Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Garden
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 03-19-2017, 06:26 PM
 
205 posts, read 278,059 times
Reputation: 195

Advertisements

hello, just had a quick question. trying to establish a nice landscape in the front which I planted a variety of things last year except nothing really grew. so while i was digging in the dirt to put in new plants, have noticed that parts of the dirt are white in appearance including the mulch. is this a bad thing? and could it be the reason why my plants last year never really grew?

Thanks
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 03-19-2017, 06:48 PM
 
Location: Canada
14,723 posts, read 14,885,577 times
Reputation: 34775
Can you download a close up picture of it here for identification?

.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-19-2017, 10:06 PM
 
Location: Out there somewhere...a traveling man.
44,593 posts, read 61,412,482 times
Reputation: 125666
Sounds like heavy clay soil that doesn't drain well and that white on the mulch is probably a fungus as a result of the wet soil.
Need to rework the soil where you're planting with good well draining planting soil.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-19-2017, 10:10 PM
 
Location: Home is Where You Park It
23,856 posts, read 13,686,526 times
Reputation: 15481
First of all, where are you?

Second, what are you trying to grow?

Third, what, if anything, have you applied to your soil?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-19-2017, 11:04 PM
 
205 posts, read 278,059 times
Reputation: 195
I live in Texas and had planted some monkey grass and texas sage but they never really grew much so when i was digging out the old monkey grass, I saw that there was white in the dirt and on the mulch
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-20-2017, 03:39 AM
 
Location: Near the Coast SWCT
83,401 posts, read 74,915,183 times
Reputation: 16571
White on dirt could be mold or fungus.


Get rid of any plants that were in it, they might spread the disease.
Stop watering, let the soil dry out.
Try to get rid of any you see and replace with fresh new soil
Mix fresh new soil into the area.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-20-2017, 10:31 AM
 
311 posts, read 447,311 times
Reputation: 627
You might have a fungus in your soil and mulch but that is more likely to be a good thing. When soil is sterile, that is when you have a hard time growing things. Good, moist living earth is the best soil and no store bought stuff will ever beat it.

Take a sample of your soil and mulch to your county agent or a knowledgeable garden store (not likely to be a big box store) and get their opinion.

By the way, remember that dirt is what you wash out from under your fingernails and soil is what you grow plants in.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-20-2017, 11:00 AM
 
Location: Canada
14,723 posts, read 14,885,577 times
Reputation: 34775
Quote:
Originally Posted by kretsch View Post

...... noticed that parts of the dirt are white in appearance including the mulch. ......
Quote:
Originally Posted by kretsch View Post

........ I saw that there was white in the dirt and on the mulch
Twice now you've mentioned the mulch. Did you put the mulch there yourself or was the mulch already there when you started gardening? If you put the mulch there yourself what was the mulch composed of? Did it have chunks of horse manure in it?

.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-20-2017, 12:01 PM
 
205 posts, read 278,059 times
Reputation: 195
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoisite View Post
Twice now you've mentioned the mulch. Did you put the mulch there yourself or was the mulch already there when you started gardening? If you put the mulch there yourself what was the mulch composed of? Did it have chunks of horse manure in it?

.


The mulch was put in there last year by a guy that I hired to do some cleaning out of the front yard and he put in the mulch and helped plant the stuff that I bought. So I don't have any details about the mulch itself aside that the gardener said it was good quality
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-20-2017, 12:03 PM
 
205 posts, read 278,059 times
Reputation: 195
Quote:
Originally Posted by TreeZoo View Post
You might have a fungus in your soil and mulch but that is more likely to be a good thing. When soil is sterile, that is when you have a hard time growing things. Good, moist living earth is the best soil and no store bought stuff will ever beat it.

Take a sample of your soil and mulch to your county agent or a knowledgeable garden store (not likely to be a big box store) and get their opinion.

By the way, remember that dirt is what you wash out from under your fingernails and soil is what you grow plants in.



When I did pull out one of the plants, aside from the white appearance of the SOIL, I noticed that there a lot of ants and some worms crawling in the dirt and the roots
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Garden

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:05 PM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top