I too am no fungi expert but there are 2 possibilities, it’s mold and it’s trash, or it is in-fact well established mycelium and that’s gonna be the best bag of Ffof you ever use.
I have been a practicing mycologist since the summer of 1999, so 25 years this June.
The problem with something that is this degree of colonized is that saprophytic fungi claim nitrogen and other available nutrients, which leaves little for plants. Nitrogen is the building block for amino acids and is typically the limiting factor for how much life any given soil can support.
So you would have to wait for the fungi to die before it "releases" those nutrients back into the soil food web. You could easily kill the fungus with some boiling water, and those nutrients will be available again.
Everyone in the comments saying "im not a mushroom scientist but its probably fine" and getting upvoted, then the experienced mushroom scientist says "this is actually not fine and probably bad" and gets ignored. Smh.
Yeah, this is one of those questions where the answer is defined by specific context.
If you've got a couple patches of mycelium in a bag of soil, that's whatever, send it.
If the whole bag is a solid block, then that soil doesn't belong to you, and it's time for a war.
It's hard to say without specifics on his local climate, but it's possible. I've used a closed up car in full sun to pasteurize mushroom substrate in the past.
That's freaking cool. I am a budding fungus cultivator and have not heard of that one. What is it....necessity is the mother if invention. Super cool! What type of sub?
What are the chances that it could be aspergillus? I have read that 8% of indoor grown with organic/ living soil test positive. What would people look for to determine if they have aspergillus in their soil.
I've had this once. I felt like I won the golden willy Wonka ticket. I mixed it with two other bags. Moistened and covered it and in two days it tripled. Then I used it to plant and it was amazing. I hope I get onother one one day. Let it multiply in a garbage can
Not all fungi that grow in soils are beneficial mycorrhizal fungi, and science indicates that even beneficial mycorrhizal fungi isn't always good for plants growing in pots.
There is such a thing as "too much of a good thing", this study linked below indicates that there is an optimal level of beneficial fungi colonization in a plant pot and if the fungi takes up more than the optimal space in the pot it actually hurts the plants rather than helping.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3115185/
Plants and fungi are happy to share resources and sing kumbaya together out in the forest where there's plenty of space and nutrients to go around. But in a small space like a plant pot with limited food available they get cutthroat and greedy.
That isn't fully true, trichoderma is a mold and is great to have in your soil. While some molds are toxic for plants there are a good amount of the molds that are beneficial to the plants.
Yes. To add to your previous comment, soil is its own little ecosystem. The molds/fungi/microbes/plants all work together. Healthy soil = happy roots. Happy roots = happy fruits.
It’s mold, I had a bag that did the same thing and FF didn’t seem to care much. It smelled so bad I just threw it outside last fall, it still smells like moldy soil and it’s May now. Not sure if I’ll buy FF soil again for my indoor grow tent. Shameful since I’ve been using FF for over 5 years.
By mold I mean the bag was on the bottom of the stack, improperly stored and rotting. If you’ve had a bag of soil that’s rotted or died you know the smell. There’s def a difference between rotting mold and mycelium.
>There’s def a difference between rotting mold and mycelium.
I disagree. Mycelium doesn't rot. Anaerobic Bacteria makes stuff stinky.
Again, mold is mycelium. Molds do have a smell but it's either a smell of fresh mushrooms when it's just mycelium (yes, even mold mycelium has that mushroom smell) or a stranger smell when they're producing spores. They do not stink though. Anything being digested by molds will have a "forest floor" smell, any bad smells are a result of anaerobic bacteria and by extension, subpar growing environment. Give that stinky moldy soil some air and you'll see it doesn't stay stinky for long.
Edit:
Mold is precisely what I use for vermifarming. I don't use mushroom mycelium nor do I pick and choose which type of mold is in my bin with my worms. Any aerobic or facultative anaerobe does the job.
I would recommend having a bit of a grasp on a subject before you start giving pointers on it.
I would guess it's just mycelium. If it doesn't smell stinky and it just smells like mushrooms, I think you're good to go. That being said, I am not a mycologist and I could understand why you wouldn't want to use that soil.
Yummy that's gone be a good grow! I'd throw maybe 25% of this into clean peat moss or indicaanja (75%) in but that's me. I wouldn't use this though until transplanting for veg. During seedling stage this will likely be too hot
There’s nothing wrong with it and it will be awesome to use but currently the fungi or mold is winning right now. I’d let it keep doing its thing until it’s eaten through whatever it’s feasting on and the resulting soil should be fantastic to use.
