I placed an acorn in a cup of water a few weeks ago.

The water has decreased and turned orange and has globules.

The acorn is covered with a grey mold-like cover.

Any ideas what is happening?

Thanks,

George

I placed an acorn in a cup of water a few weeks ago.
The water has decreased and turned orange and has globules.
The acorn is covered with a grey mold-like cover.

Acorns are not designed to germinate in water. The acorn has died and is moldy.
The water is probably full of bacteria.
If you want to geminate acorns, in fact most seeds, you will have to plant them
in soil.
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)

Thanks Iris,
It didn't look very healthy so I threw it out.

If acorns fall into water naturally and are allowed to die, I imagine
the same thing happens.

Do you know where the mold comes from and why it forms - does it eat
the acorn?

George



(Iris Cohen) wrote in message ...
I placed an acorn in a cup of water a few weeks ago.
The water has decreased and turned orange and has globules.
The acorn is covered with a grey mold-like cover.

Acorns are not designed to germinate in water. The acorn has died and is moldy.
The water is probably full of bacteria.
If you want to geminate acorns, in fact most seeds, you will have to plant them
in soil.
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)

Do you know where the mold comes from and why it forms - does it eat the
acorn?

Mold spores are everywhere. They are in the air and land on everything. If you
look in a very damp spot on the wall and see black spots, those are the spore
containers of the fungus.
As you have seen, some fungi grow right in water. When the spores land on a
likely spot, they sprout and start growing. The fuzzy hairs that you see are
called hyphae. That is the fungus's growing stage. You might say that the
fungus eats the acorn. It breaks down dead plant tissue (and other substances,
like paint and fingernails). Actually, fungi are providing a very important
service by doing this, when they do it in the right place. The ones that attack
live tissue are dangerous.
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)

You are so smart, Iris.

Someone should name a fungus for you!!!


Iris Cohen wrote in message
...
Do you know where the mold comes from and why it forms - does it eat
the
acorn?

Mold spores are everywhere. They are in the air and land on everything. If
you
look in a very damp spot on the wall and see black spots, those are the
spore
containers of the fungus.
As you have seen, some fungi grow right in water. When the spores land on
a
likely spot, they sprout and start growing. The fuzzy hairs that you see
are
called hyphae. That is the fungus's growing stage. You might say that the
fungus eats the acorn. It breaks down dead plant tissue (and other
substances,
like paint and fingernails). Actually, fungi are providing a very
important
service by doing this, when they do it in the right place. The ones that
attack
live tissue are dangerous.
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)

Cereoid-UR12- schreef
You are so smart, Iris.

Someone should name a fungus for you!!!

+ + +
What makes you so sure nobody has?
PvR

James Watt became curious when he watched the lid bobbing up and down on his
mother's teakettle, and you know what that led to. Somebody becomes curious
when he sees an acorn get moldy in a cup of water. You never know what will
spark learning.
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)

Iris,

When the gutters become full of acorns and other stuff, the downspouts
get clogged. Small trees start to grow in the gutters.
These evidently arise from acorns that sit on *good* material?

When I clean this junk out, I don't remember seeing any gray mold. I
would think some of these acorns were fully submerged in the water, as
in my experiment. Does the mold have predators?

George







(Iris Cohen) wrote in message ...
Do you know where the mold comes from and why it forms - does it eat the
acorn?

Mold spores are everywhere. They are in the air and land on everything. If you
look in a very damp spot on the wall and see black spots, those are the spore
containers of the fungus.
As you have seen, some fungi grow right in water. When the spores land on a
likely spot, they sprout and start growing. The fuzzy hairs that you see are
called hyphae. That is the fungus's growing stage. You might say that the
fungus eats the acorn. It breaks down dead plant tissue (and other substances,
like paint and fingernails). Actually, fungi are providing a very important
service by doing this, when they do it in the right place. The ones that attack
live tissue are dangerous.
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)

If I may butt in George; everything has something living on it, sometimes in
a symbiotic relationship. Maybe the acorns get something from the mold.

"George" wrote in message
om...
Iris,

When the gutters become full of acorns and other stuff, the downspouts
get clogged. Small trees start to grow in the gutters.
These evidently arise from acorns that sit on *good* material?

