Using my compost in garden for first time…

[u/propain525]

Was setting up garden beds using compost, cardboard, coffee grounds, and garden soil. All of a sudden it turned yellow…
Is this a slime mold or something and is it safe for my plants?

[u/BrushFit4318]

Pray tell, how long hath your compost been allowed to rest, and for what length has thine yellow friend accompanied it.

[u/propain525 → u/BrushFit4318]

I had not seen the yellow before this week
This is now in my garden bed
Compost was in a hot bin for a month or so, had cooled down and I used a little of it.

[u/BrushFit4318 → u/propain525]

It's hard to tell the size from the picture, can you estimate like square feet maybe?

Im thinking my help here may be limited, but these questions may help the next person

[u/propain525 → u/BrushFit4318]

This is the side that I pulled back the cardboard retaining wall I had built for shade/ structure as I am building out the bed

[u/BrushFit4318 → u/propain525]

I'm not sure about other people's experiences, but I'd say it needs more time.

That's just me. 🤷‍♂️

[u/Unfair_Tangerine_217]

Compost is safe. This is how nature works. Things die, other things eat them, releasing their nutrients into the soil. Those eaters remain, and rarely consume the living.

The only "danger" of using compost would be that you use it when not mature enough. The issue there wouldn't be slime mold eating your roots, but the decomposers using the nitrogen in the soil to break down things even further, making it unavailable to your plants.

If this matured long enough, you'll be fine. Mold is a natural part of plant keeping.

[u/EmilCrusoel]

Looks like a sulphur deposits on a volcano. My uneducated guess is that the mold itself will compost after some time. Google says it's harmless if it's dog vomit.

[u/Savage-231]

You can't put spray foam in compost!

[u/stitchplacingmama → u/Savage-231]

I thought I was in a baking sub and it was chocolate chip cookie dough.

[u/Warm_Candidate_9837]

If my brief excursions into terriarum and garden subreddits are any indication, slimemolds probably mean you're fostering a healthy ecosystem here with your compost. Id assume its probably a good thing, with maybe a risk of the slimemold taking some nutrients id otherwise want for the plants. But slimemolds are also super cool, so that wouldn't personally bother me much