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

Regular cornmeal, like you get at the grocery store is a natural
anti-fungal. Sprinkle some on the surface of the soil and it will help get
your problem under control.
If you want to learn more of the virtues of cornmeal (and tons of other
stuff) go to www.dirtdoctor.com and there should be info there. It's a god
site to visit anyway. I'm not affiliated with it.
Thomas

"Laura J" wrote in message
news:2QZwe.5734$Bn6.5287@trndny08...
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

"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

Fascinating! I certainly have a lot of cornmeal around (big fan of
polenta). I will definitely give it a try and check out the website as
well.

Thank you!

LauraJ

"Thomas" scythicon311@yahoo(dot)com wrote in message
...
Regular cornmeal, like you get at the grocery store is a natural
anti-fungal. Sprinkle some on the surface of the soil and it will help
get your problem under control.
If you want to learn more of the virtues of cornmeal (and tons of other
stuff) go to www.dirtdoctor.com and there should be info there. It's a
god site to visit anyway. I'm not affiliated with it.
Thomas

"Laura J" wrote in message
news:2QZwe.5734$Bn6.5287@trndny08...
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

Thomas wrote:

Regular cornmeal, like you get at the grocery store is a natural
anti-fungal. Sprinkle some on the surface of the soil and it will help get
your problem under control.
If you want to learn more of the virtues of cornmeal (and tons of other
stuff) go to www.dirtdoctor.com and there should be info there. It's a god
site to visit anyway. I'm not affiliated with it.
Thomas

Thanks for the tip and link Thomas. I for one appreciate it


"Laura J" wrote in message
news:2QZwe.5734$Bn6.5287@trndny08...

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