Unknown white fungus

ShimpakuNut

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Found some white fungus growing on the solid fertilizer used on my shimpaku bonsai. Need help to ID and is it harmful?

 

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StarGazer

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Hard to tell without a size reference. Looks like a fungus of the class zygomycete, generally saprophytic (feed on decomposing plant and animal material such as dung).
Reminds me of pilobolus, but it is not pilobolus. They have interesting spore release mechanisms.
 

sorce

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Welcome to Crazy!

Not as harmful as that glazed pot! 😅

Sorce
 

Shibui

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If it is growing on solid fertilizer that's what it likes to eat so not usually dangerous to the tree. A lot of the organics in solid fert needs to be broken down by fungi and bacteria in order to be available to the tree. That fungi may look gross but is probably helping.
 

leatherback

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Yup, something fungal. It means the fertilizer is starting to fall apart, which is what you need for the nutrients to get to the roots. All good and as expected
 

ShimpakuNut

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thanks everyone and thx again leatherback :) @sorce why is the glazed pot not good?
 

rockm

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That fungus is mostly WHY you're using organic pellets. Organic fertilizers have to be broken down by bacteria, fungus, etc. to be of use to the plant you're using it on. This decomposition has been happening for literally a billion years or so. 😜 .
 

ShimpakuNut

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If I may ask another question, noticed that some of the new leaves of my shimpaku are growing out pointy rather than rounded. Is this normal or am I doing something wrong?

p.s. apologies for the poor picture quality, couldn't get my camera to focus, leaf in question is marked in red.
 

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leatherback

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If I may ask another question, noticed that some of the new leaves of my shimpaku are growing out pointy rather than rounded. Is this normal or am I doing something wrong?
This is called needle foliage, sometimes referred to as stress foliage. Shaded branches sometimes get them. Most commonly, this type of growth occurs when a juniper has been trimmed back too much, as the tree 'realizes': I am getting less energy it grows bigger solar panels. Over time the plant stops producing these again.
 

Shibui

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That's juvenile foliage. As mentioned, usually a result of stress. Just ignore them and they will drop off as the tree settles back to growing adult leaves. Removing juvenile growth often results in more being produced.
 

ShimpakuNut

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found some worms, any idea what these are? they're really tiny so it was hard getting a good pic.
 

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