surprise!

[the_siobhan]

I just went to water my plants and um, what?



Anybody know anything about mushrooms?

Comments

[ysilme]

Just asked my botanist spouse (hobbyist but quite experienced and well-read in all growing things), and he thinks it's not a good sign; mushrooms aren't supposed to grow in potted plants _at all_. Reason might be too humid/too much watering, and repotting it with removing as much of the old soil as possible wouldn't be a bad idea.
Additional question: is there any chance that a domesticated critter has mistaken this as a litterbox? We're always getting mushrooms of such kinds in the most untypical spaces anywhere a cat has sh**t in the garden, so that might be another explanation.

[the_siobhan]

What's weird about that is that 1) I just repotted this thing a week ago and 2) it's a succulent so it already gets less water than a lot of the other plants I have here.

The cat connection is unlikely, they are only allowed in my office when I'm here to chaperone in part because Dr River Song likes to eat plants and so all the poisonous ones are sequestered here.

[ysilme]

In that case I think it might very likely be the new soil. I'd just remove the mushroom, with as much soil underneath as possible, and wait what happens. :o)

[the_siobhan]

Although we did just have a couple of very humid days with no air con. :-P

[sylvanwitch]

I get mushrooms in some of my potted plants I keep in our glass solarium and some of them look like that. Usually, they shrivel up into grown husks, often within a day or two of growing. I've never worried about them, and my cats have never bothered them. I recognize that this is merely anecdotal evidence, however, so probably not helpful. ;-)

[the_siobhan]

I think I've figured out what it is.

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/leucocoprinus-birnbaumii/

[ysilme]

Fascinating! (For me, also the name, as it's German in origin - birnbaum = pear tree ^^ - it has the colour of one of our most typical pear varieties, perhaps for that reason)

[sylvanwitch]

Thank you! That's exactly how mine appear as well. I'll make a point of digging them out and disposing of them next time they appear in my greenhouse pots!

[greylock]

It's like magic!
I get them all the time outside in winter, popping up randomly.
Never inside.