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.

Black spots on siding from mulch.

This is damaging your siding. In the absence of direct sunlight it shoots the spores at highly reflective surfaces such as white house siding. Others have said it s a fungus from mulch. Artillery fungus is a wood dwelling fungus commonly found in mulch.

The spots are about the size of the head of a pin and appear to be black or dark brown in color. I am getting small dark spots on windows and the white siding of my house. April 30 2019 at 11 07 am edt updated april. Artillery fungus black tar spots on houses artillery fungus seeing black tar spots on the sides of your house or vehicles.

Some tell us it s from spiders. We have thousands of tiny black spots pin head size all over the siding of our house. The mulch is being contaminated by artillery fungus also known as sphaeobolus stellatus. Add a fresh layer of mulch.

Plant a low maintenance groundcover in the area instead of using mulch. By sandy feather penn state extension. Artillery fungus black spots on siding and vehicles. Artillery fungus black spots on siding and vehicles.

And of course the black spots show up better on white surfaces so they are noticed more easily. We have these small black spots that look like specks of tar all over our white vinyl siding of our house. In nature the artillery fungus shoots its spores towards sunlight to aid in dispersal. These are microscopic flowers that shoot tar like substance up the 20 feet.

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. Use big pieces of pine bark or other bark mulch which are a less hospitable place for the fungus. Save for later print. Black spots on car house could be from a mulch fungus you may have seen these little spots and there s a weird explanation for how they got there.

Artillery fungus produce black tar like spots on vehicles and siding. This common fungus is often found in bark mulch especially hardwood mulch too. There is some suggestion that artillery fungus in mulch such as cedar and pine bark nuggets may occur less frequently than hardwood.