Please look at uploaded picture. This white foamy stuff appeared over night in my raised veggie bed. It's about 3" in size. I did flush out worm tower with water yesterday. If it is organic I will leave it. If it's going to damage my veggies I will remove. Thanks, Byron
It is something known as a "Slime Mold", though it isn't a mold at all.
This beneficial creature is best left to kill off the bad microbes in your lawn. That is part of their diet- Bad microbes. Though it is unsightly, it is doing a good deed.
This article will help:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/fungus-lichen/what-is-slime-mold-slime.htm
Help! Keeps sprouting an I will be planting soon. Right now I am just hand cultivating hoping seeds will tire out. I garden organically. I want my garden seeds to spout so I can’t cheat and spray anything.
You can try solarizing, but that will take awhile.
Boiling water kills, too.
This article will offer more suggestions:
I have two garden boxes I just built - 8ft x 4ft, height 2 ft, trying to figure out if I can fill the bottom half with peat moss or mulch, don't want the weight of the soil and would like drainage.
This article tells how you can mix your own soil for raised beds. For a lighter layer in the bottom, you could use shredded bark or wood chips.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/best-soil-raised-garden-beds.htm
"First, be sure that the pallet you have chosen is not pressure treated,.." This is alarmist without also providing more info. HOW is someone supposed to find out whether a pallet is or is not pressure treated? And then what?
Pressure treatments are always a type of copper based material. Copper in such forms is highly toxic to soil life and plants, and leaches from the wood very easily. Plants will take this up in the roots, and either suffer from them, or pass the copper agents into their fruits and other plant parts. If you intend to consume the plants, then you will be consuming the copper preservatives, since they cannot be broken down by the plants.
Usually, pressure treated wood does not decay, and will have some sort of greenish or blue hue from the oxidizing copper. Sometimes, they have a label.
I have purchased some pressure treated timber to make outdoor vegetable planters. I am concerned after reading several articles on the internet that chemicals in the wood may ‘leach’ into the soil and ultimately into vegetables being grown. What can I line the planters with to avoid this? Some people say line with polythene, others say not, I am confused, please help! Thank you Daljit
Lining will not stop the chemicals from leeching into the ground around your yard, and since you will not want the roots to remain wet and soggy the lining will need to be perforated. This means that the roots will still have access to the treated wood and the copper based sealants used. These sealants leech from wood very quickly, and with ease, so I do not recommend using them at all, even with lining.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/vgen/raised-vegetable-gardens.htm
Hi, I have built five square raised planters using new softwood railway sleepers. The planters are 60cm deep and open at the bottom, sitting on normal garden soil/mud underneath. We are looking to plant an ornamental tree in the middle of each one (maybe an olive - nice sunny garden?) with some grasses/flowers around the sides. My question is... can i fill the bottom of the beds with something other than soil to save money/aid drainage? and if so, what should i use and how deep would the soil on top need to be? Thank you
There is quite a bit of information to cover, here. These articles will help you to iron out those details:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/info/are-railroad-ties-safe.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/best-soil-raised-garden-beds.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/vgen/raised-vegetable-gardens.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/vgen/raised-bed-soil-depth.htm
I noticed you posted a railroad tie article and was curious if it was safe to use a shop vac to vacuum up splintered railroad ties. I have a two year old and am concerned about her safety with the dust getting kicked up by the wind. I’d also be curious how you’d recommend a contractor safely remove splintered ties without strewing creosote and dust al over my property when they remove them since they’re are damaged and splintered.
Unfortunately, it has already been leaching out into the area since they were installed. They should not be used, at all, for gardening. The splintering has not made it any more dangerous than it has been, other than the chance of getting one of those in your foot.
Vacuuming the pieces will not put you in any more danger than using it as a garden border will. It will all carry, about, the same risk over time.
Personally, I would have them removed and replaced with anything else to stop the chemical leaching that is occurring over time, but using a shop vac for the pieces can be OK for now.