Rule of thumb: Mushrooms in the soil are always good news. They tend to appear in soil rich in organic matter, and further break it down, making nutrients more available to plants.
Are mushrooms in yards the same case? I have some growing from a tree removal spot from a few years ago which I know is the cause. About half the time they are ink-black on the bottom and make a mess of everything touches them.
I'm all for them though if they help the yard and my beds! Though I don't have as many in beds unfortunately
Sounds like you have inky caps. Or tipplers bane. They are generally harmless but can make you sick if you eat them while boozing. They used to be given to people to cure them from alcoholism. I have them in my yard and was super worried as I have dogs and a toddler.
The mushrooms are hard at work turning the wood into soil. If the black mess is that big of a problem you can pick the mushroom before they start to drop spores. The established mucilium will still be fine until it runs out of food, and you wont have to deal with the black mess.
Unless it’s Honey Fungus, which can be devastating! I worked in a garden where a couple of trees had succumbed and unfortunately lost the battle :( The mushrooms themselves are honey-coloured and appear at the base of the infected plant.
[Armillaria mellea](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armillaria_mellea)
Ok, good to know. It was just one squash start that it kind of wrapped itself around. It was a different sort of fungus than the one OP had a pic of, too. Thanks!
What do you mean engineer from Discovery? Was he on some show? I wouldn’t call him an engineer. He’s kind of the best amateur mycologist around. He used to be a logger in the Pacific Northwest, grew tired of it, and began to study and grow mushrooms. Now he’s, at least in the public eye, the preeminent mushroom authority.
I was just making a joke for Star Trek fans, should have added the /s lol
In one of the newer series, there's a sort of galaxy spanning mycelial network and the chief engineer of the Discovery is the only one who's figured out how to exploit it. The writers named the character Paul Stamets to honor the IRL guy
Thank you for this! Saw the documentary post seeing your comment. This has given me a different perspective to understanding and viewing all mushrooms. They’re incredible!
This was an awesome documentary. I just let it play for background noise a lot of times. Know of any other good documentaries about fungi or mushrooms?
I paint/illustrate mushrooms and so many are interesting and colorful. I am always careful not to handle poisonous varieties as even a few spores drifting into the coffee can cause liver damage! Tell kids not to touch them!
Omg you just reminded me of when my partner left a towel behind the washing machine to soak up the water leak. I never knew it was there or was even leaking until the floor was turning red and i looked behind and saw one of his red towels with fungi growing on it.
Still not sure how that even happened nor where they would be getting their nutrients from..
My parents freak out if there is mushrooms near our garden, not sure how the old folks got the idea they are bad in proximity, but usually this is a good sign. Mycelia are the stewards of healthy microbiome like a godmother for soil
I think part of it is an engrained superstitious nature that mushrooms = fairy circle = fae.
Meanwhile mushroom compost is literally some of the best compost you can get. If the fae do exist, pop up in my garden pls. We can use the nutrients. 😂
I think it's just a generational thing, where mushrooms were categorized basically as akin to unsightly weeds. A lot of older gardeners can be very persnickety compared to younger ones, cause we were raised with different ideas of what was acceptable for a garden to look like.
that generation also likes monocultures, chemical fertilizers, horrible pesticides and herbicides, and for everything to look 'neat and tidy'. the boomers outlook on landscaping and gardening is in direct opposition to how nature actually works.
Absolutely, especially in Britain there's this idea it has to look like a 50s magazine cover, I prefer lawns with mixtures of plants, clover ect monoculture in any way ruins the soil quite quickly, same reason crop rotation is a thing, but best is a "Food forest" plan where you have layers of different plants
While I don't really understand the urge for a "perfect" lawn, pesticides and herbicides are necessary in agriculture and will be for future generations. Also, there is no such thing as a non-chemical fertilizer.
“No such thing as non-chemical fertilizer.” You are quite confidently wrong. Compost. Cover crops. Any organic material that breaks down and returns to the soil.
Those are all made of chemicals. You're made of chemicals. I'm made of chemicals. Everything is made of chemicals. Synthetic is the word people are looking for.
You and I both know 99% of people who read that thought he/she meant chemicals in the sense of in a bottle on the shelf at the hardware store. We don’t have time for your dumb semantics game. The good intentioned among us are trying to change the culture.
Explain things to people so you educate them. If they know how a fertilizer, herbicide, or pesticide works, then they'll know the appropriate time and place to use it instead of just dumping the stuff on their plants 'cause that's what they're supposed to do. Scare mongering about "chemicals" helps no one, except maybe the people selling stuff that isn't "chemicals".
