Thanks so much for the ID. You underestimate the numbers of them though.
There several million of them. If you use any organic matter in your
planting media you will have one or more of the saprophytic fungi.
Saprophytic is a descriptive term. It simply means it lives on dead organic
matter. The common edible mushroom, penicillin, and all composting fungi
are saprophytic fungi. Yes there are some that are associated with a
variety of plant diseases, but I am sure the ones I have are simply
composting the bark in the pot. The only way not have them is to not use
organic matter in the potting medium. The spores float in the air land on
any thing moist and grow. Example mold on bread. If there is moist dead
organic matter and oxygen there are saprophytic fungi.

I did a google search for "saprophytic fungus" and got 808 references. One
I found particularly interesting was a parasitic orchid that lives on a
saprophytic fungus. Yes there a few parasitic orchids.

http://www.rninet.de/bguenter/Orchid...NidusAvis.html

:-)
Ben





"Wendy" wrote in message
news:vjEUb.15384$fD.7630@fed1read02...
Hi Ben, I found this stuff in my orchid pots & did some extensive
research.
I took a sample to our local Agricultural Dept. & they told me it was
Saprophytic fungi. They could not tell me how to treat it. There are
supposedly thousands of different types.
I have tried many different antifungus treatments & found that
repotting helps.
One item I came up which is called PrimaStop but it is not allowed in
Calif.?
So now when I repot, I wash the plant with a Physan solution first.
If you find out anything more I would love to hear from you.
--
Cheers Wendy
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"Ben Lurkin" wrote in message
hlink.net...
:
:
: On repotting my mini cats I found some things that were strange to me.
The
: strangest was small, white, very hard, smaller than a pinhead, and
round.
: They were many patches of them on the bark, on the dead roots and on the
: inside of the flowerpot. They were held together and to the surface
with
: white strands that remind me of fungus mycelium in compost. I think
they
: were too hard to be eggs or fungus, so I cannot guess what they might
be.
:
:
:
: Has anyone here seen anything like this. Is there a website that might
help
: to identify this and maybe an insect or two??
:
:
:
: Thanks again,
:
:
:
: Ben
:
: