help please

Discussion in 'General Gardening Discussion' started by scott hones, Apr 3, 2021.

  1. scott hones

    scott hones Apprentice Gardener

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    can anyone identify this white substance, been looking for over a year now.

    it seems like chalk a bit soft when wet, but there is a substantial amount of it, not too deep i did find an old water pipe solid with it pic attached

    thanks in advance
     

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  2. NigelJ

    NigelJ Total Gardener

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    @scott hones
    First thing that sprang mind was fungal mycelia.
    Where did you find it, underground, above ground, in a damp place? Is there a smell associated with it, if mushroomy then fungal mycelia is the most likely.
    Do you live in a hard water area? Was the old pipe connected to anything?
     
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    • scott hones

      scott hones Apprentice Gardener

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      i thought it was mycelia too no smell no mushrooms its quite hard and brittle when dry coming up in very large chunks could it be that someone in the past 60 years has dumped chalk or lime that was my other thought, it is also very light
       
    • scott hones

      scott hones Apprentice Gardener

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      thanks for rely, have posted a reply dont know if i done it right ! lol
       
    • pete

      pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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      I get clumps of mycelium in parts of my garden, but its usually growing around and through organic matter in the ground.
      It isn't in actual solid lumps of white.
       
    • Scrungee

      Scrungee Well known for it

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      I had that in my back garden under where some Mypex membrane had covered the ground for a few years. Think I posted the image below on this forum back in May 2020, but got no ID. I assumed it was fungal mycelium.

      It definitely wasn't there before I laid the Mypex, so nothing that's been dumped in the past as I previously used to regulary dig over that piece of ground for 20 years and there was never any sign of it then.

      This is just a sample lump, there was loads of it in the top 100mm of soil.

      IMG_20200507_170303298.jpg
       
      Last edited: Apr 3, 2021
    • Palustris

      Palustris Total Gardener

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      I dug up a lot of hard white stuff at the bottom of his garden. We think it was the remains of a Lime pit. They used to make them to make cement many years ago. That stuff was fairly light weight too. When wet it turned to slime.
       
    • scott hones

      scott hones Apprentice Gardener

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      looks very much the same but mine in like a band of it 6 to 8 inches in thickness
       
    • scott hones

      scott hones Apprentice Gardener

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      i live in Runcorn known for chemicals, my house used to belong to ICI workers, the plant before it went but is a stones throw away, so maybe lime does not go slimy but just a bit softer and squidgy
       
    • scott hones

      scott hones Apprentice Gardener

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      extra it also goes right under my patio bricks dont know how far under tho
       
    • CarolineL

      CarolineL Total Gardener

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      Any way you can test it @scott hones ? Eg by shaking some up in water and using pH paper, or adding some vinegar and seeing if it fizzes? (suggesting lime...)
       
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      • scott hones

        scott hones Apprentice Gardener

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        didn't know that will try tonight thanks
         
      • scott hones

        scott hones Apprentice Gardener

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        just tried no fizzing so not lime
         
      • pete

        pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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        Can I see white strands coming from the lump in the picture?
         
      • Palustris

        Palustris Total Gardener

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        We used to live in Runcorn too. On Halton Brow.
         
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