My recycled pallet planter box now has mushrooms growing out of it

I wanted to make a sustainable veggie garden using old pallets from behind my work. I built a simple planter box and filled it with soil from my yard. After the first rain, a whole bunch of weird mushrooms popped up overnight. They look like little umbrellas and I have no idea if they're safe or not. My neighbor joked that I accidentally started a fungal farm instead of growing tomatoes. Has this happened to anyone with upcycled wood projects?

3 comments

3 Comments

willowg841mo ago

Those little umbrella mushrooms are probably just a sign of the wood breaking down. It happens all the time with untreated, damp lumber. Unless you're planning to eat them, I wouldn't stress. They might even help your soil. My guess is they'll dry up and vanish once the sun comes out for a few days. Your tomatoes will be fine.

james_chen341mo ago

My old raised bed did the same thing after a week of rain lol. Had a whole little city of those tiny white mushrooms in the corner. It freaked me out at first, but willowg84 is right, they just dried into weird little papery bits when the weather turned hot. My peppers next to them were totally fine, actually had a great yield that year. Damp wood just does that sometimes.

the_avery1mo ago

Wait they just showed up overnight? That's wild, mushrooms don't mess around do they. Have they spread or is it just that one spot?