Soil problem?

[tongegardner]

On Sunday I noticed that a few of my letuces in a corner of one of my raised beds looked a bit sad - brown round the edges of the outer leaves and beginning to wilt - so I decided to pull them up and sacrifice what I could. When I pulled them up by the roots, I noticed that the soil around the roots looked as if wood ash had been sprinkled in it. When I had pulled them all, I lightly forked over that part of the bed and noticed it was all the same - as if grey wood ash had been mixed in with the soil. Anybody got any ideas what this might be? (I also unearthed a large toad which was under the soil surface presumably (and hopefully) scoffing my slugs and snails).

[Nicos]

? fungal??

sounds like the stuff you get under the soil when mushrooms are about to appear???

Has it been damp???..toads like damp too.

Just a thought!

[Shadylane]

Sounds like root aphids. Did you see any wee bugs? Maybe Toady ate em all I had them year before last in the pots that had lettuce in, left a white/grey ash looking substance around the roots. Found them in the bolted lettuces I pulled up too. Not sure what you can do about it but don't sow lettuces there again for a bit.

[rustylady]

I tend to agree with Nicos. What are your beds filled with, and since when?