mushrooms growing in my composter

by audrey
(sw ontario, canada)

should I take out mushrooms that have started growing in my composter

Doug says you obviously don't have a fast or hot compost going there. :-) Take them out or start turning the compost regularly for peace of mind.

A mushroom is another fungal form and not a problem for the composter or compost. It will die if the compost starts to heat up.

Avoiding mushroom spores is probably a good thing because you don't want them spreading all over your garden so taking them or killing them off by turning the pile would be useful.

In general, unless you bury the spores or mushroom parts in the garden, they should dry out and not be a problem (if you spread the compost). So you could leave them inf you're spreading and not burying the compost.

If you bury your compost, I'd be tempted to control the growth and spread of this fungus because I don't want to introduce it to rotting material in my garden. But again, it's a minior problem and easily controlled in the garden.

But I'm not worried about it. A minor inconvenience.