Spittle Bugs & Slime Mold

From CBC Radio interview with Sheryl Mackay on her weekend show NXNW

What is that “Barf” on my lawn and spit in my plants? Believe it or not the gross things you see in your garden this month are normal everyday garden things you might encounter and they are not a problem. Instead, they are just good to know and then forget about. Listen in to my interview on CBC radio, initially aired across  British Columbia on July 14, 2018.

If you want to hear the whole show go RIGHT HERE. 

If you want to only listen to my interview then skip ahead using the time bar at the bottom until you see 1:45:25 – 1:53:60. Yes it is only an 8 minute interview but heh – that’s big for CBC radio! Since listening to this interview I have purchased a new microphone so that I can be clear…. really clear, when I speak on radio. The in-person interviews are fabulous but the telephone conversations lack some of that dynamo Donna you have gotten used to! Here is what we chatted about:

Spittle Bugs:

If you want to know more about spittle bugs I can tell you they are more fun to look at than problem in the garden. At first you see what looks like spit in plants. Any kind of plant. And then you can push the spit aside and see the small bug beneath all the gooey mess.

What looks like “spit” on plant leaves is really just the bubbly juice squirted out the rear end of a small bug found sipping sap on all kinds of plants. It is easily washed off.

Small spittle bug once the spit is washed away. These are small insects and they are no big risk to plants. This part of the bug’s life is called a nymph. Later it matures and vanishes from gardens so the spit  is usually only seen in early to mid-summer.

The Spittle is a type of protection for the small individual bugs and they emit this liquid from their rear-end and foam it up with what is essentially farts and then they hide out under the foam so the birds and other predators won’t see it.

Barf on the Lawn:

This “Barf” or slime mold as it is commonly called, is something we used to think was a fungus. Now we know it is a single cell organism that grows from a small dab to a massive blob overnight. It can even “crawl” in from the forest to your yard over soil and lawns as it grows and spreads. It may seem creepy but seriously it only appears after a rainy spell and all it is eating are bacteria so no harm, no foul. One day there is nothing on the ground and the next day there is this huge vomit-like blob. It doesn’t smell and it doesn’t last long. When the immediately available food is digested, the blob dries up, crumbles and vanishes. It basically blows away. Slime mold is now thought to be more closely related to single cell organisms like protozoa than the more complex mushrooms know as Fungi. Either way it is a little oddity in the garden that is good to know about. Start keeping track and writing down when you see these.

PS Do you have questions about Gardening? Join in the conversation on my facebook live event every Monday by clicking right HERE.

DONNA BALZER IS THE BRAND AMBASSADOR FOR BC GREENHOUSE BUILDERS AND SHE LOVES GROWING IN THEM TOO!