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Mushrooms in the garden can be an unsettling sight, indicating changes in the soil and in growing conditions generally. While growing mushrooms is becoming more popular as a home interest, fungi can be unpleasant in gardens when they arrive out of nowhere. These unplanned garden guests can also be toxic, so youll want to remove them if you have curious children or pets.
While the discovery of mushrooms may prompt feelings of unease, they pose no risk to the health of your soil and plants. Indeed, they can have environmental benefits that are worth considering. So unless you have children and pets to worry about, mushrooms can be left where they stand. Here, we explain when (and how) to remove them, and when its OK to leave them.
Mushrooms popping up in raised garden beds are a common occurrence that often takes gardeners by surprise. While some view these fungi as a nuisance, mushrooms are actually an indicator of healthy soil and can be beneficial to your vegetables. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at mushrooms in raised beds, when you should encourage them, and when it may be best to remove them.
What Causes Mushrooms to Grow in Raised Beds?
There are a few key factors that create ideal conditions for mushrooms to thrive in raised garden beds
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Moisture Raised beds tend to retain moisture well, which mushrooms need to grow The gaps between boards provide shade and protection
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Nutrients: The rich soil of raised beds contains abundant organic matter for mushrooms to feed on. Regular mulching adds nutrients.
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Warmth: Raised beds heat up quicker than regular garden soil, especially the dark, moist areas around the boards.
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Spores: Mushroom spores can unknowingly be introduced through infected mulch, manure, compost or untreated wood. Once present, they spread easily in moist soil.
Understanding what mushrooms need to grow will help you decide if they are welcome guests or not in your raised beds.
Are Mushrooms Harmful to Plants?
In most cases, mushrooms are completely harmless companions to vegetable plants and trees. Here are some of the benefits they can provide:
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Nutrient cycling – Mushrooms help break down organic material and recycle nutrients back into a form plants can absorb.
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Pest control – Some mushrooms have anti-insect and anti-bacterial properties that protect plants.
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Improved soil structure – The threadlike mycelium of mushrooms creates a matrix that improves soil texture.
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Increased moisture retention – Mycelium helps soil absorb and retain water better.
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Plant partnerships – Many mushrooms form symbiotic mycorrhizal associations with plant roots, improving nutrient and water uptake.
So not only are mushrooms usually harmless, they actively improve soil health and plant growth in most cases.
When to Remove Mushrooms from Raised Beds
While mushrooms are beneficial to garden soil and plants, there are a couple situations where you may want to remove them:
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Poisonous varieties – Certain types like the death cap are toxic, so remove any you can’t identify. Teach kids not to eat wild mushrooms.
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Allergies – Spores released by some mushrooms can trigger allergic reactions in sensitive individuals if inhaled.
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Timber damage – Wood-decay fungi will eventually cause rotting of untreated timber raised beds as they break down lignin.
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Appearance – If you don’t like the unsightly look of mushrooms, promptly remove the fruiting bodies. They will regrow from mycelium.
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Overabundance – Large masses of mushrooms can crowd out space needed for vegetables. Thin excessive growth.
When mushrooms become detrimental in these ways, take steps to remove them. Otherwise, let them be.
Controlling Mushrooms in Raised Garden Beds
If mushrooms are becoming a nuisance in your raised beds, there are a few cultural practices that can help reduce their growth:
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Remove old mulch and replace it with sterile material like gravel or landscape fabric to cover bare soil.
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Allow beds to dry out between waterings to create less hospitable conditions.
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Turn and stir soil frequently to disrupt fungal mycelium networks.
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Apply lime to raise the pH – most fungi thrive in acidic conditions. Wood ash also increases pH.
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Replace any rotting wood boards that may be harboring spores. Choose naturally rot-resistant timber.
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Solarize soil by covering beds with clear plastic in summer to kill fungi with heat.
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Introduce mushroom predators like birds, toads, shrews and hedgehogs to your garden.
With persistence, these methods can help curtail mushroom growth but eradication is difficult. Learning to coexist is often the best approach.
Using Mushrooms to Your Advantage
Rather than battling mushrooms, an alternative is to embrace them and use them to enhance your garden’s health:
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Compost activators – Add mushrooms to compost piles and worm bins to accelerate decomposition of organic material.
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Mulch boosters – Chopped mushrooms increase nutrient content and water retention of mulch.
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Pest deterrents – Some varieties like Reishi repel insects. Place pieces under plants.
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Mycorrhizal inoculants – Powdered mushrooms promote symbiosis between plant roots and fungal filaments.
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Medicinal Tonics – Certain mushrooms like Chaga have health benefits and can be brewed into teas.
With a bit of creativity, those pesky mushrooms can become powerful plant allies!
Tips for Coexisting with Mushrooms in Raised Beds
Here are some final pointers for peacefully coexisting with mushrooms in raised garden beds:
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Learn to identify poisonous species and remove only those. Leave beneficial fungi.
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Pick individual mushrooms as they appear but leave the underground mycelium intact.
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Mulch around plants rather than open soil to cover potential growth sites.