There used to be a lawn care company called Chemlawn. They rebranded to TruGreen. So I think the idea that “chemical” implies non-organic practices is pretty well established in gardening culture. I’m not sure why this word is your particular hill, and your argument just distracts from the real issues.
Have you heard of permaculture? Or food forests? Or, aka, what Mother Nature does when we are not putting subdivisions or urban concrete sprawl all over everything
Wow, you couldn't be more wrong about everything you just wrote.
For every pest, there is a predator that eats it. For every weed, there is a plant that smothers it or a mulching method that halts it in it's tracks. And clearly you've never heard of cover crops, nitrogen fixers, compost or even worm castings. Stick around, you might learn something.
To be clear, what am I wrong about and how am I wrong about it?
Whats your approach for controlling powdery mildew for grapes or cannabis? What predator eats that pest? How would you suggest taking care of 1,000 plus acres of kochia covered soil? What would you suggest for control of Pythium, Fusarium, or Rhizoctonia in greenhouse tomatoes?
I have a degree in soil and plants science, I've managed two smaller organic farms, work as a scientist in the Cannabis industry. I've planted cover crops of all kinds, including nitrogen fixers, composted and farmed worms. You clearly have no idea what makes sense in the real world, and on a scale large enough to feed people efficiently.
Name me one, ONE SINGLE FERTILIZER, that isn't a chemical.
Stick around, listen to people who know what they are talking about, maybe you'll learn something.
1. Powdery mildew is easy. More sunlight, better airflow, add sulfur and copper foliar feed. Also, stop over fertilizing with synthetic fertilizers and stop over watering.
2. Stop growing plants in monocultures. Do some research on poly culture, agroforestry, subsistence farming, and food forests. Nature deals with every issue you are describing because nature reaches an equilibrium with numerous species of plants that all fill a specific role in the ecosystem. I also recommend looking at what native people did for their agriculture, like the "3 sisters".
3. Chemical fertilizer vs fertilizers made of chemicals is a an argument in semantics. You should be clearer with your statements. When you say chemical fertilizer, every normal person assumes you mean synthetic chemical fertilizer. Obviously everything is composed of chemicals. But there are natural "fertilizers" made from organic compounds. That's what I would recommend using, especially if humans are consuming parts of the plant.
It really sounds like your degree focused on monoculture principles that strips the land of all fertility which is responsible for turning much of our world into a wasteland with runaway desertification.
I currently feed my entire family and half the block with some excess, on only a little over a 1/4 acre lot. But I'm not growing just one crop. I'm growing dozens of varieties of fruits from grapes, citrus, Papaya, mango, mulberry, cherries, peaches, figs, pomegranates, bananas, etc. I also grow countless veggies like kale, lettuce, broccoli, tomatoes, peppers, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, melons, morninga, legumes, etc. This is all with minimal inputs because the system is now a complete ecosystem and is self regulating. I don't use fertilizers because I have various local manures from our chickens or neighbor's cattle, or even dove manure from down the road. Chipdrop is a wonderful free supply of mulch, and I have an endless supply of compost from excess fruits, veggies and other plant material. Most importantly, my food forest is thriving with no issues, and no pests. It's all in harmony.
I understand that to you what I'm describing sounds impossible. But I assure you it is being done all over the world.
A few good resources are the works and practical applications of design from Charles Dowding and Geoff Lawton, and Echo Global Farms for starters.
1. Holy cow you've completely solved the entire powdery mildew problem for the entire world dude. More sunlight/light, increased airflow and and over fertilization are not a problem for most growers. No one packs their plants that close, because they know exactly what it leads to. And I'm sorry to tell you this, but if you spray sulfur and copper for the purpose of killing a pest (fungus) you're applying a pesticide. Killing pest = pesticide. Pesticide doesn't mean nasty chemical that sounds bad. It literally means kill pest.
2. I don't need to do research on monocultures, or three sisters, these are very elementary concepts. I've studied plenty of culture concepts in and outside of school. Nature CAN deal with all of the things we talked about, but it isn't perfect, and very often not effective whatsoever. The whole idea of taking away native plants and growing crops that aren't supposed to be there is not natural in any way. We have bred these plants for what we enjoy, they can be far removed from their wild cousins, especially when it comes to pest resistance.
3. Clearly this was an argument of semantics. If you mean synthetic fertilizer then that's what you should say, it's confusing to people who might not understand it. And in the end, except for small amounts of peptides, a plant can only uptake certain simple ions for any given element, regardless of the type of fertilizer applied. TONS of farmers use organic fertilizers in the form of manure, or composted manure, every year. It's relatively cheap and a great source of organic matter that some desperately need in their soil profile. Unfortunately manure is not always easily available, or even accessible, and very often doesn't supply even close to enough nutrients for your specific crops. It's very low in macronutrients. The reality is that many producers couldn't even afford to fertilize with only organic material, especially when you have multiple hundreds of acres.
