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Fungus farm

Started by Nebraska, August 13, 2019, 03:30:32 PM

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Nebraska

My question to you is regarding using a mild acid and surface treating for fungal inhibition of green sawn  wood ..

 I have a 32 ft round cement grain bin slab, over the years has been a catchall place for various things.  The bin was sold off as we were buying the place and the view is better without  it..  The pad sits in the open and It has become my go to spot to air dry. 
 I've cut four different batches of Ponderosa Pine to use as board and batten siding for the mill shed. I let the first two batches air dry 2-3 weeks coated them with linseed oil/pine tar mixture let them dry a few days and put them up they are doing fine, no splitting, no mildew all looks fine to me. 
Third batch is ready to use, looks fine  few small spots of mildew nothing major the little bit of copper in the finish mix should kill it..  Last batch is just the jacket boards of a small log I sawed a 5 5/8 " beam out of a little more than a week ago, I should keep notes I guess.  We had good rain over the weekend and today the stack looks like a fungus farm. I won't begrudge the  rain it was sorely needed, but wow.
So....since my dog with the fishook in the mouth is failing to show up for it's appointment, I am at loose ends pondering wood surface ph alteration. I think I can got a hold of a forage innoculant that is mostly proprionic acid, dilute it down with a gallon of cheap vinegar, use a garden sprayer dop the ph a while and whip some fungus backside. I have no idea how long it will persist but it works well preserving alfafla in a round bale so its kinda like a wood  pickle. Has anyone ever tried such a thing? I know I can use bleach and kill it, the  woods not worth much just turning wheels in my mind trying to learn what is possible..

Nebraska

Oh I was wrong about my late appointment wasn't a dog fish, it's a cat fish.

GeneWengert-WoodDoc

It is likely that you are seeing blue stain (or sap stain) fungal activity.  This is a fungus that is inside the wood, rather than a surface fungi like mold or mildew.  A smaller log seems to have more sugars than a larger log, so that may be why you are seeing it.  Also a large piece dries more slowly.  Of course, rain stops drying, so rain encourages sap stain, mold and mildew.  The conditions that the blue stain requires for growth are the same that mold and mildew need, so we often see both at the same time.

Only certain fungicides work for preventing the blue stain fungi, but once the fungi is active inside the wood, it cannot be well controlled by surface treatments of fungicides.  In any case, we want to use a fungicide that has a half-life of 30 days so that there is essentially no fungicide left when we go to process and use the dry wood.  After 30 days, the wood is considered to be dry enough that it will no longer have enough moisture to support fungal growth.
Gene - Author of articles in Sawmill & Woodlot and books: Drying Hardwood Lumber; VA Tech Solar Kiln; Sawing Edging & Trimming Hardwood Lumber. And more

Nebraska

Thank you very much for the reply,. Yes actually I can believe the extra sugar being there pretty sure this is a third log up, trees were felled right after frost out and they were 70 to 90 ft Ponderosa I was lucky to get the six I got before a logger who initially refused the job, showed up and took the rest . (after the flood floated his stockpiled  cottonwood pallet logs away) Sap was running and they were very wet.
 It is a surface mold issue, yes there is some blue stains I had a few inches of the log  touching dirt where it was stored . I had good intentions ofvit being sawn before now the stain was about a foot into the butt, not a big issue to me.
 The issue is  have some fun blue green mold and black stuff growing on the outside suface of the lumber in a few spots. I don't want to fiddle with a fungicide per say,  I was just hoping to change the surface ph long enough for the suface moisture to get below 15% and the mold to cease it's  activity. I thought about the proprionic acid as it  is generally recognized as safe and its used as a preservative in cereal grain based foods and as a base ingredient in cattle forage preservatives. I did some looking and didn't see any articles addressing it., so I guess it  most likely doesn't preserve wood as well as it does bread, alfalfa, and tortillas.  It  may be too volatile to last very long, I will try and dink with it a little Its a pretty cheap experiment worst I can do is wreck 100.00$ worth of pine siding boards and make the place small like a pickle.

alan gage

Quote from: Nebraska on August 14, 2019, 02:45:05 PMworst I can do is wreck 100.00$ worth of pine siding boards and make the place small like a pickle.


As someone who is not a fan of pickles that's a pretty steep down side.

Alan
Timberking B-16, a few chainsaws from small to large, and a Bobcat 873 Skidloader.

Nebraska

Probably a good thing its 3/4 miles to the closest neighbor. ;D It will cover up the asphalt smell drifting up from the road of perpetual construction below my house. 

rjwoelk

speaking of fungus or mold.  Found this on my pile of wood chips. Thought the dog got sic but decided it has to be some sort of growth. Any one seen this . It is bubbly like yeast. Never seen it before. ??? 

  
Lt15 palax wood processor,3020 JD 7120 CIH 36x72 hay shed for workshop coop tractor with a duetz for power plant

GeneWengert-WoodDoc

This is slime mold!  Sometimes it is commonly called "scrambled eggs" slime mold.  This mold is Fuligo septica.  It grows in warm and humid conditions on top of wood mulch and chips.
Gene - Author of articles in Sawmill & Woodlot and books: Drying Hardwood Lumber; VA Tech Solar Kiln; Sawing Edging & Trimming Hardwood Lumber. And more

K-Guy

Quote from: GeneWengert-WoodDoc on August 16, 2019, 03:02:04 PM
This is slime mold!  Sometimes it is commonly called "scrambled eggs" slime mold.  
It's good with ham for breakfast. ;D ;D
Nyle Service Dept.
A common mistake people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
- D. Adams

alan gage

QuoteSometimes it is commonly called "scrambled eggs" slime mold.

I prefer the other common term, dog vomit slime mold.

Fuligo septica - Wikipedia

Alan
Timberking B-16, a few chainsaws from small to large, and a Bobcat 873 Skidloader.

Nebraska

Looks like dog vomit (my  professional assessment)  that's how my day started and  well sorta how it ended.. Hmm burgers are done good thing I have a strong stomach. ::)

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