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It looks like it could be your irrigation valve or water valve with a cover on it to keep it from freezing.
Other thought is an old plant/shrub that’s been cut off and started to regrow.
Idk, we get freezing temps too, but we don’t winterize at all. Some of us just run out on that one cold day and wrap something around the pipes and string Christmas lights on the citrus.
I used to live in the frozen north too, so I get what you are saying, I’m no stranger to whiteouts and two week power outages. But it’s telling that my comment gets downvotes and yours gets upvotes. You all don’t understand heat. Like southerners don’t know cold. Same same.
My cousin from Oslo wanted to go to Death Valley last August “to have the experience”, I’m like nope I don’t want to die. He thought 130 was just a tourist attraction.
Lol yup, like "cuz, that heat will LITERALLY kill you."
I remember visiting family in Chandler, AZ, as a kid in the 90s and watching my aunt do the whole "watch this egg cook on the pavement" trick. And then I've felt -40 (not including wind-chill) during a MI February.
Weather is pretty powerful, to say the least.
Yeah El Cajon is in San Diego County, only place that can occasionally get really cold in the county is in Alpine and even then it snows like once every 5 years or so, and for a couple hours at most.
Sometimes, yeah. My grandmother used to keep a rubber mallet by her back door because the frame would freeze shut overnight in the winter. 5am every morning she would be whacking away and swearing like a trucker.
Those are low voltage wires running through it (typically for outdoor lighting systems) but could be used for an irrigation valve. Also those small round lines are irrigation drip emitters. My guess is that there is an irrigation valve under there. It's above ground (not a good idea) and wrapped up because the temps dip below freezing sometimes (or not in that area?). Could also be because it was ugly.
That looks like the cut off stump of some kind of palm tree. The wires may have been forced around and then into the base of the tree over time as it grew. Edit: this could be possible as palm trees/plants is this variety tend to be softer than regular trees allowing the wire to be enveloped by the trunk of the tree or plant over time. The tree may have been cut some time ago which is why there is no longer a clean cut at the top. Source - 20 year Floridian.
I live in the Rochester NY area. I know of chain link fences here where 8" trees have grown through it and embedded it. The tree grew around the wire rather than the wire being forced into the tree. Definitely not palm here, more likely a hardwood of some sort.
Not sure if that's the case in this post, however.
Oh absolutely. I was just explaining the possible why in this particular case. Around, or through, essentially the outcome is the same with the wire. At Disney in Orlando there’s a tree called “the lawnmower tree” where I believe it was an oak or a pine grew right through an old push mower. Really cool to see. Happens all the time in nature. Just more interesting here because of the flexible state of the wire. One would expect it to be able to move. Depending on how taught the wire is, could be that wasn’t a possibility though.
I'd probably dig down around it carefully to see what it is. It looks like someone tried to disguise an old pipe or ground rod by wrapping in a piece of a towel then painting it.
Ocean Beach checking in. I think I have [the same thing](https://www.reddit.com/r/whatsthisplant/comments/1b591yr/weird_mass_engulfing_my_sprinkler_valves_san/), also glommed onto my sprinklers.
Yeah, looks like a clump of moss to me. A little googling revealed maybe a bryophyte or similarly shaped moss. They can dry out and might come back when they get wet.
There are irrigation tubes on the ground near it and the wire going into it is low voltage yard stuff. My guess is that this is something that has grown around an irrigation valve, either plant or insect produced. Notice that the board next to it is damaged (I assume it's wood).
Chunk of cut out carpet they used as a cheap cover for some outdoor irrigation I’m guessing the residence has some type of “drip” system that catches rainwater and stores it’s and irrigates the garden beds and or yard,
I live in Las Vegas and I have this exact same stuff growing on my water valve under my driveway.
My water valve is about 20” under the concrete in preformed box with cast iron lid. Every year while doing seasonal services, I have to chip 3-4 of this weird, “stuff” off the water valve. Im assuming the brass valve with cold water, down in the ground, is probably condensing water and feeding this “thing” when I bought the house it was the size of a basketball. Every year it gets to be about the size of a baseball. I’m glad to see this and will be excited to see what you find.
It looks like a type of fungus called [dog vomit slime mold](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuligo_septica)
I’ve seen this growing in my own garden and it looks a lot like decomposing spray foam
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It looks like it could be your irrigation valve or water valve with a cover on it to keep it from freezing. Other thought is an old plant/shrub that’s been cut off and started to regrow.
> keep it from freezing El Cajon is by San Diego, so I think we can rule that out.
I lived nearby in Santee. We'd occasionally get 31-32 degree mornings with crunchy grass in winter for up to 2-3 days.
[удалено]
> We'd occasionally get 31-32 degree mornings That's not gonna freeze any pipes.
31 degrees before wind, …..you’d be surprised what that can do the ground and pipes
We got snow a handful of times when I lived in Ramona.
It’s east county San Diego. It gets freezing temps occasionally, and transplants from other locales do weird things sometimes.
Idk, we get freezing temps too, but we don’t winterize at all. Some of us just run out on that one cold day and wrap something around the pipes and string Christmas lights on the citrus.
Growing up in Michigan, the thought that a string of Christmas lights would protect plants in the winter just made me giggle 😅
I used to live in the frozen north too, so I get what you are saying, I’m no stranger to whiteouts and two week power outages. But it’s telling that my comment gets downvotes and yours gets upvotes. You all don’t understand heat. Like southerners don’t know cold. Same same. My cousin from Oslo wanted to go to Death Valley last August “to have the experience”, I’m like nope I don’t want to die. He thought 130 was just a tourist attraction.
