If you’ve ever scoured the yerba mate community on Reddit, you’ll know mold is almost always the topic of discussion.

That’s the only place where people seem to be more scared of mold in their gourd than death.

Every so often, someone will post a picture of the inside of their gourd and ask the community whether there’s mold.

Sometimes there will be, but often, there’s not.

In today’s article, I’m going to review some of these posts so you can learn how to decipher what mold actually looks like in a mate gourd, compared to the natural coloring of a mate gourd.

Let’s start with our first one…

Yerba Mate Reddit Posts

Original Post

This user has a new calabash gourd that they just cured. And unfortunately, this gourd has mold and it’s not a pretty sight. Now, the mold isn’t the green or black you see stained on the inside. That’s from the yerba mate when it was being cured. The mold is the white fuzzy, hair-like specks on the bottom of the gourd. If you zoom in on the picture, you can see it right below the stem in the middle, as well as on the left-hand side.

Original Post

This user has a palo santo gourd that they used 2-3 times. They then noticed this fuzzy white spot inside the red square pictured above. And it’s been reappearing even after it’s been wiped it off. And worse, it’s growing! It’s hard to see in the picture but if you zoom in, you can almost make out the fuzziness. Plus, if what he or she is saying is true, then it’s mold. The other white specks and green spots on the gourd are the natural grain of the wood as well as some staining from the yerba.

Original Post

This user also has a calabash gourd, but no further details about it. To the untrained eye, this looks like mold. But, fortunately, it’s not mold. The main telltale sign is it’s not fuzzy. Regular drinkers of mate see this all the time in their gourd because it’s normal staining from the yerba. Whether it’s from curing or from daily use, you’ll eventually see dark green or black spots like the one pictured.

Original Post

This one’s tricky. The user has a palo santo gourd and on the interior walls, there are these dark green streaks that are clearly not part of the wood’s natural color. However, if you zoom in closely, you can see that these colored streaks fit in perfectly with its grain and there are no fuzzy spots. With that said, we can safely assume it’s not mold. But if it’s not mold, then what is it?

I have this on my palo santo gourd but to a lesser degree. There’s no fuzziness whatsoever. Just streaks I can only remove by scraping with my nail. Some suggest its resin. Unfortunately, I can’t give a definite answer other than that it’s not mold since it’s not fuzzy and isn’t spreading. My best guess is the yerba stained a porous and susceptible part of the wood. If you know what this is, please comment below.

Original Post

This user has a calabash gourd they used once and this happened. With a glance, most would think this is mold, but once again, it’s not. As you can see, there are no fuzzy spots. Only spots of varying shades of green. This is simply staining from the yerba. Seeing this after one use can be scary though, but it’s completely normal.

Keep in mind: calabash gourds are a natural product. Everything about them is different than the next one. And this includes how fast they get stained. Some gourds have thin walls and are less permeable which causes it to color more slowly. While some gourds have thick, porous walls that gain color almost instantly.

But don’t worry. If you have a gourd like the one above, these dark stains slowly fade away the more you use it.

Original Post

This user has a brand new unused gourd from Uruguay. He packed this in his suitcase wrapped in a towel, flew back home to Minnesota, and noticed these dark spots. Is it mold? No. As you may have learned by now, mold is almost always fuzzy-looking when in a gourd. And with this one, that isn’t the case. It seems to be just the natural material of the gourd as the dark spots look embedded into the walls. If you were to try and wipe it off, I’m sure it won’t disappear. I’ve had plenty of gourds that arrived with dark spots before, and they never come off even after using them. It’s normal.

Original Post

This user just finished curing their calabash and saw this inside. They say it smells like tea, hay, and squash. With that said then, it’s not mold. Mold will always give your gourd a funky/sour smell. The coloring is from the curing process. It just needs to be cleaned up a bit more as there’s still plenty of leftover bits in the gourd. But other than that, this is simply a nicely cured gourd.

Original Post

Here, we have another calabash gourd with prominent green coloring. The user didn’t provide any background info, but I’m going to assume they just cured it as it’s still moist. Can you tell what the situation is with this one? If you look closely, you can see there’s no fuzzy business in there. Therefore, this gourd is likely mold-free. But it will grow mold if they left all those leaves and stems in there. Please don’t ever do this. Always clean your gourd well before leaving it to dry.

Original Post

This user just cured this calabash gourd and ended up with these dark grey/green spots. They tried to scratch it off, but it doesn’t disappear. This is enough to know that it’s not mold. What you see here is what you’ll normally see after curing a gourd.

Original Post

This user has a calabash gourd and is wondering if the white spots are mold. He cured it, dried it with a hairdryer for a bit, and let it dry upside-down which is a big no-no. Gourds should be dried on their side, not with the opening faced down. That’s a recipe for mold. Luckily, the user says the gourd doesn’t smell. Although the picture doesn’t do much justice, this still doesn’t seem like mold. Rather, the loose membrane of the gourd which should be removed when curing. Most new uncured gourds will have this plant material in it.

Final Words

Hopefully, this post has helped give you a good understanding of what mold in a mate gourd really looks like.

A good rule of thumb to follow when it comes to mold is if it’s fuzzy, smelly, and can be wiped off, it’s always 100% mold. Other than that, it’s likely just staining from the yerba. If after reading this post you think your gourd has mold, click here to learn how to get rid of it.

P.S. If you found this post helpful, you might also want to check out our store for exclusive yerba mate items.