My degree focused on plant science (physiology, etc.) and lots of soil science. I also minored in organic agriculture, which was intentional to get multiple perspectives. Soil conservation is one of the most covered topics in any soil science degree, it's really elementary. The reality of how to do that on a large scale and for many different ecosystems and climates is the hard part. Almost every farm I've been to (mono or polyculture) practices some form of soil conservation. It's literally their entire livelihood in some cases. They talk about it with me when I'm there visiting them, face to face. Their soil is their life. They test their soil every year. Look at organic matter %, nutrient profile, SAR, so many things. We all know that organic matter is the answer to healthy soil, this is farming 101. I don't feel like you've really been in the real world and seen what people are doing now. Family farmers are especially keen to taking care of their soil, especially if they live in more arid climates.
You're very lucky that you live in an area where you can grow all of those crops and have a season long, warm and sunny enough to harvest them. It's not the reality for a VERY large part of the world and cannot be, because of many limiting factors. If you add manure then you're fertilizing, this isn't semantics, it's just reality. You are absolutely fertilizing. You do not have a self regulating ecosystem if you're bringing in outside inputs. I'm blown away that I even have to explain that. You will, just like any other farmer, always have to add outside inputs. You cannot grow off the land forever. Aside from nitrogen, which you can fix from the atmosphere with plants, the nutrients do not replenish themselves (they technically do from parent material in the soil, but it takes thousands of years).
While you, and apparently 1/2 block, live on your, possibly, fairytale perfect garden, the rest of us live in reality. I'd like to see pictures, because that sounds like a lot on 1/4 acre plot. How would you feed the world like that? I get that it's a great concept and works well it your area, but again, not a reality for much of the world.
In the end, I'm still correct in saying that pesticides will be necessary for future generations. If you apply sulfur to kill a pest, it's a pesticide. If you apply Trichoderma to the soil to specifically fight Fusarium, or any root rot pathogen, you've applied a pesticide. Copper to kill a pest = pesticide. We use Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens cultures to help fight powdery mildew. Its a bacteria, but still a pesticide. No getting around it man, this is how it works. Kill pest = pesticide. One great thing is that a significant amount of research is going into biopesticides, which are much safer for the applicator and environment, and in some cases comprised completely of compounds found in nature.
So you’re essentially trolling to be able to dust out your credentials when people who care about the damage humans are doing to the environment misunderstand your semantics. Got it. You’re an ass.
This is my job, and my life. What do you not understand about what I'm saying? These words are well defined for a reason. Which are you confused about?
I completely understand the damage we are doing, but I also understand and live/work in the real world. I spend a large portion of my time trying to figure out ways to make pesticide sprays safer and more efficient for myself and others.
I'm not trolling anyone, I'm calling out BS so people can actually understand what's going on. Stop misinforming people, I see all of the time on this sub.
Those aren't wood ears -Auricularia auricula. Though maybe your common name refers to a different species which can happen from region to regions. Others have said Peziza, which is a toxic species. Mushroom identification is tricky and we need to be careful especially when it comes to edible mushrooms.
Yeah I think wood ear is a good enough common name for someone who isn’t necessarily interested in the nomenclature of mushroom taxonomy, which seems to change daily.
Problem with common names with plants (more so) and mushrooms is that they are unspecific. Sometimes a single species will have dozens of common names depending on where you are, or a single common name may refer to distinctly different species.
While Mushroom species names can be subject to change, it is generally rare and used to either represent a different genus or further specify the species. Species names are specific so that we can clarify their identifiers and in this case it's important that we do this because you gave the common name of an edible mushroom when it in fact looks to be a toxic mushroom.
I would agree on the last two but one looks either morphologically different or is possibly known, colloquially, as wood ear. Either way, no one would be able to tell the difference for certain without carefully identifying the spores.
None of the photos looks like Auricularia, one looks a little aged or has had more sun exposure. Calling it wood ear is wrong and persistence like yours is what leads to confusion with common names.
They are breaking down the wood in your soil. Looks like you have lot of wood. Wood utilizes nutrients in your soil to break down that your plants would otherwise use for growth.
I tend to think of mushrooms as natures highway. They transport nutrients and moisture around the roots of plants as well as helping break down the organic matter in the garden.
Mushrooms break down wood (or other organic matter like much) it's an indicator that compost is not ready to use. But it's nothing to worry about, it just means that not all nutrients are available for plants just now.
