Daft Question! Wood Fibre arena - Mushrooms growing!!

ArcticFox

ArcticFox

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www.bryland.co.uk
Hi all

Has anyone else found their arena grows mushrooms (could be toadstools but they look like mushy's - not planning on eating them to find out though!)

My arena hasn't been levelled for a while due to time, but recently in the area that isn't disturbed I have mushrooms growing - lots of them!!

Would be good if they were edible as I love M's but I'm not convinced so will not be eating them to check!

Anything I could use to kill them off or should I just continue removing them then levelling the arena to keep them at bay?
 
No idea about Mushrooms, sorry! I have the same problem though with weeds (docks mainly) and grass in my sand/rubber school, drives me mad and takes ages to weed! I am getting a rubber top up so I am hoping this will discourage the weeds.
 
I guess its because it wood - like a woodland and is damp but warm so they thrive on it. probably why the arena doesn't freeze in winter!

Thankfully I haven't had weeds growing in it yet, but they'd be out as soon as I saw one. I do have a friend who has an arena that isn't used very often (wood fibre) and it grows lots of grass. Just not sure why mine has mushy's!
 
Picking the mushrooms won't stop them....mushrooms grow from a mycelium, which usually covers a fairly large area under the substrate. If you lift the woodchips where the mushrooms are, you'll see it, usually whiteish and looks like fine web. If you remove that, you'll reduce the problem, but given your surface and the fact that fungi can so easily take there, they will probably just keep coming back.

Why not take some pics and send them to an expert to get them ID'd. A picture of the mycelium will help them ID too. Then if edible...what a fab find :)
 
Yep I have mushrooms on the muck heap, I am sure its because I bed on wood pellets and as you say wood, warm and wet, just right for mushrooms! (or toadstools!)
 
_GG_ - i thought it wouldn't stop them coming back. I remember a paddock of ours growing up, we used to get a tub full of mushrooms then one year the weather must have been perfect - you'd have thought it snowed as the whole field was covered in them! we had people coming to pick them for weeks. then they never grew again!

is the mycelium the bit under the umbrella bit?? these a white, but after seaching I think they might be poisonous. Although there are a couple of different species I think. Will take some pics.

Bad mushrooms - ;) Although they don't stop me from riding in there - I suspect they will probably always grow!
 
The mycelium will be under ground, kind of like roots on a plant, the bit above ground is just the fruiting part and the tip of the iceberg!
 
Jesstickle said:
The mycelium will be under ground, kind of like roots on a plant, the bit above ground is just the fruiting part and the tip of the iceberg!
Click to expand...

This. The largest recorded mycelium in the world covers over 2,400 acres!!! Just because there is a mycelium doesn't necessarily mean it will be productive. You need two compatible mycelia to create a fruiting mycelium.

It's actually really interesting. What this can mean is that simply levelling the surface of your arena, you could be expediting the chances of compatible mycelia coming into contact, so you may find more fruiting areas. If you want them gone, you'll need to remove the mycelium periodically and use some form of organic killer.
 
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