Powdery Mildew and/or White Mold Attracted By Cornmeal?

[The Preserver]

Hey guys, I have been applying cornmeal to the soil as a hopeful defense against harmful fungi after being startled earlier this year by the sudden appearance of some apparently harmless "plant pot parasol" mushrooms. I know that the theory behind the cornmeal is to promote the growth and spread of beneficial fungi and microbes but - why is it that every single time I use it, it only seems to grow a coat of cottony white mold on the soil surface? This last time I tried laying the cornmeal right beneath the surface of the soil after replacing the last top soil...same thing happened again. Is this supposed to happen? What am I doing wrong? Is there something that I missed??

https://www.hunker.com/12574643/homemade-fungicide-for-my-outdoor-trees

 

[Chuck]

Hey guys, I have been applying cornmeal to the soil as a hopeful defense against harmful fungi after being startled earlier this year by the sudden appearance of some apparently harmless "plant pot parasol" mushrooms. I know that the theory behind the cornmeal is to promote the growth and spread of beneficial fungi and microbes but - why is it that every single time I use it, it only seems to grow a coat of cottony white mold on the soil surface? This last time I tried laying the cornmeal right beneath the surface of the soil after replacing the last top soil...same thing happened again. Is this supposed to happen? What am I doing wrong? Is there something that I missed??

https://www.hunker.com/12574643/homemade-fungicide-for-my-outdoor-trees

You aren't doing anything wrong. There are literally thousands of different soil fungi. Most are beneficial and of the bad fungi most of these are caused by an anaerobic environment. This leaves the rest and of these most all of them can be controlled by a fungi named trichoderma. There are also different types of trichoderma but most trichoderma are a white fibrous substance, probably the white cottony stuff you are seeing. Trichoderma is already present in all soils although they are probably lacking in numbers and cornmeal helps to actually grow more trichoderma by being its favorite growth medium. Another thing the white cottony stuff may be is called mycelium. Mycelium is what enables fungi to break down organic matter in order for nutritional uptake by plants. Trichoderma comes in different colors depending on the strain of the fungi. It can be green or white predominantly but other colors as well. Sometimes you can actually see it and other times it is microscopic but by using whole ground cornmeal you will always have supply of beneficial fungus.