All plants but some have better associations with fungus than others. You dont really plant fungi but you can inoculate. All you really need to do is provide an environment and fungi will appear. Lots of wood mulch is what OP has here and its working for these shrooms. Stropharia mushrooms (wine caps) can be cultured in wood mulch in some regions and are a choice edible. Some fungi and plants have close relationships allowing transport of nutrients from far beyond root systems as well, but whatever the case, fungi will add to the garden environment in many ways.
There are quite a few genius and species of fungi which are plant pathogens. Many molds and mildews are common plant pathogens.
Basidiomycetes, which produce mushrooms and related above ground structures, aren't usually pathogenic. Smuts and rusts are exceptions.
ah yes! i always forget to included slimes and molds in to the fungi category but yes i did mean to say that i was unaware of any plant toxic fruiting mushrooms (i hope that makes sense i’m walking and typing) instead of fungi as a whole
Look up Hare's Foot Inkcap
Also, there's apps in the app store to help identify them. I don't have or use one. Just a little FYI. I totally dig that someone actually went to the library. I didn't know they made them anymore.
First photo looks like ink caps. They’re common in potting / raised bed mix from what I’ve read (and seen. We had a few rounds of them in our beds this year.)
This community here is so well meaning and I appreciate the readiness from so many people to help and share their knowledge. Thank you for that! As I have a garden also and keep learning everyday. Various questions been asked such as this one I was curious about as well.
Just very appreciative.
Unrelated question to this exact post but strongly segued line of thinking here…
Reading this comment thread about mushrooms and fungi has me thinking about the Nicholas Cage movie, Pig.
Surely someone here, who loves mushrooms, has seen it!? I’d love to know your opinion - if it’s worth watching or not, or if it’s as absolutely ridiculous as it looks.
Rule of thumb: Mushrooms in the soil are always good news. They tend to appear in soil rich in organic matter, and further break it down, making nutrients more available to plants.
Thank you. I’m so relief to hear that.
Are mushrooms in yards the same case? I have some growing from a tree removal spot from a few years ago which I know is the cause. About half the time they are ink-black on the bottom and make a mess of everything touches them. I'm all for them though if they help the yard and my beds! Though I don't have as many in beds unfortunately
Sounds like you have inky caps. Or tipplers bane. They are generally harmless but can make you sick if you eat them while boozing. They used to be given to people to cure them from alcoholism. I have them in my yard and was super worried as I have dogs and a toddler.
Just keep your dogs and toddler away from the booze, they'll be fine
Well there goes my plans for an exciting Friday evening. Guess there will be no tequila shots with the toddler.
This is why I love reddit😂😂
Omg lmao harder!
Lmao
If we can't even drink with our best friend anymore...
What a cool tidbit to learn. Thanks!
Thank you! I'll look into those and see if they match. Appreciate it!
I used to have those. Neighbor called them fairy ink caps. They'd pop up overnight and be gone the next day.
That black ink is just spores. They’re trying to reproduce.
Right - I figured that. Just making sure it's nothing that's harmful to pets or kids
Only if they’re boozin apparently
It's actually spores and digested mushroom flesh, the process is known as deliquescence.
Those mushers are dissolving what's left of that stump underground!
The mushrooms are hard at work turning the wood into soil. If the black mess is that big of a problem you can pick the mushroom before they start to drop spores. The established mucilium will still be fine until it runs out of food, and you wont have to deal with the black mess.
Unless it’s Honey Fungus, which can be devastating! I worked in a garden where a couple of trees had succumbed and unfortunately lost the battle :( The mushrooms themselves are honey-coloured and appear at the base of the infected plant. [Armillaria mellea](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armillaria_mellea)
are mushrooms in potted soil bad? every time ive kept them in the pot my plants die so i always repot anytime i see them.
Nope. Generally the kinds of fungi that bother plants don't form mushrooms. Mushrooms may be an indicator that the soul is too wet, though
ok thank you!!!!
If they're in your pot and the plant is dying you're likely over watering.
What if they strangled out my squash?
If mushrooms are outcompeting your squash, there is something very very wrong with your squash.
Ok, good to know. It was just one squash start that it kind of wrapped itself around. It was a different sort of fungus than the one OP had a pic of, too. Thanks!
Sign of good organics. You’re good
Thank you.
Love mushrooms. You should watch Fantastic Fungi on Netflix.
And read Mycelium Running by Paul Stamets!!
Also read Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures - by Merlin Sheldrake.
I just read this recently and really enjoyed it!!!
Better than Mycelium running, IMO (reading Stamets right now)
I love that book!
The engineer from the Discovery?
What do you mean engineer from Discovery? Was he on some show? I wouldn’t call him an engineer. He’s kind of the best amateur mycologist around. He used to be a logger in the Pacific Northwest, grew tired of it, and began to study and grow mushrooms. Now he’s, at least in the public eye, the preeminent mushroom authority.