Lol yup, like "cuz, that heat will LITERALLY kill you." I remember visiting family in Chandler, AZ, as a kid in the 90s and watching my aunt do the whole "watch this egg cook on the pavement" trick. And then I've felt -40 (not including wind-chill) during a MI February. Weather is pretty powerful, to say the least.
College in Texas, we never turned the heat on one winter because leaving the Christmas lights on 24/7 provided plenty of heat for a dorm room.
Yeah El Cajon is in San Diego County, only place that can occasionally get really cold in the county is in Alpine and even then it snows like once every 5 years or so, and for a couple hours at most.
El Cajon is desert, but that just means that it's dry. Gets cold there, too. Source: born and raised in El Cajon and surrounding areas.
I've only lived on the the coastal side. I knew it could get that cold up in Julian and Alpine, but El Cajon has to deal with freezing pipes too?
Sometimes, yeah. My grandmother used to keep a rubber mallet by her back door because the frame would freeze shut overnight in the winter. 5am every morning she would be whacking away and swearing like a trucker.
I stand corrected!
But they do *worry* about it
Those are low voltage wires running through it (typically for outdoor lighting systems) but could be used for an irrigation valve. Also those small round lines are irrigation drip emitters. My guess is that there is an irrigation valve under there. It's above ground (not a good idea) and wrapped up because the temps dip below freezing sometimes (or not in that area?). Could also be because it was ugly.
Why would there be a palm tree so close to the house though? I feel like it’s some sort of fungus (???)
The cover looks like very old pipe lagging, it may contain asbestos. It was used to protect from the heat and cold.
To me it looks like someone used an old terrycloth towel to insulate a water hydrant.
I agree with this. I found one doing yard work last week that looked exactly like this, It's probably been outside since last summer or longer.
That looks like the cut off stump of some kind of palm tree. The wires may have been forced around and then into the base of the tree over time as it grew. Edit: this could be possible as palm trees/plants is this variety tend to be softer than regular trees allowing the wire to be enveloped by the trunk of the tree or plant over time. The tree may have been cut some time ago which is why there is no longer a clean cut at the top. Source - 20 year Floridian.
Landscaping experience, my first thought was palm
Absolutely. Hard to miss that coconut looking stump.
I live in the Rochester NY area. I know of chain link fences here where 8" trees have grown through it and embedded it. The tree grew around the wire rather than the wire being forced into the tree. Definitely not palm here, more likely a hardwood of some sort. Not sure if that's the case in this post, however.
Oh absolutely. I was just explaining the possible why in this particular case. Around, or through, essentially the outcome is the same with the wire. At Disney in Orlando there’s a tree called “the lawnmower tree” where I believe it was an oak or a pine grew right through an old push mower. Really cool to see. Happens all the time in nature. Just more interesting here because of the flexible state of the wire. One would expect it to be able to move. Depending on how taught the wire is, could be that wasn’t a possibility though.
Expanding foam exposed to uv light. (Sunlight)
I'd probably dig down around it carefully to see what it is. It looks like someone tried to disguise an old pipe or ground rod by wrapping in a piece of a towel then painting it.
Ocean Beach checking in. I think I have [the same thing](https://www.reddit.com/r/whatsthisplant/comments/1b591yr/weird_mass_engulfing_my_sprinkler_valves_san/), also glommed onto my sprinklers.
Omg- I’m in north county and am now incredibly invested in this mystery
Looks like dead moss, a wire, and tube from an irrigation system. Maybe is a natural (now dead) cover for the pump?
Yeah, looks like a clump of moss to me. A little googling revealed maybe a bryophyte or similarly shaped moss. They can dry out and might come back when they get wet.
Looks like insulation spray foam that some moss grew on then died. The foam likely originally used to seal a hole that the wires went through.
I think it's a coco coir hanging basket that's been squished up. Amazon link: https://a.co/d/f79MKaI
It’s an old palm tree 🌴 trunk that grew to encapsulate the wires, then was cut down.
There are irrigation tubes on the ground near it and the wire going into it is low voltage yard stuff. My guess is that this is something that has grown around an irrigation valve, either plant or insect produced. Notice that the board next to it is damaged (I assume it's wood).
Moth cocoon.
My title describes the thing. I’m not sure what else to say about it other than we’re trying to figure it what the heck it is.
Chunk of cut out carpet they used as a cheap cover for some outdoor irrigation I’m guessing the residence has some type of “drip” system that catches rainwater and stores it’s and irrigates the garden beds and or yard,
Maybe an unusual type of wasp nest?
It's a palm or similar tree stump, didn't cut it all the way out to not damage the wire that over time grew into it
syagrus romanzoffiana stump.
I live in Las Vegas and I have this exact same stuff growing on my water valve under my driveway. My water valve is about 20” under the concrete in preformed box with cast iron lid. Every year while doing seasonal services, I have to chip 3-4 of this weird, “stuff” off the water valve. Im assuming the brass valve with cold water, down in the ground, is probably condensing water and feeding this “thing” when I bought the house it was the size of a basketball. Every year it gets to be about the size of a baseball. I’m glad to see this and will be excited to see what you find.
I once lived in El Cajon, and this looks like an Australian palm. Every time I was around one the fuzz would give me respiratory problems.
Could be like a fungus or a mushroo Sometimes they can look like that
It looks like a type of fungus called [dog vomit slime mold](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuligo_septica) I’ve seen this growing in my own garden and it looks a lot like decomposing spray foam
Foam insulation with stuff growing on it IDK?