Fungi growing with my lettuce :(

[Emma74]

Hello all

I have made newspaper plant pots with the aim of cutting down cost this year! Today I noticed that I have something extra growing with a lettuce that I planted. Admittedly my paper pots were a little too damp and they were very close together. My question is, is the fungi anything to worry about, I have been using organic composts so could the spores have come from there?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Please see the pictures for the fungi. The small fungi I saw in another pot.

Thanks,

Emma

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[Billy]

The principal thing with organic is to use natural processes, and not to go all "Gunny" with synthetic fertilizers, and technology (which is OK, if you're willing to settle for less nutrients in your harvest). Usually, organic gardening means growing soil, and then letting the soil grow the plants. Organic also means that plants are grown without industrial chemicals.

Nothing is more natural than fungi. Fungi possess a broad spectrum of enzymes able to digest lignin (the tough molecules that make wood so strong) and other hard-to-eat components of plants. This gives them a critical niche in the web of decomposers; without them, Earth might be neck-deep in fallen, undecomposable tree trunks.

I wouldn't recommend eating the mushroom, but otherwise it is converting cellulose into nutrients that your plant can use. Nice fungi, good boy.

[rhubarb]

Hi Emma,

we've had those too, once, on indoor flower seedlings that got over-watered. Not sure what they are, but then we didn't eat our flower seedlings. :) You, on the other hand, are going to eat your lettuce, so you mind want to get rid of the fungi and spray the lettuce seedlings with H2O2 (a mix of half water and half 3% H2O2).

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[Emma74]

Many thanks Rhubarb!

Emma

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