Q.Indentifying Possible Poisonous Mushrooms In A Raised Vegetable Garden Planter And How To Prevent Their Growth?
Hi … Two kinds of mushrooms are showing up in my raised vegetable garden planter’s soil. It is likely due to excessive rain and high humidity with little to no sunshine for drying excess water, i.e.; monsoon season in SW New Mexico. I usually have gardens in the ground and adding soil nutrition/supplements. This is a first with a raised planter. I have pictures taken before removing the mushrooms by hand. I am having a difficult time identifying if poisonous and if this affects the plants in the garden which will hopefully still be eatible. The soil is drying out a bit the past day or so, and less than four have popped up … and have quickly drooped/died on their own. I have attached two photos … tried to crop to smaller size bitsize for sending as attachments … and still be able to see what they look like. One is very slight white stem with a black gooey head which basically “melts and drips” down the stem, dying on its own. The other is brownish-tanish dome-like head with a thick stem a bit lighter in color from the dome. I would like to know what kind of mushrooms each are and how to treat the soil to minimize further mushroom growth. I order material to make a green-house cover t control the amount of rain it is susceptible to from this year’s moonsoon storms/rainfall. Thank you for a your assistance and helpful suggestions … RKG
Certified GKH Gardening Expert
This will be in the genus Coprinus, likely. These pose no harm to your soil or plants and are breaking down organic materials faster than if there were no mushrooms in the area. Most Coprinus are non-toxic, but inedible. Honestly, I would leave them, instead of treating them.