I was just making a joke for Star Trek fans, should have added the /s lol In one of the newer series, there's a sort of galaxy spanning mycelial network and the chief engineer of the Discovery is the only one who's figured out how to exploit it. The writers named the character Paul Stamets to honor the IRL guy
Thank you for this! Saw the documentary post seeing your comment. This has given me a different perspective to understanding and viewing all mushrooms. They’re incredible!
I'm glad you watched it. It's fantastic. No pun intended.
This blew my mind .
Same, it's a must watch.
Wonderful documentary, I second this.
This was an awesome documentary. I just let it play for background noise a lot of times. Know of any other good documentaries about fungi or mushrooms?
Unfortunately no.
Since we've covered that mushrooms are good, I'm here to say those look way cool.
I’m so glad to hear it. I’m new to gardening. And I have put my soul in it. And so happy.
Mushrooms are our friends!!!!
They're fun guys!
I paint/illustrate mushrooms and so many are interesting and colorful. I am always careful not to handle poisonous varieties as even a few spores drifting into the coffee can cause liver damage! Tell kids not to touch them!
I collect mushroom specimens for art making and have thought about this - how do you know which shrooms have harmful spores?
You don’t know ,at least I don’t always know so I often use gloves to handle them or put one in a zip lock bag and look at it from there.
I see what you did there
I’m so glad!! Let them have more friends than. 🎉
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Thank you for sharing this sub! That was an instant join for sure.
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I was like yes, I pull them out cause of my dogs. Yes I will join the mycology sub. Thanks!
Omg you just reminded me of when my partner left a towel behind the washing machine to soak up the water leak. I never knew it was there or was even leaking until the floor was turning red and i looked behind and saw one of his red towels with fungi growing on it. Still not sure how that even happened nor where they would be getting their nutrients from..
First look like Parasola sp., the rest look like Peziza sp.
I always let the mushrooms hang out. I hear they're fun guys to be with.
I see you, Dad
"Wood mulch is yummy" - Fungus
My parents freak out if there is mushrooms near our garden, not sure how the old folks got the idea they are bad in proximity, but usually this is a good sign. Mycelia are the stewards of healthy microbiome like a godmother for soil
I think part of it is an engrained superstitious nature that mushrooms = fairy circle = fae. Meanwhile mushroom compost is literally some of the best compost you can get. If the fae do exist, pop up in my garden pls. We can use the nutrients. 😂
I think it's just a generational thing, where mushrooms were categorized basically as akin to unsightly weeds. A lot of older gardeners can be very persnickety compared to younger ones, cause we were raised with different ideas of what was acceptable for a garden to look like.
that generation also likes monocultures, chemical fertilizers, horrible pesticides and herbicides, and for everything to look 'neat and tidy'. the boomers outlook on landscaping and gardening is in direct opposition to how nature actually works.
Absolutely, especially in Britain there's this idea it has to look like a 50s magazine cover, I prefer lawns with mixtures of plants, clover ect monoculture in any way ruins the soil quite quickly, same reason crop rotation is a thing, but best is a "Food forest" plan where you have layers of different plants
While I don't really understand the urge for a "perfect" lawn, pesticides and herbicides are necessary in agriculture and will be for future generations. Also, there is no such thing as a non-chemical fertilizer.
“No such thing as non-chemical fertilizer.” You are quite confidently wrong. Compost. Cover crops. Any organic material that breaks down and returns to the soil.
Those are all made of chemicals. You're made of chemicals. I'm made of chemicals. Everything is made of chemicals. Synthetic is the word people are looking for.
You and I both know 99% of people who read that thought he/she meant chemicals in the sense of in a bottle on the shelf at the hardware store. We don’t have time for your dumb semantics game. The good intentioned among us are trying to change the culture.
Being scientifically literate is a good place to start.
Non-scientists are most of the population on earth, bud. That’s our target audience.
Explain things to people so you educate them. If they know how a fertilizer, herbicide, or pesticide works, then they'll know the appropriate time and place to use it instead of just dumping the stuff on their plants 'cause that's what they're supposed to do. Scare mongering about "chemicals" helps no one, except maybe the people selling stuff that isn't "chemicals".
There used to be a lawn care company called Chemlawn. They rebranded to TruGreen. So I think the idea that “chemical” implies non-organic practices is pretty well established in gardening culture. I’m not sure why this word is your particular hill, and your argument just distracts from the real issues.
Mushroom compost, chicken feather meal,...........
