I first saw this fungus at the base of a pumpkin plant, but the pumpkin shrugged it off.
Now I'm seeing it on a small patch of grass. This photo isn't super clear, but they are little gray spheroids less than 1mm.

Might be a Grass Slime Mold.

Could be pythium.

Powdery mildew.

drdawg said:Powdery mildew.

That was my first thought but it's been years since I've encountered it or went through my turf management books.

It does look like powdery mildew.

I can assure you, IF you have ever encountered Slime Mold/Nostoc Algae, you would know what it is. I have fought many, large patches of it for the last two years (it spread from my next-door neighbor's poorly-kept yard) and am just now seeing results of treatment. But I will apparently never be rid of it. My neighbor won't spend a dime towards treatment.

Ugh!

Yep, once you see it, you will never forget what it looks like (and feels like [squishy jello!]).

As far as I can see from the distance in the image, it looks like the sporangia of slime mold. There's a picture from Kansas State U turf info here:

http://www.ksuturf.org/blog/wp...

That's what I thought Sue .. the grey spheres look like spores.

That's quite possible.

sooby said:As far as I can see from the distance in the image, it looks like the sporangia of slime mold. There's a picture from Kansas State U turf info here:

http://www.ksuturf.org/blog/wp...

Oh dear... that photo IS what it looked like.

Although now it looks dried out. Not sure what THAT means.... We had an extra-wet June, and July looks to be similar.

I went on to read what that KSU website had to say about it. It said not to worry about it! It doesn't eat the live plant it's on--it eats bacteria and dead matter.

I have read elsewhere that there are a number of different types of slime molds. Some DO look like Dr. Dawg's. There's a bit of sidewalk a couple blocks from my house that's infested with a slime mold that looks like the flat, gelatinous kinds of seaweed when it's active. When it's dried out, it's a layer of dull greenish-brown on top of the concrete.

Whatever it is, I'd be out there with the scissors cutting off the affected leaves and getting as many of those spores outa there as you can so they don't spread IF your July is as rainy as June was. Put them in a plastic bag and dispose of them in the garbage, not the compost!

If the weather dries up, it might take care of the problem

Slime mold/algae does not show up on any of my grass. It grows on bare soil. This soil is never really wet and most of it is in almost full sun, so the typical growing conditions don't seem to fit what (specific) strain I have. I tried raking and then used a pressure washer to dislodge it, but it still hung around. Finally I resorted to a Fungicide, and that seems to be getting rid of it.

Slime mold on turf can be removed by raking, brushing or a blast of water, it's not a disease.
I've only seen it once and didn't do anything about it, it went away and hasn't been back since.

Ken's problem (assuming Nostoc commune?) is apparently a cyanobacterium (formerly considered an alga) that grows in colonies. I think I've seen it around here, especially on some large rocks.