Gardeners, what could this be?

[maestramommy]

Last spring I had a huge load of bark mulch delivered, but only managed to use a small portion of it. The rest lay in a pile next to my driveway. Late the summer I did use some and when I dug into it, I saw this white sticky, thready looking stuff with small bulges attached to it.

Then comes now. I am deweeding and mulching all of my flower beds. Now this white stuff seems to in most of the mulch. It looks a little gross, but I'm hoping if it dries in the sun, it'll be okay. What is this stuff? Spider sacs? fungus? decomp?

The mulch was originally undyed, so it had no color. Sorta black when wet, but brown after being exposed to air a few days.

[toby]

It sounds like a fungus. If you stir the mulch and it dries out, it should go away. But...you don't need to get rid of it (unless you want) because it is harmless.

[MSWR0319]

It sounds like a fungus. If you stir the mulch and it dries out, it should go away. But...you don't need to get rid of it (unless you want) because it is harmless.

:yeahthat: we had the same thing happen to our loaded mulch last summer. It didn't cause any problems when we put it around the house.

[maestramommy]

Oh good! I was afraid I was going to have to get rid of all the mulch, and it was a couple hundred dollars! Thanks!