Fungi Ideas, Tips & Guides

Do you have small black flies living in your house plant compost? Or hovering around your house plants? These are fungus gnats, also known as house plant flies and sciarid flies. They’re mostly harmless – adult gnats cause little or no harm to plants, but they can become a nuisance in the home. Their tiny worm-like larvae live in the top 5-8cm of compost, where they feed on algae, fungi and plant roots. Healthy house plants usually tolerate this minor root damage, but the larvae can harm seedlings or weak plants.

Header image: A greenhouse filled with petunias engineered to glow continuously by the biotech start-up Light Bio. Image credit: LIGHT BIO INC.

The word “cancer” really puts the darkest thoughts in our minds! Amongst humans and animals, it is a truly devastating condition marked by invasive cell growth and quite a grim prognosis. But can plants get cancer, and do they suffer alike? Let’s investigate.

Learn About Bird’s-Nest Orchids Neottia nidus-avis

You know how people get paranoid and confuse a heartburn with a heart attack? They do the same with plants! We help you identify six such plant disorders commonly mistaken for diseases so you may diagnose them easily and address them with a calm and informed mind.

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What caused this small, toothpick-like mass of sawdust to protrude from the trunk of this stressed peach tree?

It’s springtime, and the trees and flowers are finally starting to bloom again. But what if you’ve got a tree or two in your yard that isn’t growing leaves like it normally would? Well, that might mean you have a zombie tree.

Ambrosia beetles are common, tiny (only about 1/16” long), and can infest hundreds of different woody plant species. In South Carolina, these little beetles typically infest stressed trees, vines, or shrubs. Females will bore into stems and branches, creating a gallery. Beetles carry fungi on their bodies, and this fungus then grows inside the galleries, often appearing as white, gray, or black. The beetles feed on the fungus that grows inside the galleries.

So the next time you spot a mushroom growing in the wild, and get confused on whether its name starts with A, or C or D – well, it can be from M!

Fungus is usually a good sign of things going bad. But it can also indicate good things happening to very bad stuff.

Though palm trees are not that fussy, but they do suffer from slow growth and issues if you ignore certain maintenance pointers. Here are some tips to keep them at the best of their tropical beauty!

This is a jelly fungus. Jelly fungi are usually found growing on dead or dying branches.

From the time of the Greeks and Romans, various fungi have been eaten as a delicacy and the expert can find many varieties growing wild which are equal, if not superior, in flavor to the mushroom (Psalliotta campestris). But there are also a number of poisonous fungi, some deadly. The field mushrooms which appear in profusion in meadows in the moist autumn days are perfectly safe, but the inexperienced townsman would be well advised to make sure first that he is actually picking field mushrooms, because some poisonous fungi are very similar. Cultivated mushrooms are absolutely reliable and a valuable food as well as a delicacy.

Jessica Atkins of Texas A&M University and Sara Oliveira Santos at Brown University have published preliminary results suggesting that commonly used gardening techniques could help grow chickpeas on the Moon.

Powdery mildew is a common disease on many types of plants. In fact, it is one of the oldest plant diseases on record – Theophrastis wrote of powdery mildew on roses in 300 B.C. Although different species of fungi cause the disease on different plants (Erysiphe infects vegetable crops and flowers; Podosphaera species infects apples and stone fruits; Sphaerotheca species infects berries, roses, some vegetable crops, and stone fruits; and Uncinula necator infects grapes), the infections are all characterized by a powdery white to gray fungal growth on leaves, stems and heads.

Learn how to make your plants thrive in the colder months with these simple tricks for successful plant propagation indoors. From using mycorrhizal fungi to creating a greenhouse effect with cloche containers, these easy methods ensure your plants stay happy and healthy. Try natural solutions like willow water and tea water fertilizer, and consider coconut coir as a sustainable propagation medium. There are more below.

My first reaction to compost tea was a fairly common response, “So you just put compost in a bucket then dump it on your plants?”  Little did I realize all the science and work that goes into making high quality compost tea or AACT (Actively Aerated Compost Tea). 

If you are looking for some out of the box tricks on how to grow spider plants faster that can actually work then you are in for a speedy treat!

Black crickets, with their distinctive hue, are more than just garden chirpers; they are symbols of intuition, transformation, and deep introspection.

