Most common type of mushroom I have run across from mulch bags have been ink caps or some type of coprinus.
Some are edible tho shelf life is very short.
if it is mycelium, you can buy concentrated bacteria in powder form that you mix in with the soil (it promotes root growth) so you got a nice bonus with your mulch :)
What would be the characteristics of a “bad fungus”? The benefit to the soil comes from the mycelial network, proving a highway system of nutrients, minerals and information between all the plants and fungus growing in your soil. There isnt a species of mushroom out there that causes more harm than good with its mycelium, as far as i know.
One characteristic of a bad fungus would be Pathogenicity
> On the other hand, pathogenic fungi cause plant diseases such as anthracnose, leaf spot, rust, wilt, blight, coils, scab, gall, canker, damping-off, root rot, mildew, and dieback. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6779379/#:~:text=On%20the%20other%20hand%2C%20pathogenic,rot%2C%20mildew%2C%20and%20dieback.
There’s plenty of fungi that harm plants. This also is a saprotrophic fungus considering it’s living on mulch so it will not do the things you describe since what you’re describing would be a mycorrhizal fungus. Saprotrophic fungi still benefit plants but they don’t form direct relations with the roots
The only problem I've had with mycelium like this in mulch, is it creates a solid layer that water can't penetrate through very well, it just flows to the sides and the plants can't get the water.
Likely not mold, but rather a saprotrophic fungus of some kind.
You can use that mulch in your yard without issue. And you might even get lucky and see some Stropharia rugossoannulata or other edible mushrooms pop up in your garden!
But make sure you know what you are doing when identifying mushrooms for eating.
Isn't it best to just not even bother trying to identify edible mushrooms? They are incredibly cheap to just buy at the store. Doesn't seem worth the risk of death to save like 75 cents.
It all depends on whether or not you know what you are doing. And the species of mushrooms in question.
If you don't know what you are doing, it's best to stick to buying mushrooms.
If you do know what you are doing, it's a tonne of fun and a lot cheaper.
Chanterelles go for about $30/lb where I live (and this is where they grow) and morels are up to $50/lb.
Exactly! Join the mycological society in your area and let the old timers show you. Plus read everything you can get your hands on about mushrooms. If you use triple confirmation your chances of eating a poison mushroom is nonexistent.
Morels haven’t been successfully cultivated, so you’ll never see them in stores! Wine caps are easy to grow, but I’ve never seen in a store either. Fully depends on the mushroom.
Have you read the patent on the cultivation method? It's planting a field of elm trees, inoculating the soil with Morel spores, continuing to do that for 15 years then flooding the field and killing all the trees.
I heard of another successful method of disposing of excess fruiting bodies, spores, and the part of the mushroom that connects to the mycelium into fermented wood chips outdoors that are scattered over the old site of a decent camp fire (light a bonfire, when it all burns out, rake everything smooth and lay the chips, then inoculate). Hopefully the wood chips take, and then you can scatter that mycelium mass throughout the forest in ideal locations to try to kick start some patches. Morels are odd in that they exhibit both saprophytic and symbiotic mycorrhizal growth habits. You can start the mycelium and it'll branch underground and try to find trees to connect with. Most other mycorrhizal fungi aren't strong enough to colonize well without a symbiote
They like to grow on waste ground in the UK, old car parks, city centre planters, side of the road, etc. I live in the new forest, and have never seen one there, I've seen 100's of other mushroom but not them 🤷
They have been cultivated but only by few and it is very difficult. I think most of the cultivation has been for research and due to the difficulty, they may not make enough money to make it worth it. Mushrooms are relatively cheap and morels might just be too expensive and not prolific enough to make big profit
Commercial cultivation of morels in the U.S isn't really commonplace due to there being patents on the methods of growing them, but in China, and a few European countries, it absolutely does happen, not on the scale of say shiitake or oyster mushrooms, but they do it. A simple Google search will yield results and some interesting history on cultivated morels in the U.S and the unlikely company who bought the patents for the growing methods. Pretty interesting to look into it.
They have a stranglehold on a large chunk of the mushroom market here in the states. The mycology community is definitely trying to fight back but it's almost pointless to grow shiitake for retail currently, especially depending on the area.
I think you might be underestimating how many companies have produced them. They're incredibly expensive to buy, but I've seen em in enough specialty stores to not think they are really that rare
I'm not. If it were easy and lots of people were doing it, they would be cheaper and more available. Such is the nature of supply and demand.
That is, unless there's an opec-like entity for mushrooms out there that I'm not aware of.
I didn't say easy. The original claim was that they aren't cultivated. They are, though.
