Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: DVSM – Dog Vomit Slime Mold
Nope, the dog didn’t do it… neither did the cat!
While I’ve never like EATING mushrooms, it’s a texture thing, I do find some of the fascinating! DVSM changes almost daily…
DVSM seeks out wood chips. We just happen to clean up the weeds, throw down some thick black plastic and a whole pile of wood chips from the local yard waste site and DVSM got very active! It starts out a bright cheery yellow, continues to crawl across the wood chips while the fruiting bodies continue to change shape and texture for the next couple of days and then as the “food” runs out the color fades to a dull grayish beige…
You can see the yellow underneath, the black bodies and the crusty top layer…
The entire surface, which can be at least 8 inches wide, starts to break off and moves to another area to continue the cycle. I have at least 5 spots of DVSM so far. The transition from a mushy blob of protoplasm to the release of spores is very fast, usually occurring within 48 hours.
As you wander your wood mulched gardens, don’t immediately blame the dog if you find a bright yellow blob of goo. Take a closer look, no it doesn’t smell, and watch as Dog Vomit Slime Mold crawls and changes shape, texture and color. If you stand there long enough you will see it move. It really hurts nothing, so just let it be!
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