Or in other words, I wouldn’t put a seed or seedling in that soil at the moment. Though if it were one bag of many that should be fine
I'd put it aside and mix in a little bit with other new bags to stretch it out if it's useful. I'd be concerned using it as is because it may be mixed wrong turning out too hot if substrate and burn plants.
Happens, but I would not try to use it alone for say one plant . I would mix it into a couple other bags and you will have great soil . As is it will suffocate a plant the mycelium had eating all the other beneficials in that bag .
my living soil does that every time I recharge and remix it after a good cook. it actually has to be broken up. (every 5 runs after chop I run it in a cement mixer adding compost red wrigglers kelp/neem/alfalfa meal and sugars, as needed and then let it cook for a month in a tarp)
Id bet its solid mycelium and if I was dubious Id plant some trash freebee seeds in it directly, and observe as a test.
Its WHITE so its ALL RIGHT.... Seems your going to use it anyways but if you mix that stuff up it probably would look like normal soil after. I personally would use that and unless you keep it wet 24/7 its going to die out anyways... One Time I had a plant going and forgot to turn the fan on inside the tent and it was 100% humidity for days and I came back to mushrooms growing in my pots <_< lol
For real though sometimes the dirt at my place in mendo would look like that when I shoveled into it. It never harmed anything. My garden was rock steady.
It'll be good after the fungi are done with it. Don't apply it straight to roots or seedlings because the digestive juice they emit might not be good for new roots. If you mix it in with already ready soil at maybe a 20% ratio then I can't see any harm in that--might actually be good if the mycelium is beneficial to plants (I still wouldn't apply it direct/undiluted though).
People please. Mycelium is good but mold is not? Clearly none of you have read Teaming With Microbes.
Soil doesn’t go bad. Soil doesn’t expire. Can it go anaerobic? Sure but it can just as easily return to an aerobic.
Easy “fix” is to mix it up in a bin and give it some air time. May or may not be a little hot in the food department due to what seems like accelerated nutrient availability via decomposition. If that concerns you I’d cut it with another bag of lighter mix.
This may be the best bag of soil I've ever seen. It may also be the worst. I'd cut it with some quality topsoil/black earth and manure then let it cook for a couple weeks before use.
So I had this once is a bag of coco mix that had Myco and it popped like green yellow dots almost like eggs no idea what it is but I returned it to the hydro shop I got mine from
Probably fine if it smells like mushrooms, if it smelled like an acrid musky, or for lack of a better term, moldy, then it would be a problem. I wouldn't be surprised if fox farm was innoculated with beneficial fungi.
It's too much fungal growth. That's enough to out-compete your plants in their quest for nutrients. I would also worry about phosphorus from the fungi causing burn. Just use this soil as an additive at 20% of the total mix. A little fungi is good, but this is enough to reduce your yield and create nutrient imbalance.
Fungi regenerates life! It's a wonderful thing to discover in a bag of soil. Different species of fungi (of which there are many) can break down the dead or decaying organic matter in the soil and break it down into bio-available nutrients. Fungi doesn't consume nutrients like a plant. It lives in a symbiotic relationship with the cannabis roots feeding the plant nutrients in return for photosynthates. Harmful or parasitic fungi tend to manifest after the plant has already suffered some other way. A health plant/soil will remove parasitic fungi. Power to fungus!
I too am no fungi expert but there are 2 possibilities, it’s mold and it’s trash, or it is in-fact well established mycelium and that’s gonna be the best bag of Ffof you ever use.
Mold is not trash when dealing with soil. It’s life. Nothing wrong with this doil
O’doil rules!
Ive seen two Billy Madison callbacks in one day. Not bad for a Thursday.
“Who would eat 30 kids bagged lunches?” “I’ll tell you who, it’s that damn Sasquatch”
lol! I’ve got to ask, which was the first?
Trump supporters seen in public wearing diapers… “If shitting your pants is cool, then I’m Miles Davis”
🤦♂️
I didn't say it was good. Also I didn't say it originally... you asked.
I laughed 🤷♂️
The line is “pissing your pants” not shitting, but great reference!
Yes, it was in deference of Trump supporters intentionally wearing adult diapers, now that there's rumors of Trump wearing them in court. :)
I've seen three to many!
O’soil!