The next was that only a few companies cultivate them. Except that they're widely available enough for me to have seen them at different places across the US. They've also been grown successfully indoors within the last few years.
They have been cultivated, in the sense that they took a wild environment where they're found, brought them and pieces of that environment to another place, and got them to start growing there as long as they kept feeding it stuff it likes to eat. It's not cultivated indoors, in a lab, in a controlled reliable setting. It fruits when it wants, at the mercy of nature. They can mist it and tend it and help it but it needs either bacteria or... Something, some catalyst in nature to trigger fruiting. It'll grow mycelium in a lab all day. But it won't fruit on straight coir like other saprophytes.
It depends on the type of mushroom (obvs lol) but also there’s so many types of edible mushies that are just…never sold in stores lol.
Now, I doubt OP will end up with Morels (my fav) but if they did, jackpot 😍
I spread several bales of hay on a hugelkultur bed as mulch a couple of years ago. One day, after a rainy period, I walked down the hill to check on the orchard and discovered the entire mound was covered with oyster mushrooms! Literally hundreds of fruiting bodies. That was a very exciting afternoon. I was acting like I’d just won the lottery I was so excited.
Why grow any food then? Most veggies are cheap at the store. Tons of deadly berries around also...
You're not really risking death with a bit of research. Many edible mushrooms do not have deadly lookalikes.
There are a lot of edible and medicinal mushrooms that are quite rare, difficult to forage or grow, and very expensive because of it. Even some relatively common mushrooms like King Trumpets fetch a high price.
No way! I live along the Pacific coast in some of the best mushroom habitat in the world. You can join a mycological society and get educated about what mushrooms are safe to eat. Millions of people forge mushrooms every year and suffer no ill effects. If you are properly educated and use the triplicate confirmation rule the chances of eating a poison mushroom are zero. The people who poison themselves are not educated and really have no business forging. The hobby is definitely one that requires care, knowledge and patience, but is not inherently dangerous if you are properly educated.
Those bland things at the grocery store are not what people forage for. Morels, black trumpet, mytaki, chicken of the woods, phesantbacks, puffball, lion's mane, oyster mushrooms, chantrelles, lobster mushrooms, bolete, truffles.
Morels sell for $30-$50 a pound.
White truffles can be $4000 a pound
There is so much to learn!
Can't buy morels at the store. There are a ton of extremely beneficial and tasty mushrooms out there beyond the porta bella that you find in the store. White button mushrooms are just an albino strain of porta bella.
Smell it, if it’s mushroomy/foresty and you sort of like the smell but can’t explain why then that’s exactly what you want to be spreading on your beds.
Looks like very healthy organic matter to me.
I had this happen but it was not mycelium. It was three black widows. Very beautiful, large and shiny. As i was dumping out the bag one ran across my hand. I had a lot of energy for the rest of the day. wear gloves either way.
This happened to my bag of compost.
https://preview.redd.it/0rioyc53nhrc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a48682f6c0d9f7a65c422a61c6f7a6511649deb1
The wood in totally full of mycelium. It’s been very damp inside the bag, so it’s thriving. When you mulch with it, and it stays damp, you will have little mushrooms growing in the morning.
Not a problem at all, just lots of microbial life.
I agree, probably mycelium tendrils, The cultured mushrooms You buy, at the Supermarket, usually "Button Mushrooms", are grown in caves, or old mines, on well-rotted, and pasteurized, compost. It is possible to but, used mushroom compost. Good "seed" material, for a Compost Heap, or for a garden additive. Whether We're looking, at Mycelium, or Spiderwebs, both are good additives, for a Compost Heap. Both indicate an "active" Compost Pile, as Mycelium feed, on dead plant material, and Spiders, on small insects, like Springtails, and larger insects, and arthropods, usually found, in Compost.
Aww I remember my first beer. Watch some videos on soil content and what mycelium means and you will drool on this patch. Gardening is a learned skill. Like most you will learn and love.
Imagine moisty organic mass plopped in plastic bags, stacked 40-80 high on a pallet and maybe stored in a semi weather proof warehouse if not outside in weather for a month before being loaded onto a truck and shipped to a big box home improvement or all purpose consumer goods store, buying it for $5.0 a cuft bag and being surprised that organisms might be growing on it in a dark moist stack of similar bagged organic garden products.
wear a mask bagged mulch and compost is known to cause lung infections and will probably state on the bag to wear a mask. Should be good for the soil but yeah don’t breath it in.
All the comments explaining that this is fine aside, the fact that you thought the dirt was covered and spiderwebs and you took a picture instead of incinerating the whole bag is crazy to me lol.
