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Soil, Compost & Mulch

using lawn's mushrooms in compost pile

10 years ago

With the recent rains, I have mushrooms growing in some mixed borders and my neighbor has some growing in a large "fairy ring" circle on the lawn.
How do I know if these are poisonous or not, and even if poisonous can they be used in my compost bin? I do grow fruits and vegs as well as flowers and shrubs, so would poisonous mushrooms transmit their toxins to the soil, even after being composted? Any advice appreciated.

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Comments (3)

ericwi
10 years ago
I have harvested mushrooms growing in our yard, and after considerable research, determined that they were safe to eat. So, it can be done. You can find some good books, with photo illustrations, at the local library. Please understand that edible mushrooms can look pretty similar to toxic mushrooms, so you will have to study all of the mushrooms that resemble what is growing in your yard.
jean001a
10 years ago
Poisonous or not, all can be safely composted.
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Thank you, toxcrusadr, for the info. I tested my neighbor's soil mix - it's less alkaline than my pH 7.7 native soil. I once ordered a pile of dirt only - it was sticky clay, and gunked up like rocks when dried out. It's nice to have mushroom compost mixed in so the soil is fluffy, rather than gunking up.
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Honestly, I have no real knowledge about mushroom allergies. But, most allergies are triggered by a protein in the allergenic substance - the protein is the allergen. If it were me I would avoid contact with the soil as I would suspect it of possibly containing the protein/allergen. The likelihood is probably low, but there is some level of risk. The food issue is not uptake (I don't know of plants taking in soil bound proteins), but if the offending allergen is soil resident then there is a risk of food contamination from soil contact. The greatest risk would most probably be with root vegetables, then low-growing leafy stuff (lettuce, spinach, etc.), then the higher growing fruiting stuff (peppers, tomatoes). If the produce was well washed I would guess that it wouldn't be a problem, but it's a guess. edit - meant to add. you sure are lucky to have a source of SMS. I used to live about 15 miles from a major mushroom center, and the spent stuff is incredibly good compost. This post was edited by TXEB on Tue, Apr 23, 13 at 19:10
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So you know that your roses roots grew down below the potting mix and have been living in pure composted horse manure and kitty litter for years (plus whatever sand the earthworms carried in). Wouldn't it be a great thing if someone compiled the practices and results of a couple dozen florida growers of own root roses? There are tons of books out there, but nothing for Florida people doing own root. If I were 30 years younger, I'd start a virus indexed OGR on fortuniana nursery. Then we could thumb our noses at those nasty little nematodes and mosaic leaves. Thank you for clarifying the depth of your potting soil. I have dumped 6 - 7 bags of Jungle growth in a couple holes, and I understand when you say "it feels like two feet when you're trying to fill up that hole". Cheers!
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In my experience only if it's OMRI listed is it truly certified organic. If it's truly an organic approved compost, they'll have laboratory test results showing AB, AF, TB, TF, as well as the chemistry. Ask them for the test results. Also, ask yourself this: If it was capable of sustaining any kind of microbial life why wouldn't the mushroom grower have kept it? There's a reason it's so inexpensive and a reason it's referred to as "spent". Greenjeans
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toxcrusadr
10 years ago
Yep, just fine to compost. If they weren't, everything would eventually become toxic, which of course it hasn't. Somehow Nature has ways of sorting things out. It's almost like magic!

It sounded to me like the only reason you were asking 'poisonous or not' was in terms of composting rather than eating. But I second ericwi's advice if you are looking for edible ones. There are some excellent resources online. My state conservation dept. actually put a fact sheet with several dozen edible types that grow here. I don't rely just on that but online resources like mushroomexpert.com will give you all sorts of tests so that you know 5 ways to Sunday that a shroom is safe to eat.

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