Fertilizing with cottonseed meal involves sprinkling the stuff, not laying it down like mulch. Can't imagine that applied at the correct rate you'd have any mulch-like, watering-retaining problems. Plus, why do you think the pachysandra needs fertilization to begin with?

I dunno, I just figured the meal would be a good way to give them a slow-and-steady fertilizer. and i also figured it'd help in keeping the soil acidic.

as of now though, all of them are a yellow-tone and also have browning - which i have found out is a sign of fungus.

i don't know their history in terms of how they have been fed but i figured the cottonseed meal couldn't hurt and would ensure some food for the long run.

as for the fungus i really dont know what to do. it is as if the whole patch is affected - a 10x10patch

they say to spray with nasty chemicals and to throw out the infected plants but so many plantds are infected it'd be like ripping up the whole bed.

just trying to find out if applying cs meal would bring back fungus, for my future knowledge. thank you!

If you have a fungal problem that threatens your garden then use a sulphur spray. It is approved for use in organic gardening.

As for attracting fungus via organic material the answer is that pretty much any organic product that is 'woody' will attract fungus.

You *want* this to happen. Often a fungal infection is brought in by spores in the wind and often it is a fungus in the soil.

Either way, attracting other fungi to the area does wonders to prevent *pathogenic* fungi from getting a hold.

Years ago I was cultivating mushrooms indoors in plastic containers. I will share my experience with you in order to help you understand just how competitive fungi are and why you want fungi around plants prone to fungal infection.

Outside it is fairly easy to grow mushrooms, indoors it is far more challenging. The reason is that we don't have the same diversity of species inside as we do outside. Indoors we innoculate a growing medium with our desired fungi and everything has to be 100% sterile for this to work. The medium is fungi food and any mold (mold is a fungi) in the home will find it's way into the grow chamber.

If this happens the mold will colonize the substrate before the desired fungi are able to get going. The unwanted fungi outcompetes the desired fungi and the batch has to be tossed out.

On the other hand if the desired fungi is kept in a clean, sterile environment (I sealed the air ducts and sprayed lysol several times per day) until it's mycellium is established, then there is no stopping it. Once the fungi got going I opened the windows and unsealed the air ducts.

A blue/gray fungi entered and started growing. The desired fungi ate it and completely eliminated it.

Fungi do not play around, they mean business. Get a pathogenic fungi on your plants and they can do serious damage, even with fungicides in use. Get non pathogenic fungi on and around your plants and the pathogenic ones simply cannot establish. They become food for the other fungi.

Using organics does not in any way increase the likelyhood of fungal problems, it decreases them. A pathogenic fungi uses live plants as food, a non pathogenic fungi eats something else. In the case of an organic program the fungi we attract are eating decomposing organic matter, not our plants. And those good fungi take no prisoners. They will simply eat the pathogenic fungi for having the audacity to invade their personal space. It is a numbers game. Whoever has the highest population wins (for the most part).

thanks for the info. i wonder if sulfur spray will work on this specific pathogen.. hmm

If it is a fungal pathogen then yes, it will. Sulphur works as well as any man made concoction. I honestly do not know why the chem companies bother with their 'new' chems when sulphur has been doing the job just fine for decades.

At the risk of sounding not to smart. Does this sulfer spray stink like sulfer? How long does the smell last?

sulphur kills good fungus though, so why would i wanna do that?

the whole bed is yellowing and brown-spotting
you cannot save already-infected plants, correct?

it looks like i should just yank them all and replant new ones after letting the area dry out?

what about the fungus staying in the place of the old plants - would it re-infect? how would i even avoid this!?

ideally i wouldnt wanna use sulphur since it hurts good fungus

i guess it wouldnt be too bad though to use considering these plants like acidic soil...and since i'll prolly need to sterilize the bed once i yank the plants?

Is it possible your pachysandra bed has poor drainage? I haven't grown it, but usually when I see browning and yellowing, poor drainage is the first thing that comes to mind.

My aunt in NJ had lots of healthy pachysandra, and she used leaf mold on all her plants. She had the richest, darkest, fluffiest garden soil I've seen anywhere -- 40+ years of adding leaf mold to the soil. (All she did was rake her leaves and pile them up, and 3 years later, leaf mold!)

yeah the area probably has bad drainage. im thinking this could have brought on the fungus problems

Look, if the drainage isn't right for pachysandra, then the best thing to do is to quit trying to grow pachysandra there rather than worrying about how to control the various pest and disease problems that a plant under stress is inevitably going to develop. Growing the wrong plant in the wrong location (soil type, moisture level, sun exposure, zone etc.) is just asking for trouble. Either pull the current pachysandra and address the drainage issue in the bed before replanting it, or save yourself even more fuss and bother and find a plant better adapted to those conditions to replace it with.

k mary, good advice.