Black Spots On Siding From Mulch

Replace wood mulch with landscape fabric and small stones.

Black spots on siding from mulch.

If you notice lots of tiny black or dark brown spots developing on your siding above a landscaped area of your yard as seen below it is most likely artillery otherwise known as shotgun fungus. Others have said it s a fungus from mulch. Plant a low maintenance groundcover in the area instead of using mulch. Some tell us it s from spiders.

Artillery fungus black spots on siding and vehicles. Use big pieces of pine bark or other bark mulch which are a less hospitable place for the fungus. The mulch is being contaminated by artillery fungus also known as sphaeobolus stellatus. The artillery fungus or shotgun fungus is a wood decay fungus that likes to live on moist landscape mulch.

Artillery fungus is a wood dwelling fungus commonly found in mulch. There is some suggestion that artillery fungus in mulch such as cedar and pine bark nuggets may occur less frequently than hardwood. We have these small black spots that look like specks of tar all over our white vinyl siding of our house. To kill the spores in lighter areas cover the zone with black plastic and allow the sun to cook the spores out.

Artillery fungus black tar spots on houses artillery fungus seeing black tar spots on the sides of your house or vehicles. Its adhesion properties are legendary and the spots can be difficult or even impossible to remove without damaging the surface. Here is a photo of what the actual fungus that produces the black spores. The spots are about the size of the head of a pin and appear to be black or dark brown in color.

These are microscopic flowers that shoot tar like substance up the 2. The worst thing about this fungus is that it shoots spores up to 20 feet which often land on siding cars and anything else that surrounds the mulch. Add a fresh layer of mulch. Artillery fungus produce black tar like spots on vehicles and siding.

Also the use of gravel or plastic mulch will not cause the formation of the spores. Save for later print. The black tar like spots that are all over your vinyl siding are more than likely a fungus called sphaerobolus stellatus better known as artillery or shotgun fungus although it s most often found on the east coast it can grow anywhere and especially thrives in areas that have cool damp springs or rainy fall weather conditions. Artillery fungus black spots on siding and vehicles.

This common fungus is often found in bark mulch especially hardwood mulch too. We have thousands of tiny black spots pin head size all over the siding of our house.