When I clean this junk out, I don't remember seeing any gray mold. I
would think some of these acorns were fully submerged in the water, as
in my experiment. Does the mold have predators?

George







(Iris Cohen) wrote in message
...
Do you know where the mold comes from and why it forms - does it eat
the
acorn?

Mold spores are everywhere. They are in the air and land on everything.
If you
look in a very damp spot on the wall and see black spots, those are the
spore
containers of the fungus.
As you have seen, some fungi grow right in water. When the spores land
on a
likely spot, they sprout and start growing. The fuzzy hairs that you see
are
called hyphae. That is the fungus's growing stage. You might say that
the
fungus eats the acorn. It breaks down dead plant tissue (and other
substances,
like paint and fingernails). Actually, fungi are providing a very
important
service by doing this, when they do it in the right place. The ones that
attack
live tissue are dangerous.
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the
oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)

Iris said "Acorns are not designed to germinate in water. The acorn
has died and is moldy."
I understood that to mean that the acorn died because of being
submerged in the water, then mold spores were attracted to the site in
order to do their thing.

If the acorn died by being submerged in the water, it doesn't appear
to be a symbiosis. Unless the mold appeared before the acorn died, and
there was a short symbiosis.

As I mentioned, acorns in the gutter (some of which must have been
under the sitting rain water) did not produce the gray mold. All I
remember seeing is black or dark brown - decaying stuff.

Is it possible that bacteria in the decaying stuff prevented or ate
the mold? My indoors experiment (with just tap water) may not have had
that bacteria.

George

"Peter Jason" wrote in message ...
If I may butt in George; everything has something living on it, sometimes in
a symbiotic relationship. Maybe the acorns get something from the mold.

"George" wrote in message
om...
Iris,

When the gutters become full of acorns and other stuff, the downspouts
get clogged. Small trees start to grow in the gutters.
These evidently arise from acorns that sit on *good* material?

When I clean this junk out, I don't remember seeing any gray mold. I
would think some of these acorns were fully submerged in the water, as
in my experiment. Does the mold have predators?

George







(Iris Cohen) wrote in message
...
Do you know where the mold comes from and why it forms - does it eat
the
acorn?

Mold spores are everywhere. They are in the air and land on everything.
If you
look in a very damp spot on the wall and see black spots, those are the
spore
containers of the fungus.
As you have seen, some fungi grow right in water. When the spores land
on a
likely spot, they sprout and start growing. The fuzzy hairs that you see
are
called hyphae. That is the fungus's growing stage. You might say that
the
fungus eats the acorn. It breaks down dead plant tissue (and other
substances,
like paint and fingernails). Actually, fungi are providing a very
important
service by doing this, when they do it in the right place. The ones that
attack
live tissue are dangerous.
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the
oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)

Iris,
I agree, many inventions and discoveries are made by "amateurs".
Yes I attended a high school biology class but did not make the best
use of it.
I've spent most of my career in computer stuff, but learning recently
of the DNA/protein world has certainly peeked my interest in the
invisible living things. There's so much to learn; people on these
news groups should not hesitate to ask questions.
Thanks,
George


(Iris Cohen) wrote in message ...
James Watt became curious when he watched the lid bobbing up and down on his
mother's teakettle, and you know what that led to. Somebody becomes curious
when he sees an acorn get moldy in a cup of water. You never know what will
spark learning.
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)

That's "piqued" or maybe not.

Lets just hope you haven't just peeked or peaked with your interest in the
real organic living world in favor of the illusionary world of cyberspace.
The real world is far more interesting and vast.

The microscopic living world is not invisible. You just need special
instruments to see it.

Most great discoveries are made by amateurs because discoveries never happen
while one is paid to sit behind a desk in a three piece suit working 9 to 5.


