Why Do Mushrooms Grow in My Mulch?

Mushrooms in Mulch

• Mulch and compost piles are made up of organic matter, an excellent fertilizer for plants, including fruits and vegetables. That same organic mix also provides an almost perfect source of support and nutrition for opportunistic growers like fungi (mushrooms).

Mushrooms

• The mushroom is a fungus. It grows from spores rather than from seeds. Mature mushrooms release up to 16 million spores in their lifetimes, so any area that has had mushrooms in the past is likely to sprout new ones.

Mushroom Growing Needs

• Mushrooms require warmth, nutrition and moisture to grow. These needs are all very effectively met in a compost pile or mulch layer, which further encourages their growth.

Mushroom Uses

• Mushrooms that are growing in mulch or compost can easily become a part of that mulch or compost pile. Breaking them off and turning them over means that they become part of the rotting organic matter. This does, however, virtually guarantee that more mushrooms will grow in the area.

Considerations

• Many mushrooms, like truffles and chantarelles, are considered delicacies. Other mushrooms, however, can be poisonous. Wild mushrooms should never be eaten unless positively identified as safe.