I was doing some reading, as I am seeing more lichen this year than the last several. Apparently lichen thrives when the air is better (less polluted). So, I guess if we have better air quality my calls for house washes should increase
I have also found lichen on concrete (not new), but it was so dark on the concrete I didn’t notice it. I service homes that fire coal, so there is always black soot around. Needless to say it was a PITA because you run the surface cleaner then see the dark spots. Apparently, lichen can be black, although I almost always see it as a green to green/white in my area.
Tidbits I had to learn the last week or so:
The color of lichens is often affected by the color of their algal component, but in the black wart lichen the black color is part of the fungal component and the green color of the algae becomes completely masked.
Why do lichens change color?
If there is no special pigment in the cortex, lichens appear gray to grayish-green when dry. When wet, however, lichens frequently change color dramatically, as the cortex becomes more transparent and the color of the photobiont shines through.
lichen have a surprising array of color that can be extracted as dyes. They can go deep crimson red and purple to bright yellow .
Well, I haven’t seen any bright colors yet, but if any of you west coasters get some could you post a pic?
I heard a story about our police station covered in red algae and how it took weeks for guys to clean it. I’m assuming they weren’t as well educated as us smart guys. I asked the chief of police about it but it kinda turned into a dead end. A few days ago, I ran into some and it made me think of that. It was in vinyl and my house wash mix didn’t touch it…at all. They guy said he spent forever trying to get it off and then threw in the towel and got a hold of me.
I hit it about 3 times and let dwell 10 mins in between, rubbing with my finger to see if it would come up in between applications. It wouldnt budge. I busted out the pump up sprayer and hit it with 7.5SH (straight bleach) and it lightened up. I let it dwell and applied another couple sprays to it. Whatever this was…it was hardier than anything I’d ever seen before.
I’ve seen green curry, and red curry in same house but different gutters.
I have been thinking maybe I should be trying to find out what some of this stuff is because we.live in such a wet environment I see all sorts of stuff.
Like today, I was on a roof and I’ve seen this before but the growth looks like it’s dead but it’s not…
It’s sort of brushable as it will crush underneath your feet and make you slip, but it still holds into granuals. This stuff is gnarly and takes forever to let go.
Thanks for posting that. I have never seen it red before.
On concrete I have been cheating lately (if it is heavy). I hit it with the turbo then hit it with the HW mix, wash house, clean concrete, post treat. Seems to work. I don’t do roofs, so I couldn’t offer you any tidbits there. Just remember it isn’t just algea, it is a combination of a fungus and algea, along with some bacterias. So, as a gardener, I attack fungus with a fungicide. I don’t know if there is a combo mix or not or if you could add a fungicide to your roof mix that would be bleach stable and wouldn’t require a license to use. I can apply repellents all day without a license, but I can’t apply an insecticide from what my reading has lead me to believe.
Just an FYI, some lichen is edible, but some of it is poisonous/causes reactions. Wolf Lichen, found primarily on conifers, is supposed to be nasty… Apparently the internet says that Europeans used it to kill wolves and foxes and that some native americans used to put it on their arrows.
