Alright, next up we have Slime Mold! Pretty nasty, slime mold is a broad term describing fungus-like organisms that use spores to spread. They used to be classified as a fungus, but are no longer considered fungi. The reason it is called slime mold is because it resembles slime to a tee. It appear to be gelatinous and slime molds have been found all over the world and feed on microorganisms that live in any type of dead plant material. They can be found in soil, on lawns and on forest floors, usually on rotting logs.
Slime mold for the most part is a beneficial and decays dead plant material, returning nutrients to the soil. It’s not a disease, but turf that has been covered by slime mold are more likely to develop a disease.Chemical control is usually not necessary. Raking up, and disposing of the slime mold is usually all that is required. If you choose a chemical control, Dithane works pretty well. That being said the only real reason to get rid of slime mold is that it is ugly as hell, no two ways about it.
Okay, in my opinion slime mold is ugly, seriously, if I were to find it on my lawn I’d torch the sunnuva*****. So yeah, I’m not a big fan of it. It looks like someone chucked up their lunch and let it set right their on the grass. I’d suggest getting rid of it as soon as you find it as the benefits are far outweighed by its aesthetics.
