23-08-2005, 03:22 PM
|
|
|
In article ,
(Doug Kanter) says...
Interesting question about the poisonous mushrooms. I don't know the answer.
Do you know how long the toxins last after the mushroom decomposes? Do you
use the compost on edible plants eventually?
Amatoxin is a long chain polypeptide that could not be incorporated into
a plant without decomposing first. Unless you plan on eating shovels
full of compost, it should be safe enough.
I think the question was if the mushroom would grow in the compost.
Since amanitas are not saprophytes, it is highly unlikely. Amanitas are
mycorrhizae, literally "fungus root", that live in symbiosis with tree
roots.
Compost piles are inhabited by saprophytes, which live by breaking down
concentrations of vegetable matter. I once got two years of agaricus
campestris, many many pounds, by spreading a manure pile one foot thick
and plug inoculating spawn every 3 feet. Every time it rained, they
fruited. After a year, lepiotas took over the fruiting, so I spread the
compost on my garden and rototilled it in. Every time I watered the
garden, I got another crop of meadow mushrooms and lepiotas.
--
http://home.teleport.com/~larryc
|