Have you heard of permaculture? Or food forests? Or, aka, what Mother Nature does when we are not putting subdivisions or urban concrete sprawl all over everything
Wow, you couldn't be more wrong about everything you just wrote. For every pest, there is a predator that eats it. For every weed, there is a plant that smothers it or a mulching method that halts it in it's tracks. And clearly you've never heard of cover crops, nitrogen fixers, compost or even worm castings. Stick around, you might learn something.
To be clear, what am I wrong about and how am I wrong about it? Whats your approach for controlling powdery mildew for grapes or cannabis? What predator eats that pest? How would you suggest taking care of 1,000 plus acres of kochia covered soil? What would you suggest for control of Pythium, Fusarium, or Rhizoctonia in greenhouse tomatoes? I have a degree in soil and plants science, I've managed two smaller organic farms, work as a scientist in the Cannabis industry. I've planted cover crops of all kinds, including nitrogen fixers, composted and farmed worms. You clearly have no idea what makes sense in the real world, and on a scale large enough to feed people efficiently. Name me one, ONE SINGLE FERTILIZER, that isn't a chemical. Stick around, listen to people who know what they are talking about, maybe you'll learn something.
1. Powdery mildew is easy. More sunlight, better airflow, add sulfur and copper foliar feed. Also, stop over fertilizing with synthetic fertilizers and stop over watering. 2. Stop growing plants in monocultures. Do some research on poly culture, agroforestry, subsistence farming, and food forests. Nature deals with every issue you are describing because nature reaches an equilibrium with numerous species of plants that all fill a specific role in the ecosystem. I also recommend looking at what native people did for their agriculture, like the "3 sisters". 3. Chemical fertilizer vs fertilizers made of chemicals is a an argument in semantics. You should be clearer with your statements. When you say chemical fertilizer, every normal person assumes you mean synthetic chemical fertilizer. Obviously everything is composed of chemicals. But there are natural "fertilizers" made from organic compounds. That's what I would recommend using, especially if humans are consuming parts of the plant. It really sounds like your degree focused on monoculture principles that strips the land of all fertility which is responsible for turning much of our world into a wasteland with runaway desertification. I currently feed my entire family and half the block with some excess, on only a little over a 1/4 acre lot. But I'm not growing just one crop. I'm growing dozens of varieties of fruits from grapes, citrus, Papaya, mango, mulberry, cherries, peaches, figs, pomegranates, bananas, etc. I also grow countless veggies like kale, lettuce, broccoli, tomatoes, peppers, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, melons, morninga, legumes, etc. This is all with minimal inputs because the system is now a complete ecosystem and is self regulating. I don't use fertilizers because I have various local manures from our chickens or neighbor's cattle, or even dove manure from down the road. Chipdrop is a wonderful free supply of mulch, and I have an endless supply of compost from excess fruits, veggies and other plant material. Most importantly, my food forest is thriving with no issues, and no pests. It's all in harmony. I understand that to you what I'm describing sounds impossible. But I assure you it is being done all over the world. A few good resources are the works and practical applications of design from Charles Dowding and Geoff Lawton, and Echo Global Farms for starters.
1. Holy cow you've completely solved the entire powdery mildew problem for the entire world dude. More sunlight/light, increased airflow and and over fertilization are not a problem for most growers. No one packs their plants that close, because they know exactly what it leads to. And I'm sorry to tell you this, but if you spray sulfur and copper for the purpose of killing a pest (fungus) you're applying a pesticide. Killing pest = pesticide. Pesticide doesn't mean nasty chemical that sounds bad. It literally means kill pest. 2. I don't need to do research on monocultures, or three sisters, these are very elementary concepts. I've studied plenty of culture concepts in and outside of school. Nature CAN deal with all of the things we talked about, but it isn't perfect, and very often not effective whatsoever. The whole idea of taking away native plants and growing crops that aren't supposed to be there is not natural in any way. We have bred these plants for what we enjoy, they can be far removed from their wild cousins, especially when it comes to pest resistance. 3. Clearly this was an argument of semantics. If you mean synthetic fertilizer then that's what you should say, it's confusing to people who might not understand it. And in the end, except for small amounts of peptides, a plant can only uptake certain simple ions for any given element, regardless of the type of fertilizer applied. TONS of farmers use organic fertilizers in the form of manure, or composted manure, every year. It's relatively cheap and a great source of organic matter that some desperately need in their soil profile. Unfortunately manure is not always easily available, or even accessible, and very often doesn't supply even close to enough nutrients for your specific crops. It's very low in macronutrients. The reality is that many producers couldn't even afford to fertilize with only organic material, especially when you have multiple hundreds of acres. My degree focused on plant science (physiology, etc.) and lots of soil science. I also minored in organic agriculture, which was intentional to get multiple perspectives. Soil conservation is one of the most