Moldy wood chips

[Ruralhideaway]

Hey there!

I have a load of fresh chips that were delivered a few months ago with a little bit in the front of the truck that was moldy. While getting dumped lots of the load got pulluted by the mold cloud.

I can't put these in my chicken run, can I spread them on flower gardens? Paths in the vegetable garden? Or are they a dead loss until composted for months?

Thank you!

 

[lazy gardener]

Definitely, DON'T put them in the chicken run. If I had the space, I'd leave them piled up, and let them compost over the summer. Perhaps wet them down, and put clear poly over them to help them cook a bit faster. Use them in the fall.

 

[lazy gardener]

If they do not include a lot of leafy matter, you might try adding some nitrogen to them, either natural green materials, manure and such. If you don't have access to that, toss in a couple shovel fulls or wheel barrow fulls of soil and add some high N fertilizer: Urea, dog food, or lawn fertilizer. Urine is also a great compost amendment.

 

[drewskimac]

Are you sure what you were seeing was mold and not fungi/mycellium? That makes a big difference between whether or not it would be good for the garden.

 

[lazy gardener]

Agreed, there are some funky fungi out there. This is one of the more amusing ones:

https://www.thespruce.com/identifying-and-controlling-dog-vomit-fungus-2539510

 

[lazy gardener]

Light layer in garden paths would be fine, even if it is moldy. The fact that there was a cloud of powdery spores points more to it being mold than it being fungi.

 

[Ruralhideaway]

Definitely mold, when it dumped there was a black cloud. I could toss some horse stall wet spots in there, urine isn't a problem for sure!

Dog vomit fungi! That's amazing. Gross but amazing.

 

[lazy gardener]

Yep, those stable cleanings would be perfect. By fall, you'll have perfect material to work with either in the garden or chicken run.

 

[Ruralhideaway]

Yep, those stable cleanings would be perfect. By fall, you'll have perfect material to work with either in the garden or chicken run.

Thank you, guess I'll get shovelling!