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MY SUN DAY NEWS

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Sun City in Huntley
 

Artillery Fungus

By The Woodchucks

Question: We have artillery fungus on our house siding and have tried various online suggested removal methods to little avail. Do you know any tried and true methods or any companies that provide removal service?

Answer: You have one of the nastiest and most-difficult-to-remove stains on your siding. It is almost impossible to successfully remove. These tiny black stains are often described as permanent. Many house cleaning companies will tell you they canā€˜t remove artillery fungus stains. The artillery fungus is a wood-decay fungus that likes to live on moist landscape mulch. 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. Unfortunately no natural mulch can resist the artillery fungus ā€“ Penn StateĀ Plant Pathology department has tested 27 different kinds of mulch and found that with enough time all of the mulches were supporting the evil spore-shooting mushroom. The only way to ensure that artillery fungus never comes back is to take out the mulch completely and replace it with stone, artificial mulch or ground-cover plants. However, if you dislike stone and still want to replace the fungus infested mulch with organic mulch, the best way to keep the artillery fungus away is to use a course ground of wood chips like the kind used on playgrounds. The larger pieces of wood will stay mostly dry and the artillery fungus wonā€™t like it as much as moist, finely ground mulch. Generally, the key to preventing the artillery spores from ever sprouting is refreshing your mulch regularly.

Most processes for removing the fungus spores from the siding of a house are failures or are only partially successful. All are very labor intensive. One method that seems a little more successful than others is to take a sponge with Simple Green on it (full strength is good) and in the other hand you take an ink eraser and you erase it, adding some Simple Green every few strokes. It removes it completely, you then buff the siding hard to remove any eraser smudges. Do not drop any of the residue from the spots back into the mulch as this will introduce spores back into the mulch and start your problem over again.

If you have suggestions for future tips or have questions about maintenance around your home submit them to ask.the.woodchucks@gmail.com.





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