Newb needs help

EMP_Gardening · Sat Sep 17, 2011 7:21 pm

Hi all! I just started gardening about a month ago, and this is my first post to this forum!

I've been getting some weird mushroom like things in my soil. It started next to my habanero plants, and migrated to my tomato plants. So far they haven't actually touched the plants themselves but are only in the soil. Is this cause for alarm?

[img]https://i52.tinypic.com/24bkvhz.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i54.tinypic.com/2mzcsc7.jpg[/img]

Kisal · Sat Sep 17, 2011 8:17 pm

No, just pull them out and throw them away. They can't harm your plants simply by touching them or growing in the same soil, even if they happen to be poisonous, which I doubt they are. The spores drift on the breeze and are found in rich soil. The presence of mushrooms in your soil is a sign your soil is rich in organic material.

EMP_Gardening · Sat Sep 17, 2011 9:24 pm

Thanks for the fast reply! Is it safe to leave them in? Or is it better to take them out?

Kisal · Sat Sep 17, 2011 11:20 pm

It's quite safe to leave them in. Many people consider them unsightly, and of course, they are the spore-producing part of the mushroom, so will cause more to grow. Removing them can reduce additional mushroom growth.

rainbowgardener · Sun Sep 18, 2011 7:33 am

As Kisal said, quite harmless. But it can be a sign that you are keeping your soil a bit too moist. Peppers particularly don't like to stay damp all the time and need to dry out in between. Mushrooms love damp all the time.

Is that wood chip mulch with them? It could just be from that. Lots of fungi love to grow on wood. Still not a problem.

I have one spot of lawn where a whole circle of mushrooms pops up, every time we get a lot of rain. That tells me that there used to be a tree there and there are still dead tree roots under the ground, even though I have never seen any other trace of it.

garden5 · Sun Sep 18, 2011 10:58 am

Now, I'm no expert in this field, but could the presence of mushrooms indicate that there is an abundance of fungi in the soil which would mean that the soil is acidic?

To my knowledge, peppers prefer a more alkaline (bacterial) soil. I remember HG (HelpfulGardener) mentioned that he used some "woodier" soil from his woods edge when he grew his peppers and they didn't do too well.

However, I could be making a mountain out of a molehill. I'd probably be more concerned about the moisture level of the soil (as RBG points out), before the fungal level.

Let me ask you, are your peppers growing well? If so, than perhaps tone down the watering a bit and you'll be find

.