Arterial Fungus On Siding

The common fungus can be found in bark mulch and manure and has the ability to propel spores several feet giving the spots a splattered appearance.

Arterial fungus on siding.

In home gardens it often takes up residence in wood mulch. There is no recommended artillery fungus treatment. The artillery fungus or shotgun fungus is a wood decay fungus that likes to live on moist landscape mulch. These sticky black dots cling to vinyl siding like glue.

Power washing may work on brand new only vinyl siding that still has a shiny oily sheen. Artillery fungus is a common fungus in north america. If the spores are fresh sometimes soap and water with a scrub brush will remove a bit of the fungus. You can power wash them off of vinyl siding but such methods can be damaging to cars and wood siding.

Artillery fungus or sphaerobolus looks like mud or dirt spots and while the spores aren t harmful they can stain your home deck or car if not cleaned thoroughly. Artillery fungus orients itself toward bright objects such as light colored siding windows or shiny automobiles parked nearby. We have not found a good efficient way to get them off without leaving a stain or damaging the siding especially on old dry siding. The worst thing about this fungus is that it shoots spores up to 20 feet which often land on siding cars and anything else that surrounds the mulch.

As you have discovered the spore mass is difficult to remove without damaging the surface. The fungi eject the sticky spore mass which can be blown by the wind as high as the second story of a house. There is no fungicide registered as an artillery fungus treatment.