I just found your web site while doing an online search. I fear that my house may have Artillery Fungus all over the north side; the description on your site seems to fit the bill for what I'm dealing with.
My house has sage-green vinyl siding and mid summer last year--end of June, mid July, I think--I started seeing these little dots all over the windows and the siding, the doors, the porch (cement), sidewalk, rocks in the garden, plants, underside of the porch overhang, and so on.
At first, I thought someone had sprayed the area with black paint, but over the next weeks, more and more of those "dots" appeared. When I tried to scrape them off, they don't come off clean and do, in fact, leave a little lighter colored spot behind. I tried scrubbing them off--tried using a power washer, tried using a Scotchbrite pad (for scrubbing pots and pans), tried using different cleaners ....NOTHING!
I am going to see the Michigan State University Extension people this week and bring them whatever portable examples of the dots that I can find--but, in the meantime, have you any ideas? I realized after reading your article that in fall of 2003, when we moved in, there had been a huge delivery of mulch, probably the junky kind you said harbors this thing! I really need some help (I know you're in Mass) so if you can be of any assistance at all in helping me figure out how to proceed, I would SO appreciate it.
Thanks in advance for your reply, and by the way, love the photos of you and your pretty wife!
Nancy E.
Mattawan, MI
Answer—
Dear Nancy,
I am sorry to hear your having a problem with artillery fungus. Unfortunately, once they are on surfaces a few weeks they are next to impossible to completely remove.
Couple of hints—
I would remove the old mulch ASAP as it will continue to harbor the spores and will keep infecting your home. Bag it and send it to landfill or compost area.
You can take a razor blade to any that are on glass surfaces. Keep glass wet and be careful not to scratch glass. You should be able to power wash the cement and stone and remove them. Any painted surfaces you could clean then sand till you remove them and repaint. There are a lot of companies on the internet that say they have cleaners that will remove the fungus, I have never found one that worked. So be careful and good luck. If I hear of anything I will contact you.
Sincerely,
Mike Cassidy
