You could find yourself dealing with artillery fungus. The fungus, also known as "super glue" fungus, thrives on moist, rotting wood mulch, and forcibly ejects tiny black spores that look like specks of tar toward light-colored surfaces, including siding and automobiles. Hence the nickname. According to experts, removing the unsightly, sticky, stubborn spots, which don't cause any structural damage, is extremely difficult in many cases impossible.
Where & how to look for the Fungus? Color: Yellow-brown to black, Shape: Disk-shaped spots, Size: 1-2 mm. Artillery Fungi can be found on nearly any surface because of a sticky substance covering the peridiole. They are sensitive to light and the spores are projected towards it. Because of this, they are frequently located on white and light-colored substances or other bright, light-reflecting bases like house siding or white cars.When to look for the Fungus? Most typically spring and summer with 4-6 feet from bad infested mulch or around moist area's rain gutter's & rain spouts in a residential setting. Pat Dion @ Blue Sky Believes that light-colored houses and cars are more susceptible to the fungus because the spores shoot toward sunlight, and light-colored objects such as houses and cars are the next best thing.
Blue Sky doesn't believe artillery fungus is new, but there is a wider awareness because more homeowners are beautifying their gardens with wood mulch than in the past. To remove old, infested mulch, Blue Sky advises putting it in a biodegradable bag and taking it to a landfill.Make sure you don't put the infested mulch
somewhere where you could be held responsible for someone else's artillery fungus problem."
As for removal, power washing may work on new vinyl siding that still has a shiny, oil sheen. Each spore mass can be physically scraped, "steel-wooled" or sanded off, then the stain removed with an ink eraser, "but this is a pain," he says.Blue Sky Power Washing lists more than 30 removal suggestions offered by readers.
One Customer "Each spring I take a plastic scraper and remove all the spots I can find, then wash the siding with Clorox Clean-up. It's time consuming and a painstaking process, but I manage to remove 50 percent of the spots, with a thin outer circle usually remaining. Pat @ Blue Sky also believes by scraping the sticky stubborn spot you in turn will be breaking the structure & integrity of the vinyl siding, replacement of vinyl is the proper long term approach! Blue Sky Power Washing has over 2000 customers in the tri state area of New Hampshire - Maine & Massachusetts for a soft wash approach for your home & commercial vinyl siding & Asphalt shingles Call Blue Sky today for a quote 603-594-WASH"9274"
