipafl

JanND ... perusing the links you gave, I think I did find it. Sclerotinia sclerotioum. Able to now go forward to battle it. Apparently salvia is one of the 400+/- plants susceptible. I will take out the plant and dirt and be vigilant to watch for this stuff throughout all my gardens. It can travel by air. Groovy.

Highly unlikely to be Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. It's a cool-weather fungus and will go dormant in a Florida summer, particularly if it's also dry. Sclerotium rolfsii is a more likely culprit but the pictures don't appear to suggest a fungal disease. I have to admit though that it's hard to tell from the blurry pictures. It's also possible that OP has two problems simultaneously occurring.

I battle Sclerotinia every summer, but I am a Canadian gardener. It thrives here. It is a very dangerous fungus if allowed to take hold but it absolutely cannot tolerate dry heat.

[mawipafl]

Originally Posted by Stagemomma

So is it a mold/fungus? or a bug of some kind?

Sclerotinia sclerotioum, or more specifically Sclerotinia minor that affected my salvia, is a fungus that causes white mold. The "blobs" I found are actually the second stage of the mold (the first being white cottony wisps which I just didn't notice).

My laziness is probably a contributor since S. minor thrives in a moist climate that has little air flow. Instead of hand watering with a hose to supplement rain I used my irrigation system, so the leaves of the salvia (one of the many plants susceptible) stayed wet too long. Although the plants in the garden are spaced out, wind and breeze are blocked on two sides. Looks like I threw out a welcome mat.

Apparently Sclerotinia spp. is common, but it needs the right conditions. Once that happens, it grows quickly and infects the plant. It may have been in my soil or in the soil in the pot when I bought the plant, or could have blown in from somewhere. Who knows. But I'll keep watch on my other plants.