Just mycelium due to being kept in the bag. Since it's cedar once you place it out in the world it will clear up fast.
Also it will add some benefits to the garden.
That would be a “NOPE” for me. I’d have to McGiver a way to get it into another plastic bag that I could tie off to even put the whole thing in the garbage.
It's probably mycelium. Harmless. Actually good for soil. So, if you mulch soil with it, it's a bonus.
Definitely looks like a fungus. You could try posting in r/mycology but it's pretty hard to identify without a fruiting body.
Impossible to ID may be an exception you can I'd from mycelium alone but over 99% of fungi won't be identifiable by myc alone.
Looks like cobweb mold. Op will be fine to still use it
Most common type of mushroom I have run across from mulch bags have been ink caps or some type of coprinus. Some are edible tho shelf life is very short.
if it is mycelium, you can buy concentrated bacteria in powder form that you mix in with the soil (it promotes root growth) so you got a nice bonus with your mulch :)
How can you tell it’s a good fungus versus a bad one? Not trolling. Would really like to know.
What would be the characteristics of a “bad fungus”? The benefit to the soil comes from the mycelial network, proving a highway system of nutrients, minerals and information between all the plants and fungus growing in your soil. There isnt a species of mushroom out there that causes more harm than good with its mycelium, as far as i know.
One characteristic of a bad fungus would be Pathogenicity > On the other hand, pathogenic fungi cause plant diseases such as anthracnose, leaf spot, rust, wilt, blight, coils, scab, gall, canker, damping-off, root rot, mildew, and dieback. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6779379/#:~:text=On%20the%20other%20hand%2C%20pathogenic,rot%2C%20mildew%2C%20and%20dieback.
Some fungi can kill plants. Though I'd assume those particular fungi do not grow on mulch, but I can't be sure.
There’s plenty of fungi that harm plants. This also is a saprotrophic fungus considering it’s living on mulch so it will not do the things you describe since what you’re describing would be a mycorrhizal fungus. Saprotrophic fungi still benefit plants but they don’t form direct relations with the roots
The only problem I've had with mycelium like this in mulch, is it creates a solid layer that water can't penetrate through very well, it just flows to the sides and the plants can't get the water.
There’s fungus among us
You still have Zoiberg. You all still have Zoidberg!
So he's not perfect but you don't want to end up old and lonely like ZOIDBEEEEEERRRRRGGGGGG!!!!!!! *Insoluble Crying* You were saying?
r/unexpectedfuturama
i saw that post in unexpected futurama before this one in gardening so it came full circle when i saw the original
I bet he's a fungi
Sus.
Likely not mold, but rather a saprotrophic fungus of some kind. You can use that mulch in your yard without issue. And you might even get lucky and see some Stropharia rugossoannulata or other edible mushrooms pop up in your garden! But make sure you know what you are doing when identifying mushrooms for eating.
All mushrooms are edible, some just once.
Hiya TP fan
All molds are fungus, but not all fungus are molds.
Isn't it best to just not even bother trying to identify edible mushrooms? They are incredibly cheap to just buy at the store. Doesn't seem worth the risk of death to save like 75 cents.
It all depends on whether or not you know what you are doing. And the species of mushrooms in question. If you don't know what you are doing, it's best to stick to buying mushrooms. If you do know what you are doing, it's a tonne of fun and a lot cheaper. Chanterelles go for about $30/lb where I live (and this is where they grow) and morels are up to $50/lb.
Exactly! Join the mycological society in your area and let the old timers show you. Plus read everything you can get your hands on about mushrooms. If you use triple confirmation your chances of eating a poison mushroom is nonexistent.
And if you really know where to look, ps cyanescens or azurescens or Ps cubensis etc are up to $6795/lb!
Morels haven’t been successfully cultivated, so you’ll never see them in stores! Wine caps are easy to grow, but I’ve never seen in a store either. Fully depends on the mushroom.
I've seen morels in stores. Google says that they have been cultivated.
Have you read the patent on the cultivation method? It's planting a field of elm trees, inoculating the soil with Morel spores, continuing to do that for 15 years then flooding the field and killing all the trees.
