What you see is the fuiting bodies of the actual fungus, which is a network of tubes (the mycelium) which is intertwined with the foodstuff it is using. The mycelium can be vast, stretching over a number of square miles, or attached to a single plant. Yours is probably towards the smaller scale of that.
But you would need to get rid of the mycelium to stop the fruiting bodies growing and that is pretty much an impossible task. It will cease to exist itself when the foodstuff (probably rotting roots or other vegetable matter) is depleted. But it will reappear from the millions, billions, trillions (and more!!) spores still in the ground. Mushrooms will help the compost form, as will adding nitrogen and lime in the form of chemicals such as Garotta, which also includes fungal and bacterial spores to speed up the process. > On 20/07/2026 19:26 BST John Sessoms <[email protected]> wrote: > > > These have come up in the SAME SPOT every time I've seen them. > > I'm thinking pulling them up just after they sprout next time and let > them do their thing in the compost bin. > > Maybe if I do the same thing every time they sprout it might eventually > discourage them from coming up in that spot. > > Back at my old house I had marvelous compost bins - all my grass > cuttings, wood chips and appropriate food waste - whenever I'd turn it > I'd find earth worms (Lumbricus terrestris) ... HUGE earthworms 6 inch > (15.24cm) or longer and the compost made the richest, blackest "potting > soil" mix, better than anything you will find at the big box home > improvement stores. > > Back there it was all deciduous trees (and my chipper/shredder was > working) so the compost decayed fairly rapidly. > > Out here I don't really have any soil and the compost has a lot of pine > needles in it. They don't decay very rapidly ... good for mulch, but > slow to decay. > > I need some ways to help the process along (and I need to get the > chipper/shredder working again). I'm hoping adding mushrooms to the > compost will help. > > And I'd really like to have the "topsoil". > > On 7/20/2026 3:32 AM, Henk Terhell wrote: > > If there is one thing I've learned of photographing mushrooms over the > > years is to be careful with identifying. > > There are many items to consider such as size, appearance of the cap, > > stem, gills and spores as well as the location. > > Pictures usually show insufficient information and ai apps therefore > > fail in many instances. > > I don't think you should bother about which way to dispose of these > > mushrooms as you won't get rid of the underground mycelium anyway. > > > > Henk > > > > Op 20-7-2026 om 04:08 schreef John Sessoms: > >> Are these mushrooms poisonous? > >> > >> https://flic.kr/p/2spZP5W > >> > >> https://flic.kr/p/2sq2bEj > >> > >> I'm NOT planning to try to eat them. I get edible mushrooms from the > >> grocery store. > >> > >> But if they're poisonous I want to try to get them out of my front yard > >> > >> And if they're NOT poisonous, I want to try to get them INTO my > >> compost bin. > >> -- %(real_name)s Pentax-Discuss Mail List To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
