We used to get it in our yard/parking area in front of the house. It seemed to grow on the broken up old tarmac (road planings?) It's not pleasant to have near the entrance to a house as it gets on the soles of shoes and treads into the house, car etc. when in its wet, jelly state. The yard would be muddy when wet but dust would blow off it when dry. The nostoc disappeared in the summer. We dug out the yard, not very deep, as it had very compacted stone underneath the soil/planings, back to where there is mown grass and surfaced it with clean new gravel on a weedproof membrane and (touch wood) the nostoc hasn't returned.
I have nostoc on the drive way here and have no problem with it. It only shows up when there is fairly persistent rain when I am not out much any way. I have read it fixes its own nitrogen from the air to allow it grow and so is more dependent on other nutrients for growth. One article I read claimed that the breakdown of plants killed by herbicides released some of these nutrients near the surface which helps boost nostoc growth as it has no roots to seek out these nutrients deeper in the ground. Since it breaks down itself after growing in the wet weather I like to think of it as some free fertiliser for the plants near where it breaks down.
It comes and goes here in the wet. I don't see why it needs a 'cure' though
I think you're right @robairdmacraignil. The places I mainly get it are at the edges of the drive which is gravelled. It [the gravel] was getting sparse and compacted, and was getting some fairly large patches of grass and willowherb etc seeding in. It's the only place I use a weedkiller. It'll be interesting to see what it's like in future as I've re done the whole space, and laid a good few inches of new gravel.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
That might explain @bédé ‘s justices on a flat roof … flat roofs often have a bit of an accumulation of dead leaves and moss etc which would seem to provide similar conditions to the dead plants remaining after herbicide treatment?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
That might explain @bédé ‘s justices on a flat roof … flat roofs often have a bit of an accumulation of dead leaves and moss etc which would seem to provide similar conditions to the dead plants remaining after herbicide treatment?
Not mine. Some slight air-borne dirt accumulation under the chippings, but raking and hand picking is enought to prevent a build-up of moss.
Nostoc is called "star jelly" I'm told, because it comes from nowhere (or pehaps outer space, who knows).
How the Nostoc gets its food has not (yet) been the subject of my enquiries. I must admit that I did treat a small, out-of-sight patch of Nostoc with ferrous sulphate solution, which is how I know that that works. I later treated the rust discoloration with a dilute solution of citric acid to chelate and dissolve the "rust". That worked too, but slowly. To the horror of the faint-hearts my roof is now probably a sterile wasteland.
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
@Paul B3's link says that nostoc is not harmful to humans or animals, @huwjackson. Unless it's colonising an area which would be dangerously slippery, I'd leave it be... we have some on our gravel drive, due I suspect to the previous owner's liberal use of glyphosate, but it's only on the edges where nobody walks, so I haven't tried to remove it.
There has been a number of threads on the forum with advice on killing nostoc. A very strong solution of washing soda in hot water was agreed to be effective - but not advisable near your lawn, I think.
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
Why would anyone want to control or destroy such an important life-form ?
Billions of years ago , cyanobacteria tapped into an incredibly abundant element on planet Earth .....Hydrogen existing in water (H2O). These primitive organisms 'fed' on the Hydrogen thus releasing Oxygen , and as if by magic photosynthesis was 'invented' .
To quote Carl Sagan ....."Photosynthesis is undoubtedly the single most important innovation in the history of life on the planet , invented not by plants , but by the humble bacteria " . Our 'gardens' would be slightly different today had not such an event took place .
Do you still want to destroy such an organism ?
Only being partially serious here .....food for thought though eh???
People think gardeners are nurturers but we are also shameless killers. We maim our plants and call it pruning. We steal and eat their babies or we pick them off, throw them away and call it deadheading. We call a plant a weed to justify its murder. We share the garden with only favoured animal species. The rest we kill , starve or destroy their habitat.
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We dug out the yard, not very deep, as it had very compacted stone underneath the soil/planings, back to where there is mown grass and surfaced it with clean new gravel on a weedproof membrane and (touch wood) the nostoc hasn't returned.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
I think you're right @robairdmacraignil. The places I mainly get it are at the edges of the drive which is gravelled. It [the gravel] was getting sparse and compacted, and was getting some fairly large patches of grass and willowherb etc seeding in. It's the only place I use a weedkiller. It'll be interesting to see what it's like in future as I've re done the whole space, and laid a good few inches of new gravel.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Nostoc is called "star jelly" I'm told, because it comes from nowhere (or pehaps outer space, who knows).
How the Nostoc gets its food has not (yet) been the subject of my enquiries. I must admit that I did treat a small, out-of-sight patch of Nostoc with ferrous sulphate solution, which is how I know that that works. I later treated the rust discoloration with a dilute solution of citric acid to chelate and dissolve the "rust". That worked too, but slowly. To the horror of the faint-hearts my roof is now probably a sterile wasteland.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
There has been a number of threads on the forum with advice on killing nostoc. A very strong solution of washing soda in hot water was agreed to be effective - but not advisable near your lawn, I think.