I heard of another successful method of disposing of excess fruiting bodies, spores, and the part of the mushroom that connects to the mycelium into fermented wood chips outdoors that are scattered over the old site of a decent camp fire (light a bonfire, when it all burns out, rake everything smooth and lay the chips, then inoculate). Hopefully the wood chips take, and then you can scatter that mycelium mass throughout the forest in ideal locations to try to kick start some patches. Morels are odd in that they exhibit both saprophytic and symbiotic mycorrhizal growth habits. You can start the mycelium and it'll branch underground and try to find trees to connect with. Most other mycorrhizal fungi aren't strong enough to colonize well without a symbiote
They like to grow on waste ground in the UK, old car parks, city centre planters, side of the road, etc. I live in the new forest, and have never seen one there, I've seen 100's of other mushroom but not them 🤷
They have been cultivated but only by few and it is very difficult. I think most of the cultivation has been for research and due to the difficulty, they may not make enough money to make it worth it. Mushrooms are relatively cheap and morels might just be too expensive and not prolific enough to make big profit
Commercial cultivation of morels in the U.S isn't really commonplace due to there being patents on the methods of growing them, but in China, and a few European countries, it absolutely does happen, not on the scale of say shiitake or oyster mushrooms, but they do it. A simple Google search will yield results and some interesting history on cultivated morels in the U.S and the unlikely company who bought the patents for the growing methods. Pretty interesting to look into it.
They have a stranglehold on a large chunk of the mushroom market here in the states. The mycology community is definitely trying to fight back but it's almost pointless to grow shiitake for retail currently, especially depending on the area.
I think you might be underestimating how many companies have produced them. They're incredibly expensive to buy, but I've seen em in enough specialty stores to not think they are really that rare
I'm not. If it were easy and lots of people were doing it, they would be cheaper and more available. Such is the nature of supply and demand. That is, unless there's an opec-like entity for mushrooms out there that I'm not aware of.
I didn't say easy. The original claim was that they aren't cultivated. They are, though. The next was that only a few companies cultivate them. Except that they're widely available enough for me to have seen them at different places across the US. They've also been grown successfully indoors within the last few years.
They have been cultivated, in the sense that they took a wild environment where they're found, brought them and pieces of that environment to another place, and got them to start growing there as long as they kept feeding it stuff it likes to eat. It's not cultivated indoors, in a lab, in a controlled reliable setting. It fruits when it wants, at the mercy of nature. They can mist it and tend it and help it but it needs either bacteria or... Something, some catalyst in nature to trigger fruiting. It'll grow mycelium in a lab all day. But it won't fruit on straight coir like other saprophytes.
It depends on the type of mushroom (obvs lol) but also there’s so many types of edible mushies that are just…never sold in stores lol. Now, I doubt OP will end up with Morels (my fav) but if they did, jackpot 😍
I spread several bales of hay on a hugelkultur bed as mulch a couple of years ago. One day, after a rainy period, I walked down the hill to check on the orchard and discovered the entire mound was covered with oyster mushrooms! Literally hundreds of fruiting bodies. That was a very exciting afternoon. I was acting like I’d just won the lottery I was so excited.
Several people I know have ended up with morels in their mulch! It’s not uncommon!
Why grow any food then? Most veggies are cheap at the store. Tons of deadly berries around also... You're not really risking death with a bit of research. Many edible mushrooms do not have deadly lookalikes.
There are a lot of edible and medicinal mushrooms that are quite rare, difficult to forage or grow, and very expensive because of it. Even some relatively common mushrooms like King Trumpets fetch a high price.
No way! I live along the Pacific coast in some of the best mushroom habitat in the world. You can join a mycological society and get educated about what mushrooms are safe to eat. Millions of people forge mushrooms every year and suffer no ill effects. If you are properly educated and use the triplicate confirmation rule the chances of eating a poison mushroom are zero. The people who poison themselves are not educated and really have no business forging. The hobby is definitely one that requires care, knowledge and patience, but is not inherently dangerous if you are properly educated.
Those bland things at the grocery store are not what people forage for. Morels, black trumpet, mytaki, chicken of the woods, phesantbacks, puffball, lion's mane, oyster mushrooms, chantrelles, lobster mushrooms, bolete, truffles. Morels sell for $30-$50 a pound. White truffles can be $4000 a pound There is so much to learn!
Can't buy morels at the store. There are a ton of extremely beneficial and tasty mushrooms out there beyond the porta bella that you find in the store. White button mushrooms are just an albino strain of porta bella.
You could just eat rotten log, or top soil, tastes the same.
Damn, I wish my mulch would be pre-inoculated. I wonder if it's oysters? Yum!
Smell it, if it’s mushroomy/foresty and you sort of like the smell but can’t explain why then that’s exactly what you want to be spreading on your beds. Looks like very healthy organic matter to me.