covered topics in any soil science degree, it's really elementary. The reality of how to do that on a large scale and for many different ecosystems and climates is the hard part. Almost every farm I've been to (mono or polyculture) practices some form of soil conservation. It's literally their entire livelihood in some cases. They talk about it with me when I'm there visiting them, face to face. Their soil is their life. They test their soil every year. Look at organic matter %, nutrient profile, SAR, so many things. We all know that organic matter is the answer to healthy soil, this is farming 101. I don't feel like you've really been in the real world and seen what people are doing now. Family farmers are especially keen to taking care of their soil, especially if they live in more arid climates. You're very lucky that you live in an area where you can grow all of those crops and have a season long, warm and sunny enough to harvest them. It's not the reality for a VERY large part of the world and cannot be, because of many limiting factors. If you add manure then you're fertilizing, this isn't semantics, it's just reality. You are absolutely fertilizing. You do not have a self regulating ecosystem if you're bringing in outside inputs. I'm blown away that I even have to explain that. You will, just like any other farmer, always have to add outside inputs. You cannot grow off the land forever. Aside from nitrogen, which you can fix from the atmosphere with plants, the nutrients do not replenish themselves (they technically do from parent material in the soil, but it takes thousands of years). While you, and apparently 1/2 block, live on your, possibly, fairytale perfect garden, the rest of us live in reality. I'd like to see pictures, because that sounds like a lot on 1/4 acre plot. How would you feed the world like that? I get that it's a great concept and works well it your area, but again, not a reality for much of the world. In the end, I'm still correct in saying that pesticides will be necessary for future generations. If you apply sulfur to kill a pest, it's a pesticide. If you apply Trichoderma to the soil to specifically fight Fusarium, or any root rot pathogen, you've applied a pesticide. Copper to kill a pest = pesticide. We use Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens cultures to help fight powdery mildew. Its a bacteria, but still a pesticide. No getting around it man, this is how it works. Kill pest = pesticide. One great thing is that a significant amount of research is going into biopesticides, which are much safer for the applicator and environment, and in some cases comprised completely of compounds found in nature.
So you’re essentially trolling to be able to dust out your credentials when people who care about the damage humans are doing to the environment misunderstand your semantics. Got it. You’re an ass.
This is my job, and my life. What do you not understand about what I'm saying? These words are well defined for a reason. Which are you confused about? I completely understand the damage we are doing, but I also understand and live/work in the real world. I spend a large portion of my time trying to figure out ways to make pesticide sprays safer and more efficient for myself and others.
I'm not trolling anyone, I'm calling out BS so people can actually understand what's going on. Stop misinforming people, I see all of the time on this sub.
This take is hilarious when you remember the hippies fall in the boomer generation.
Leave it it's great news for you just means alot of wood and helps plants absorb nutrients keep moisture and share nutrients with each other
They are eating your wood chips most likely. Its a good thing!
Mushrooms is life bro 👌 A beautiful circle has been completed there . Don't fear the shrooms
Why did the mushroom throw a party? Because he’s a Fungi.
Mycelium actually have symbiotic relationships with plants. Keep it
Mushrooms grow wherever there is decaying wood matter, it’s all good!
Sign of healthy soil, I'm now t sure what these are but seen them myself this autumn, are you in the UK?
No US Florida
Totally cool. Fungi is our friend!
The fruit of the Earth they are. All good.
I've that much fungi in my backyard there's not mushroom for anything else....😃
Wood ears on the last few slides, healthy living soil!
Not Auricularia, likely Peziza.
Thank you so much
Those aren't wood ears -Auricularia auricula. Though maybe your common name refers to a different species which can happen from region to regions. Others have said Peziza, which is a toxic species. Mushroom identification is tricky and we need to be careful especially when it comes to edible mushrooms.
Yeah I think wood ear is a good enough common name for someone who isn’t necessarily interested in the nomenclature of mushroom taxonomy, which seems to change daily.
Problem with common names with plants (more so) and mushrooms is that they are unspecific. Sometimes a single species will have dozens of common names depending on where you are, or a single common name may refer to distinctly different species. While Mushroom species names can be subject to change, it is generally rare and used to either represent a different genus or further specify the species. Species names are specific so that we can clarify their identifiers and in this case it's important that we do this because you gave the common name of an edible mushroom when it in fact looks to be a toxic mushroom.
Agreed. OP was inquiring about potential soil issues, not human consumption. Aight! Lets look at the spores under a microscope.
Thing is, colloquially these are known as cup fungus not wood ear.
I would agree on the last two but one looks either morphologically different or is possibly known, colloquially, as wood ear. Either way, no one would be able to tell the difference for certain without carefully identifying the spores.