Growing mushrooms in a bag is one of the easiest ways to cultivate homegrown mushrooms. If you’ve ever tried one of the boxed, mushroom-fruiting kits available online or in specialty stores, then you may already have some experience with growing mushrooms in a bag. That’s because the kits frequently include clear polypropylene bags filled with growing mediums that have been inoculated with mushroom spawn. As a result, by the time a mushroom growing kit makes it to you, that bagged substrate is almost fully colonized by bright white mycelium—the fungal organism which ‘fruits’ by putting out loads of tasty mushrooms. Still, relying on a pre-packaged grow kit isn’t the only way to grow mushrooms at home. With a few supplies and close attention to detail, you can cultivate many different kinds of mushrooms—and a lot more of them—economically in bags. Keep reading to learn more.

While growing plants from seed is less expensive, it does require extra steps when compared to growing plants or starts from your local garden center.

Mushrooms in the garden can be an unsettling sight, indicating changes in the soil and in growing conditions generally. While growing mushrooms is becoming more popular as a home interest, fungi can be unpleasant in gardens when they arrive out of nowhere. These unplanned garden guests can also be toxic, so you’ll want to remove them if you have curious children or pets.

Autumn at the garden of St Giles House

Between my gardening practices, the plants I dig into my garden, and structures like my pollinator palace, I’m always looking for ways to support bees and other beneficial insects on my property. While bee houses have become quite popular, they don’t always come with the information on how to use one.

There are lots of ways you can flex your DIY muscles around your home. But while painting furniture, building a kitchen backsplash, or grouting tile can be tackled on your own, there are some home projects that are better left to the professionals due to their complexity—and because of safety concerns.

Also known as the wood mouse, the field mouse is a small, sandy brown mammal with big ears, big eyes and a long tail. Britain’s most widespread rodent, it’s common in woodland and grassland and also frequents gardens, even in very urban areas. It eats seeds (including bird seed), plants, caterpillars, earthworms, fruit, fungi and other foods such as cat biscuits, which you might leave out for hedgehogs. It caches food to store for leaner times, although these caches are often ‘forgotten’ – you may find piles of seed husks in a corner of your shed or beneath some membrane you have laid down to suppress weeds. If the seeds are large enough – for example if you find a pile of plum stones as I often do on my allotment, you may spot teeth marks on those that have been eaten. Different rodents leave different types of teeth mark on seed husks, so with some careful investigation you should be able to identify the field mouse as your hoarder.

When a tree starts showing signs of distress, it’s not just about saving a plant—it’s about preserving a piece of nature that benefits us all. In this guide, we’ll explore practical and effective steps on How to Save a Dying Tree.

It’s no secret that getting outside is good for you. A little sunshine, fresh air, and outdoor exercise can banish stress and encourage an elevated mood. Even if you’re not interested in taking long hikes or playing touch football, gardening is an excellent way to harvest the benefits of the outdoors.

Identifying bed bugs can be challenging, especially for avid gardeners who frequently encounter a variety of insects in their green spaces. While bed bugs are notorious for their indoor infestations, several outdoor bugs bear a striking resemblance to them, creating confusion and concern. This comprehensive guide’ll help you easily identify Bugs That Look Like Bed Bugs!

There's a new plant feed range on the block, and it's scientifically designed to help your plants perform better than ever before! Empathy Mycorrhizal Fungi Rootgrow is a new selection of organic plant feed that uses science to help your plants thrive. But what is Mycorrhizal Fungi? And what can it do for your plants that your average feed can't? Let's find out.

Honey fungus can wreak havoc in gardens. Named after its honey-coloured mushrooms, which sometimes appear in late summer and autumn, it comprises several species in the Armillaria genus, which spread underground and attack and kill the roots of woody and perennial plants.

Header image: ESA’s Large Diameter Centrifuge (LDC) running at full speed. Image credit: ESA –A. Le Floc’h

Can You Compost Diseased Plants?

Our fantastic selection of Mushrooms that Look like Flowers will surely surprise you with their colros, shapes, and forms!

You may not always think of your yard or garden as an ecosystem, but it is. As the gardener, you are part of the ecosystem too. How you garden impacts the ecosystem and the surrounding environment. It’s important to understand what this means, so you can make the right choices to maintain a healthy garden ecosystem.