Will mushrooms, 'fungi' hurt other veggies?

[zeroma]

I've been collecting mushrooms that just pop up in the lawns around my house, put them into a 17 gallon Rubbermaid storage tub along with some other bits and pieces of found green and brown compost making things, small twigs, green and brown foliage, pine cones, bark, adding spent coffee grounds and I have been adding some half finished compost.

I covered it in a warm garage and volia, I had more mushrooms!

Since I wanted the mushrooms - thinking it would help break down my small twigs, barks, etc now I'm having second thoughts. What if the mushrooms I've picked are poisonous?

Since this compost is going to be used in raised beds eventually, will it hurt anything I grow in this bed if some of the possible poisonous fungi pop up? Will it poison cabbage or onions or lettuce growing in the same soil?

[Redbaron]

Most fungi are helpful to plants as they help complete the nutrient cycle. Even fungi poisonous to eat are generally beneficial to the garden.

[Darren Abbey]

duplicate : http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=29353

[zeroma]

Originally Posted by Redbaron

Most fungi are helpful to plants as they help complete the nutrient cycle. Even fungi poisonous to eat are generally beneficial to the garden.

'even fungi poisonous to eat are generally beneficial to the garden'...but would poisonous fungi also poisonous the soil?

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by zeroma

'even fungi poisonous to eat are generally beneficial to the garden'...but would poisonous fungi also poisonous the soil?

I can't think of one. Maybe there is? I don't know of any. A mushroom (or toadstool) is the spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus. Even if it is poison, that doesn't mean the body underground is poison. And even if the fungus underground is poison, that doesn't mean it has the ability to somehow transfer that poison to crops.

Keep in mind that there are certain filamentous fungi like fusarium that can be disease in plants and poison to animals. There are a very few molds too, that can be either poison or opportunistic pathogens. But I don't know of a single mushroom bearing fungus, that also can make a crop poison. As a general rule, the ones that make mushrooms are considered beneficial. If there is an exception to this rule, I don't know of it. Maybe there is a Botanist with a specialty in mushrooms that might know an exception?

PS So you see zeroma, by adding mushroom bearing fungi to the compost and soil, these beneficials can have a better chance to out compete the rare disease fungi like fusarium in the soil. Less things like fusarium in the soil means less chances for plants to become diseased. This is the primary reason tomatoes grown in healthy soil are less likely to become diseased. The beneficial soil biology (which includes but is not limited to mushroom bearing fungi) actually makes it LESS likely for a pathogen or poisonous condition to occur in your plants or produce.

Fighting microbes with microbes

[habitat_gardener]

I've always put mushrooms/fungi in my compost, too, including Dog Vomit Fungus (actually a slime mold -- you can find photos online), which is pretty common in the winter. It grows on wood-chip mulch.

[zeroma]

Yeah, dog vomit fungus is all over the garden where I volunteer! We have wood chips all over the ground between the raised beds. I too put that into the compost pile.

I guess I'll continue to pick the 'found fungi' from the lawns and keep them going in my compost bins at home too. It is really quite fun to open the box and see new "gis".

Thanks all for your posts.