"Rick" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 21:51:58 GMT, "Laura J" wrote:

I know it's been a bit damp around here lately but this is ridiculous. I
just found some mushrooms growing in a container on my third-floor
balcony.
Obviously I'm not going to eat them, and this may seem like a dumb
question,
but are they going to cause any harm to my Sungold tomato?

There are also some tiny dots on the surface of the soil in that pot but
none of the others. Is this more mushrooms ready to sprout? This picture
is terrible so you might not be able to see them but you can at least see
the other mushrooms. The "dots" are in the white circle.

Pic: http://tinyurl.com/cv4gl

Anything I can do to prevent more of them?

TIA!

LauraJ

I definitely would not eat them, but chances are they came from
mushroom compost mixed in your potting soil. They could have come
from wind driven (or bird/insect etc.) spores as well. They won't
hurt your tomatoes, and you can just pull out and discard the fruiting
bodies as they come up. I don't know of any practical way to keep the
mushroom mycelium in your soil from sending up more fruiting bodies.

-Rick


Thanks, Rick. Sounds like there is no need to panic, then! It is just
so strange - I used the same potting soil and location for 15-20 other pots
and this is the only one it has happened to. At least they are far away
from the fruit - I would be upset if they started growing among my herbs.

Thanks again!

LauraJ