What the?

[Laura J]

I know it's been a bit damp around here lately but this is ridiculous. I just found some mushrooms growing in a container on my third-floor balcony. Obviously I'm not going to eat them, and this may seem like a dumb question, but are they going to cause any harm to my Sungold tomato?

There are also some tiny dots on the surface of the soil in that pot but none of the others. Is this more mushrooms ready to sprout? This picture is terrible so you might not be able to see them but you can at least see the other mushrooms. The "dots" are in the white circle.

Pic:

I can do to prevent more of them?

TIA!

LauraJ

[Rick]

I definitely would not eat them, but chances are they came from mushroom compost mixed in your potting soil. They could have come from wind driven (or bird/insect etc.) spores as well. They won't hurt your tomatoes, and you can just pull out and discard the fruiting bodies as they come up. I don't know of any practical way to keep the mushroom mycelium in your soil from sending up more fruiting bodies.

-Rick

[Thomas]

Regular cornmeal, like you get at the grocery store is a natural anti-fungal. Sprinkle some on the surface of the soil and it will help get your problem under control. If you want to learn more of the virtues of cornmeal (and tons of other stuff) go to

and there should be info there. It's a god site to visit anyway. I'm not affiliated with it. Thomas

[Laura J]

Thanks, Rick. Sounds like there is no need to panic, then! ;) It is just so strange - I used the same potting soil and location for 15-20 other pots and this is the only one it has happened to. At least they are far away from the fruit - I would be upset if they started growing among my herbs.

Thanks again!

LauraJ

[Laura J]

Fascinating! I certainly have a lot of cornmeal around (big fan of polenta). I will definitely give it a try and check out the website as well.

Thank you!

LauraJ

[~patches~]

Thanks for the tip and link Thomas. I for one appreciate it :)