Grow Your Own Magazine

Can anybody tell me why my mushroom compost mould has turned red and the mushrooms are covered in akind of cobweb? I am unable to download images!

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You are never too old to learn

Ooh, that dosen't sound good - sorry I can't help but I wouldn't eat them if I were you! Have you grown them sucessfully before?

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First time I have grown them. I definitely won,t eat them although I did pick a few just before Christmas and they were ok! I shall be taking them back to BQ this afternoon and see what they have to say.

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You are never too old to learn

Hi Bootie,

Not sure why the compost has turned red but a mushroom body is hidden below ground and are made up of a collection of microscopic tube-like threads called hyphae. The hyphae form a fine web of interweaving threads called mycelium which look like delicate white cobwebs. The mycelium is the part of the plant that takes in nourishment and grows larger. It can be compared to the roots, stems, and leaves of green plants.
Depending on the type of fungus, the mycelium can live on various substrates: in the ground or on dead or living organic matter.

Once the mycelium has grown to a certain point, it produces a fruiting body which emerges above the ground, bark or other substrate. The fruiting body is made up of densely packed hyphae. Its function is to produce spores, which are reproductive cells.
When the environmental conditions are favorable, the spores will germinate and produce new fungi.

I may be way of the mark but you never know!

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Geordie

Te audire non possum. Musa sapientum fixa est in aure

Thanks for the answer. I returned the box to B n Q and the girl said 'Oh your mushroom have gone mouldy!' and gave me my money back. Thats all!

But thinking on, we have had a lot of damp weather and I kept the mush. in a shed (heated) at the bottom of my garden. It's definitely back to the supermarket for the mushrooms

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You are never too old to learn

Your signature says it all!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)