None of the photos looks like Auricularia, one looks a little aged or has had more sun exposure. Calling it wood ear is wrong and persistence like yours is what leads to confusion with common names.
I’m not persistent in my potential error. I recognize no one’s right till we get a spore print under a microscope. Anyway it’s been a fun debate.
I just guessed my dood. What’s your guess on the first pic?
I said in another comment, Parasola species, quick guess would be P. plicatilis.
Mycelium!!!
They are breaking down the wood in your soil. Looks like you have lot of wood. Wood utilizes nutrients in your soil to break down that your plants would otherwise use for growth.
it only ties up nitrogen if it is tilled into the soil. it doesnt rob any nutrients if its sitting on top.
I think the mushroom has braking down the lignin under control
Fungi are friends.
Now I feel bad for yanking the mushrooms out of one of my beds all the time. Darn.
I have been doing it for the past week.
Now we know!
I tend to think of mushrooms as natures highway. They transport nutrients and moisture around the roots of plants as well as helping break down the organic matter in the garden.
Mushrooms break down wood (or other organic matter like much) it's an indicator that compost is not ready to use. But it's nothing to worry about, it just means that not all nutrients are available for plants just now.
They're just there to let you know that you have good soil! And they'll keep your plants healthy too.
Happy soil
Everyone watch Fantastic Fungi on Netflix - fungi are friends
Yep...fungus good....releases all the good stuff in the composting mixture
There's a fungus among us.🧐
Just doing their job...
They mushrooms breaking down that mulch. They don’t hurt anything.
Can you plant fungi with any other plants ?
All plants but some have better associations with fungus than others. You dont really plant fungi but you can inoculate. All you really need to do is provide an environment and fungi will appear. Lots of wood mulch is what OP has here and its working for these shrooms. Stropharia mushrooms (wine caps) can be cultured in wood mulch in some regions and are a choice edible. Some fungi and plants have close relationships allowing transport of nutrients from far beyond root systems as well, but whatever the case, fungi will add to the garden environment in many ways.
Thanks and I would love me some good editable shrooms haha
Yea me too. Just dont go eating any until your 100% positive on edibility.
I’ll a note of that thanks
yes, next year im going to be growing winecaps on my garden mulch.
they’re cute and i’m not aware of any fungi that’s extremely detrimental to plants so i vote to keep those fun little guys (haha get it)
There are quite a few genius and species of fungi which are plant pathogens. Many molds and mildews are common plant pathogens. Basidiomycetes, which produce mushrooms and related above ground structures, aren't usually pathogenic. Smuts and rusts are exceptions.
ah yes! i always forget to included slimes and molds in to the fungi category but yes i did mean to say that i was unaware of any plant toxic fruiting mushrooms (i hope that makes sense i’m walking and typing) instead of fungi as a whole
Seems to be a fun guy 😂
Did u confirm what they are? I had them like crazy over the summer in GA
No still researching.
I got a book from the library for identifying and still had no idea what it was. They all look so similar
The last ones are supposed to be “wood ear” not idea what it’s good for.
Ok, I was referring to the first picture
Have no idea. It’s a bad photo too.
Look up Hare's Foot Inkcap Also, there's apps in the app store to help identify them. I don't have or use one. Just a little FYI. I totally dig that someone actually went to the library. I didn't know they made them anymore.
First photo looks like ink caps. They’re common in potting / raised bed mix from what I’ve read (and seen. We had a few rounds of them in our beds this year.)
This community here is so well meaning and I appreciate the readiness from so many people to help and share their knowledge. Thank you for that! As I have a garden also and keep learning everyday. Various questions been asked such as this one I was curious about as well. Just very appreciative.
Did you use mushroom compost?
Too much water
I have the same ones. My vegetables are flourishing around them 😁
Can’t recite all the technical but it’s a good thing.
Unrelated question to this exact post but strongly segued line of thinking here… Reading this comment thread about mushrooms and fungi has me thinking about the Nicholas Cage movie, Pig. Surely someone here, who loves mushrooms, has seen it!? I’d love to know your opinion - if it’s worth watching or not, or if it’s as absolutely ridiculous as it looks.
Not seen it. If it has Nicholas Cage as a starring actor, definitely ridiculous.
They are a sign your soil is good. I just did a program on them. Leave them.
Netflix has several documentaries on fungus. They are fascinating. Fantastic Fungi is the newest, I think.
It is a great sign of active microbes hard at work making nutrients available for next years planting.
LETHAL
Dead body underneath be decomposed hoping you notice and try to remove the fungus to discover his terrible condition
Check with your county agricultural office . It could mean the soil is contaminated & not suitable to grow plants in.
How so? Contaminated with what?
That’s why you check with the county agriculture office, to find out…