George wrote in message
om...
Iris,
I agree, many inventions and discoveries are made by "amateurs".
Yes I attended a high school biology class but did not make the best
use of it.
I've spent most of my career in computer stuff, but learning recently
of the DNA/protein world has certainly peeked my interest in the
invisible living things. There's so much to learn; people on these
news groups should not hesitate to ask questions.
Thanks,
George


(Iris Cohen) wrote in message
...
James Watt became curious when he watched the lid bobbing up and down on
his
mother's teakettle, and you know what that led to. Somebody becomes
curious
when he sees an acorn get moldy in a cup of water. You never know what
will
spark learning.
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the
oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)

Your observations should be followed by some experiments, like determining
just how much water the acorns need, or if they germinate in sterilized
water after the acorns themselves have been sterilized with dilute bleach
(hypochlorite). I did a test with tomatoes once to try and make them
resistant to mould. The supermarket tomatoes are never ripe enough, but
when they are left on a shelf to self-ripen the mood tends to get them
first. I remember I rinsed them in detergent, quaternary detergent, and 70%
ethanol. This improved the shelf life, though not much possibly because the
mould spores are always present in the air and I assumed the ones on the
tomato surface were the culprits. I might try having some tomatoes gamma
rayed after first sealing them in a porous paper bag. This should keep out
floating mould spores while letting in the air to allow self ripening.
(Keeping the tomatoes in the fridge slows down the ripening.)


"George" wrote in message
om...
Iris said "Acorns are not designed to germinate in water. The acorn
has died and is moldy."
I understood that to mean that the acorn died because of being
submerged in the water, then mold spores were attracted to the site in
order to do their thing.

If the acorn died by being submerged in the water, it doesn't appear
to be a symbiosis. Unless the mold appeared before the acorn died, and
there was a short symbiosis.

As I mentioned, acorns in the gutter (some of which must have been
under the sitting rain water) did not produce the gray mold. All I
remember seeing is black or dark brown - decaying stuff.

Is it possible that bacteria in the decaying stuff prevented or ate
the mold? My indoors experiment (with just tap water) may not have had
that bacteria.

George

"Peter Jason" wrote in message
...
If I may butt in George; everything has something living on it,
sometimes in
a symbiotic relationship. Maybe the acorns get something from the mold.

"George" wrote in message
om...
Iris,

When the gutters become full of acorns and other stuff, the downspouts
get clogged. Small trees start to grow in the gutters.
These evidently arise from acorns that sit on *good* material?

When I clean this junk out, I don't remember seeing any gray mold. I
would think some of these acorns were fully submerged in the water, as
in my experiment. Does the mold have predators?

George







(Iris Cohen) wrote in message
...
Do you know where the mold comes from and why it forms - does it
eat
the
acorn?

Mold spores are everywhere. They are in the air and land on
everything.
If you
look in a very damp spot on the wall and see black spots, those are
the
spore
containers of the fungus.
As you have seen, some fungi grow right in water. When the spores
land
on a
likely spot, they sprout and start growing. The fuzzy hairs that you
see
are
called hyphae. That is the fungus's growing stage. You might say
that
the
fungus eats the acorn. It breaks down dead plant tissue (and other
substances,
like paint and fingernails). Actually, fungi are providing a very
important
service by doing this, when they do it in the right place. The ones
that
attack
live tissue are dangerous.
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the
oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)

George schreef
As I mentioned, acorns in the gutter (some of which must have been
under the sitting rain water) did not produce the gray mold. All I
remember seeing is black or dark brown - decaying stuff.

Is it possible that bacteria in the decaying stuff prevented or ate
the mold? My indoors experiment (with just tap water) may not have had
that bacteria.

+ + +
Relationships between fungi and bacteria in decaying material are quite
complex. Very many fungi and bacteria exist, and several strategies exist.
In general it is a matter of first arrived, first served.

A major factor is the presence of oxygen. This is determined by such
questions as submersion (partly submerged, permanently submerged, etc) and
whether the water is in motion.

In theory a book could be written about each such acorn, but research
focuses on economically more important issues
PvR

Cereoid-UR12- schreef
Most great discoveries are made by amateurs because discoveries never
happen while one is paid to sit behind a desk in a three piece suit working
9 to 5.

+ + +
Wow! Now we can make a wild guess and suppose that
- you don't wear a three piece suit
- you don't have a nine to five job
- you don't have a desk
- you are an amateur
- you made a GREAT discovery
- you did not get recognition for this ...
How's that for accuracy?
PvR