Predators

[matanai]

I've been noticing some mole or gopher or something tunnels popping up in my front yard, so it looks like he's moved from the back yard to the front! Probably because my dog is always in the back. I was a little bit upset about that because he's making a mess out of the mulch, but meh. Anyway, yesterday I was raking up grass and leaves to throw in

Comments

[kiltypleasure]

Howdy, friendly neighborhood mycologist here!

The white in your compost pile isn't the spores, it's mycelium, which is the vegetative part of the fungi. The good news is that those fungi are working hard making your compost better for your garden. They're decomposing bits of wood and leaf matter into rich humus, so go fungi!

(Also, as an interesting side note, evolutionarily speaking, fungi are more closely related to us than they are to plants!)

[matanai]

Neato! They're actually on my mulch under my sunflowers (the soil there is a work in progress anyway). I assume they would spread easy if I actually did put them in my compost? My compost is going really slow so any help it can get!

(Also, so I guess I meant, cute little alien humans! lol XD)

[kiltypleasure]

Well, the ones on the mulch are breaking down the lignin in the wood, so unless there's a lot of dead wood in your compost, it's unlikely adding it to the pile will speed up the decay all that much.

There are other types of fungi (and bacteria and other microbes) that break down the cellulose in grass and leaves, though, and those are all over your garden soil. One thing you could do is toss a couple of shovels of your garden soil in the compost pile to get those microbes to work!

[matanai]

Hmm, I don't really have a lot of dead wood in the compost, I guess that would be pointless.

So mycelium grows under where mushrooms sprout? If I went to a recurring patch of mushrooms on my lawn, would it be under there too?

I do already have at on of dirt, and I just got about 6 wheelbarrow loads of finished compost from someone else that I added in there. I think this year will be better now that my compost pile is getting quite large.

[kiltypleasure]

So mycelium grows under where mushrooms sprout? If I went to a recurring patch of mushrooms on my lawn, would it be under there too?

Yep. It's like the body of the fungus, where the mushrooms are just the reproductive parts. The mycelium is always hanging around in the soil, waiting for the right conditions (like right after a good rain) to send out some fruiting bodies.

[matanai]

Ok, it's kinda creepy how they're always there. XD I swear they must be some implanted alien device to watch us.

I wish more mushrooms were edible. I have some fly amanita... I could get high! (and kill my dog. :/)
I also wish the morels grew here, I"m too lazy to drive to the forest and find them. It would be so nice if they were just in my back yard.

[kiltypleasure]

Oh, and I forgot to say that part of the reason I decided to study fungal evolution in grad school is being they are so flippin' weird! I've always said that if I didn't know any better, I'd think fungi were aliens.

[matanai]

That's a good reason! I'm not in college yet and I'm torn between studying what interests me and what would be good financially. SIGH.

[matanai]

LJ screened your link D: Stupid LJ.

Anyway! Thank you for that link, that's awesome! I love you, marry me, let's make morel babies everywhere.