Help please! My raised garden bed appears to be having a mushroom problem. I get they can be helpful, but these guys keep popping up in big ol clumps. Initially it was no big deal until last week when I had 2 masses growing around seedlings and the stems of my green beans. I’m worried they’re feeding off my babies or are overcrowding them. Is this something I should be worried about? What should I do?
If possible, see if you can identify what kind of mushrooms they are. There are some excellent pages on FB and reddit that might be able to help if you can get really good photos. It's possible they are saprophytes, in which case they are eating your mulch. That's usually fine, just part of the breakdown process. If they're mycorrhizal fungi, that's also fine. Mushrooms usually don't last very long, so if they're not damaging seedlings, you can probably just leave them alone and they'll kinda melt pretty fast. Spores can come in with mulch or soil, blow in on the wind... They can be pretty hard to avoid. Copper fungicides might reduce their number but that's not necessarily something you want for your first line of defense. If they're wrecking your seedlings, maybe you could transplant from a starting tray? Annoying, perhaps, but could be worth it if the mushrooms turn out to be problematic.
1 LikeThank you the valuable insight. You calmed my nerves 😅 I’m 99% sure it’s eating the mulch. I used organic garden soil with local compost. I’ve had mushrooms show up in my other bed but to this extent. Thanks again!
1 Like I totally understand the nerves; we all get protective of our babies! And mushrooms can pack a pretty serious punch when they're coming up. I hope they do not uproot your seedlings!
1 Like