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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