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Ensure raised beds have adequate drainage to avoid overly soggy conditions.
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Rotate annual crops to prevent any one fungus from dominating long term.
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Plant mushrooms intentionally in a separate shaded bed and harvest for your use.
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Accept that fungi are integral members of a healthy garden ecosystem.
With a better understanding of the causes, benefits and occasional downsides of mushrooms in raised beds, you can make informed choices about how to manage them successfully as part of your garden. A diverse fungal population contributes to the overall biodiversity that is key to building balanced, resilient soil and plant communities. Making space for mushrooms can thus improve sustainability in your garden. So consider giving these decomposers their due regard rather than dismissing them as pests. A thriving symbiotic relationship with fungi will reward you and your plants!
How to Get Rid of Mushrooms in The Garden
If you are worried about pets or children tasting a mushroom, you can manually remove mushrooms as you see them. These types of fungi are not controlled by fungicides. Wearing gloves, you can mow or rake them, then discard the pieces deep in the compost pile or in a bag in the trash. You can also apply a strong spray of water to break them up. Since mushrooms are only the fruiting bodies of fungi beneath the soil, removing them will not kill the fungus.
Making your gardens less hospitable to fruiting fungi can reduce their appearance in your yard. A fungus in garden soil thrives in moist shade. Watering less or earlier in the day, improving drainage, and trimming shade-producing trees and shrubs can all help. Ultimately, mushrooms will disappear on their own in a few days. Sunny or drier weather also hastens their disappearance. Gardening tips, videos, info and more delivered right to your inbox!
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Why are Mushrooms Growing in My Garden?
Before you tackle their removal, it helps to understand fungi and why they seem to suddenly appear out of nowhere. Many mushrooms sprout when the right environmental conditions exist, such as moist, shady areas where decaying tree stumps, roots or mulch are found. The mushrooms contain spores that are released to the wind to further spread the fungi.
Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of fungi present in the soil, which are breaking down organic matter through a network of filaments called hyphae. These fungi live for years in the soil, and only send up the fruiting bodies when conditions are favorable, such as after rainfall. Zoonar GmbH / Alamy
How to Grow Mushrooms in Your Vegetable Garden (Materials, Raised Beds, Containers)
FAQ
Should I remove mushrooms from my garden bed?
The answer, in general, is that mushrooms in your garden are fine. Actually, the mushroom you see is just the portion of a larger fungal network that lives in all living soil all the time.
Should I let mushrooms grow in my garden?
Yes, it’s generally a good idea to let mushrooms grow in your garden. Mushrooms, or more specifically their mycelial networks (the underground part), are beneficial for soil health, helping to decompose organic matter and making nutrients available to plants.
Do mushrooms mean soil is healthy?
Good. Mushroom’s/fungus are a sign of healthy soil. They don’t hurt your plants and generally go away on their own in a few days.
How do I get rid of fungus in my raised garden bed?
- Get rid of the sick plants. Once your garden is infected, you can’t save the plants. …
- Clean up all garden debris at the end of the season. …
- Rotate your crops. …
- Plant disease-resistant varieties. …
- Use a fungicide.
Do mushrooms grow in raised beds?
Although mycelium will be present throughout nearly all forms of garden soil, mushrooms are likely to appear in slightly warmer conditions. Raised beds will often heat up quicker than ground garden beds and may retain their warmth if covered with fleecing or netting.
Can you grow mushrooms and vegetables in the same raised garden bed?
Astonishingly, you can grow mushrooms and vegetables in the same raised garden bed! Join garden expert and former organic farmer Logan Hailey to learn how to grow edible mushrooms in raised beds. You don’t need a green thumb to grow fungal fruits— mushrooms can thrive in decomposing mulch in nearly any part of your garden, including raised beds.
How to prevent mushroom growth in raised bed garden?
Now, let us discuss how you can prevent mushroom growth: Maintain good drainage in your raised bed garden to avoid overwatering issues. To improve, you can add compost and other soil amendments like coco coir, worm castings, grass clippings, greensand, cornmeal, straw, etc., and mulch the soil surface frequently.
How do you keep mushrooms from growing in a garden?
Mushrooms are likely decomposers working on the wood used to construct your beds. Mushrooms prefer alkaline soil, which may be what you’re offering them. To prevent mushrooms from growing, dust sulphur powder over the beds and water in, or use boxed sulphur powder.
How do mushrooms grow?
Mushrooms will often grow on decaying organic matter which they then feed on for nutrients. This is why you can see them bursting from old tree stumps or aged fencing. Raised garden beds may contain wood chips, chunky mulch, or timber that’s used to build the bed itself. All of these can provide the ideal foundation for mushrooms to sprout from.
How do you get rid of mushrooms in a raised garden bed?
Providing enough air circulation in the soil can eliminate mushrooms growing in your raised garden bed. Try to aerate the soil with an aerator so that there is enough air and oxygen inside the soil. This will help kill the fungus that is thriving underneath your raised garden bed. 3. Make sure the soil dries up quickly.