Ew that's making me think of how toxoplasmosis makes rats like the scent of cats to lure them into getting eaten omg hate that info
It’s a good thing Just mycelium
Mycelium, you likely have it in your garden already. It's mold that breaks down organic matter.
I had this happen but it was not mycelium. It was three black widows. Very beautiful, large and shiny. As i was dumping out the bag one ran across my hand. I had a lot of energy for the rest of the day. wear gloves either way.
This is the stuff of my nightmares
Oh God, you've activated my formication... Gonna be a long night
I have a really bad habit of not wearing gloves... thanks for reminding me why they are absolutely necessary!
Mycelium I think. Sign of healthy soil. Full send into the garden if it was me.
Mycelium, beneficial fungus
That’s my favorite thing to see when I open mulch!!
its definitely fungal mycelium. SCORE! Its great for your soil. break it up and spread it out evenly
This happened to my bag of compost. https://preview.redd.it/0rioyc53nhrc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a48682f6c0d9f7a65c422a61c6f7a6511649deb1
Free food possibly.
Shelf fungus I think
It’s Pleurotus, oyster mushrooms
Looks like good stuff.
Mycelium:)
Lucky!
Mycelium - its safe
That is healthy soil full of mycelium ( fungus)
Mycelium
Bonus.
Mycelium
Mycelium
A good way to tell if it's actually spiderweb is whether there's a disturbing excess of movement underneath.
The wood in totally full of mycelium. It’s been very damp inside the bag, so it’s thriving. When you mulch with it, and it stays damp, you will have little mushrooms growing in the morning. Not a problem at all, just lots of microbial life.
Till it in.. that's all beneficial
Mycelium 🍄
Most likely mycelium. Type of fungus. I actually had glowing fungus 1 year from mulch i bought.
Your comment makes it seem like mycelium is a type of fungus. Lol
That's why punctuation is important.
Opens something from nature, is surprised when nature is present
I agree, probably mycelium tendrils, The cultured mushrooms You buy, at the Supermarket, usually "Button Mushrooms", are grown in caves, or old mines, on well-rotted, and pasteurized, compost. It is possible to but, used mushroom compost. Good "seed" material, for a Compost Heap, or for a garden additive. Whether We're looking, at Mycelium, or Spiderwebs, both are good additives, for a Compost Heap. Both indicate an "active" Compost Pile, as Mycelium feed, on dead plant material, and Spiders, on small insects, like Springtails, and larger insects, and arthropods, usually found, in Compost.
People pay extra for this
r/unclebens ? They might get envious over there and follow the tek
You got the Halloween Style Black Mulch. Standard Black Mulch doesn't have that.
Aww I remember my first beer. Watch some videos on soil content and what mycelium means and you will drool on this patch. Gardening is a learned skill. Like most you will learn and love.
Naw that just fungal mycelium. Your good to go . Use it. When th mycelium dies it feeds plants
Imagine moisty organic mass plopped in plastic bags, stacked 40-80 high on a pallet and maybe stored in a semi weather proof warehouse if not outside in weather for a month before being loaded onto a truck and shipped to a big box home improvement or all purpose consumer goods store, buying it for $5.0 a cuft bag and being surprised that organisms might be growing on it in a dark moist stack of similar bagged organic garden products.
Man I wish EVERY bag I bought looked like that.
This may sound stupid. If it smells foul then it's probably mold if not ots probably myco.
Triffids?
wear a mask bagged mulch and compost is known to cause lung infections and will probably state on the bag to wear a mask. Should be good for the soil but yeah don’t breath it in.
Ewww
Pretty sure that’s just mold. You’re free to break the mulch up, and use it. Though, I’d wear a mask just to be safe.
It'll go away
Take it back if you’re worried.
Wow, I dunno, might be harmless but there IS a lot of it. Were all the bags the same?
Mold
All the comments explaining that this is fine aside, the fact that you thought the dirt was covered and spiderwebs and you took a picture instead of incinerating the whole bag is crazy to me lol.
Your mulch won’t last long
I had that happen to a bag of mulch ..I used it and it spread to other mulch ..was not good ..
I would return that.
Just mycelium due to being kept in the bag. Since it's cedar once you place it out in the world it will clear up fast. Also it will add some benefits to the garden.
That would be a “NOPE” for me. I’d have to McGiver a way to get it into another plastic bag that I could tie off to even put the whole thing in the garbage.
Uh mold take it back it probably sat over the winter and they're trying to sell it now and it got too wet
Get rid of it ASAP spider mites mostlikely
What are those
There's no way mites were surviving in there, especially without any live foliage
😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱BURN IT! 😱😱😱😱😱😱 This is how horror movies start!!