Maybe this will help. It, evidently, is not harmful to the plant at all. No fungicide is needed based on this article. Here is a link that might be useful: MSU Newsletter on Slime Mold & Plants

Rhizo, that's strange. House Plant mushrooms never grew in my succulent mediums, which are kept dry. The few times they appeared were in tropical plants where soil was kept on the moist side. Especially w/o much light. Here, outdoor mushrooms grow in shady spots that are usually moist.. eg, beside trees, or in spots in the grass where foliage from trees shadows the ground. Have you ever seen mushroom kits? The directions read to keep wet/damp in a dark spot. I don't know much about mushrooms, just what I've seen in pots/grounds kept wet/moist, and mostly shady. I once lived in an appartment. The bathroom floor wasn't level, so when a shower was taken, and water escaped through the shower curtain, it'd settle in a corner on the floor. To top that off the bottom of the toilet leaked. Every so often, mushrooms grew in that shady corner. lol. Gross looking things. The bathroom window was a Block Pane, facing north. I always thought the wetness and shade caused those mushrooms to survive the bathroom. Toni

Believe me the hard work is worth it, it all pays off in the end. If you feel you cannot go through all the cleaning process and have no place for all that soil then I would buy some new soil and mix it with what is in the pots. I would take off about 4 inches off the top layer and get rid of it, then mix in the new soil on top. Once the plants are planted use a anti-fungal spray on the roses and spray the dirt and around the rim and edge of the pots maybe that will help keep the fungus down. Do not water at night, water in the morning's and do not over water, also keep the water off of the rose leaves. If you buy new soil have the garden center guy help you take it to your car, then when you get home have someone help you take it out of your car. But I must stress NEVER, NEVER use soil from the ground in your back yard there are soil borne disease's in the soil from the ground. If you feel you want to go through the process of cleaning the pots then here is an easier way and How I would do it if I had all those pots to clean, since they are so big an easier way would be to: Take out all of the old dirt and dispose of it (since it had fungus in it) and rinse out all the old dirt from the pots with the hose on a high blast. I purchased a scrub brush on a long handle at Home Depot for $4.89 which helps at scrubbing down into a large pot, if you want to. I think you can get away with out scrubbing. Fill a large bucket with 9 parts water and 1 part household chlorine bleach, you might need larger parts since your pots are so large. Pour some of the solution down the inside of the pots make sure all of the inside of the pot is covered with the bleach solution. Let sit, if your pots are plastic a 1/2 hour is good but, if they are made out of a porous matieral clay,or cement longer would be better. You can scrub the pots with a long handled scrub brush, if you can't, I am sure the bleach will kill everything in the pot. Rinse the pots with a high blast of clear water. Let dry. As far as putting the fungus infected soil into your composter I am not to sure about that, I would think it could contaminate your compost. I don't compost because I have no room to do it so I cannot answer that. I would love to be able to make my own compost. There is a compost message board here you might want to go there and ask them that question, because that is a lot of soil. As far as using the fungas soil on other plants in the garden I would'nt but, you have alot of soil. What plants did you have in mind to put the soil on. Most plants are susceptible to fungus and/or mildew. Since you have limitations in your gardening because of your health. I would just mix the soil with half fresh soil and the soil in the pots already. Like I said above take off the top part and mix in some of the new soil and use a anti-fungal spray on the plants and soil. Because moving all that dirt is alot of work for you. I wish I lived closer so I could come and help you but I live in Arizona and you are in Canada so that is out of the question. If it is too much for you to take all the dirt out and clean the pots, don't do it, you have to do what you have to do. I believe the fungus came about because the rose's are in the garage and they are not getting any sun. I would not do this now, wait until you are ready to put them outside for the spring and summer, because it might come back if they stay in the cold garage with no sun. Good luck Carrie

This Spring I dug up a rose that wasn't do well. I actually had two of them so I thought what the heck maybe it would be better in a pot. Well, the one in the ground began to look better while the one in the pot started to turn yellow. The leaves that is. Reading a bit about containers on GW I read that putting a wick in the bottom of the pot helped drainage. So I improvised a wick with an old piece of cloth. Now the leaves are turning green. When you put a plant in the pot you interrupt the capillary action of water movement in the soil which exerts a powerful pull on water. A wick helps overcome that. More holes, small pebbles in the bottom don't do anything. I have a lot to learn about wicks, what material, how thick how long, etc. So far I'm using cotton clothes line in my newly potted roses coiled in the bottom and sticking out one of the holes.