Mushrooms and fungus among us

[JohnAndSancho]

I've read that the general consensus is that mushrooms and fungi are mostly beneficial to gardens - we've had a lot of rain down here lately and it's SE TX so its always humid and swampy. These yellow guys started popping up in my L. Chinesis and have spread to seedling pots and my Washy (pictured) - the other ones are (currently) only active in the Washy, but they're getting close to the base and due to his explosive growth he does have some exposed roots. The yellow guys are usually larger, I've been plucking them and tossing them but of course they leave clouds of spores. 

 

Any concerns here? My tiny jungle is very dense and has never been treated with anything other than fertilizers, SuperThrive, and an occasional bath in insecticidal soap if I see swarms of ants. But I do have a lot of money tied up in it, and I do of course love them. Posted here instead of Palms in Pots since this subforum gets more traffic and i feel any info here could benefit everyone. 

[floridaPalmMan]

So mushrooms are much more than meets the eye.

If you see a mushroom it means the mycelial network has already consumed a great amount of biomatter beneath the surface.

Mushrooms are either wood lovers or manure lovers so if youre palm is still alive it means the mycelial network is feeding off of the compost/soil/manure mixture you have meaning it is most likely a beneficial relationship.

Mushrooms can actually take nutrients from one area and deliver them to a tree or plant which is suffering nutrient deficiency as they are somehow "aware" that the waste of trees/worms/biomatter is beneficial to their own survival.

The mushroom is one of the coolest organisms on the planet.

[floridaPalmMan]

So to answer.... I don't think it's an issue as long as the species isn't a wood lover... which would indicate that the trunk is rotting and the mushroom is consuming it.

[JohnAndSancho]

5 minutes ago, floridaPalmMan said:

So to answer.... I don't think it's an issue as long as the species isn't a wood lover... which would indicate that the trunk is rotting and the mushroom is consuming it.

Afaik Dirty Sanchez isn't rotting. I have culled some of the seedlings in the L. Chinesis community pot but I'm far from a mushroom expert.

 

I don't remember seeing either of these species growing in the grass around here and everything is still growing like crazy with the high temps and humidity so I'll relax and keep my eyes open. 

[Steve Mac]

John, The rule that I learned 50 yrs ago and has not failed me yet, is that if you can see mushrooms and the plant looks ok, then relax it is probably not harmful. Usually a harmful fungus will kill your plant before you see it coming. Think about it, the most fungus problems that we face is, seed rot, seedling rot, collar rot and crown rot. Now how many of these have visible mushrooms.  So if some fungus that has been proliferating in your soil with your palm has not hurt it by the time that it has reached flowering stage (mushroom), then you probably don't have much to worry about.

Or it is too late anyway.

I just added that in case someone encounters a fungus that I have not. In my experience , the fungus that you need to worry about are the ones that you can't see.

Removing mushrooms is like picking flowers. Does picking roses harm the rose bush?

 

 

[Gonzer]

Having non-native mushrooms pop up in various soil mixes is more the norm than not. This is due to the fact that the woody material included in said mixes comes initially from logs gathered in nature which have been cut and dragged to sawmills. These logs may have been dragged through various mushroom colonies where the spores adhere themselves and get processed along with the chippings. You may have a native Washington morel pop up in some dude's palm mix in Texas.

[floridaPalmMan]

12 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Afaik Dirty Sanchez isn't rotting.

Well with a name like that it doesn't surprise me that it attracted a manure loving mushroom species

[JohnAndSancho]

9 minutes ago, floridaPalmMan said:

Well with a name like that it doesn't surprise me that it attracted a manure loving mushroom species

you make an excellent point. 

[PalmatierMeg]

I have small beige fungi coming up in some of my pots, don't get concerned. You can't escape fungi; their spores are everywhere and they grow if they find enough moisture. What you may see on the surface is 1-2% of what is below. Nature needs them to clear away biological matter. Pathological fungi very likely exploit existing weaknesses of immunity in the plants they attack.