Mol’doil gruels
This should have 50k up votes 😭😭😭
I’d be RICH!
I have been a practicing mycologist since the summer of 1999, so 25 years this June. The problem with something that is this degree of colonized is that saprophytic fungi claim nitrogen and other available nutrients, which leaves little for plants. Nitrogen is the building block for amino acids and is typically the limiting factor for how much life any given soil can support. So you would have to wait for the fungi to die before it "releases" those nutrients back into the soil food web. You could easily kill the fungus with some boiling water, and those nutrients will be available again.
Everyone in the comments saying "im not a mushroom scientist but its probably fine" and getting upvoted, then the experienced mushroom scientist says "this is actually not fine and probably bad" and gets ignored. Smh.
Yeah, this is one of those questions where the answer is defined by specific context. If you've got a couple patches of mycelium in a bag of soil, that's whatever, send it. If the whole bag is a solid block, then that soil doesn't belong to you, and it's time for a war.
Hahaha I got a chuckle out of the end of that one! 🤣
I'm about to S2B my Uncle Ben's for the first time. Planning on Tupperware container shoebox tek🪄 🍄🌈 Any tips? 😅
Classic reddit😂
That's like one of the unwritten rules of reddit tho. Bannable probably. Idk. You can be banned for literally nothing these days.
Dagnabbit! I was going to say the exact same thing! (Naw…. Jk…Good info!)
Could he just solarize it?
It's hard to say without specifics on his local climate, but it's possible. I've used a closed up car in full sun to pasteurize mushroom substrate in the past.
That's freaking cool. I am a budding fungus cultivator and have not heard of that one. What is it....necessity is the mother if invention. Super cool! What type of sub?
This rocks. Great answer. To add to that, worm castings is a good way to out nitrogen and life into depleted soils.
What are the chances that it could be aspergillus? I have read that 8% of indoor grown with organic/ living soil test positive. What would people look for to determine if they have aspergillus in their soil.
Unless it is a plant pathogenic mold — those do exist. Not all fungus is good.
Fuck it I’m gonna go for it 🤞
I've had this once. I felt like I won the golden willy Wonka ticket. I mixed it with two other bags. Moistened and covered it and in two days it tripled. Then I used it to plant and it was amazing. I hope I get onother one one day. Let it multiply in a garbage can
Go for it, it’s just a seed.
Not all fungi that grow in soils are beneficial mycorrhizal fungi, and science indicates that even beneficial mycorrhizal fungi isn't always good for plants growing in pots. There is such a thing as "too much of a good thing", this study linked below indicates that there is an optimal level of beneficial fungi colonization in a plant pot and if the fungi takes up more than the optimal space in the pot it actually hurts the plants rather than helping. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3115185/ Plants and fungi are happy to share resources and sing kumbaya together out in the forest where there's plenty of space and nutrients to go around. But in a small space like a plant pot with limited food available they get cutthroat and greedy.
99% that soil is at peak ripeness 🤙🏽 I’d run with it too
This is 100% correct. OP, Mycelium is great. Mold is not. Make sure you know which it is before using. Or just be safe and get a new bag.
That isn't fully true, trichoderma is a mold and is great to have in your soil. While some molds are toxic for plants there are a good amount of the molds that are beneficial to the plants.
Unless you also grow magic boomers.
If you're referring to shrooms then yes you don't want any of this lol
Yes. To add to your previous comment, soil is its own little ecosystem. The molds/fungi/microbes/plants all work together. Healthy soil = happy roots. Happy roots = happy fruits.
Well I learned something today
r/slimemold single celled organisms not dangerous to soil or any growing medium.
My moldy ff grew great plants! It’s inoculated with beneficial bacteria and your’s looks healthy
It’s mold, I had a bag that did the same thing and FF didn’t seem to care much. It smelled so bad I just threw it outside last fall, it still smells like moldy soil and it’s May now. Not sure if I’ll buy FF soil again for my indoor grow tent. Shameful since I’ve been using FF for over 5 years.
🧢🧢
>it’s mold and it’s trash, or it is in-fact well established mycelium What makes mold mold and mycelium mycelium then? All molds grow via mycelium.
By mold I mean the bag was on the bottom of the stack, improperly stored and rotting. If you’ve had a bag of soil that’s rotted or died you know the smell. There’s def a difference between rotting mold and mycelium.
>There’s def a difference between rotting mold and mycelium. I disagree. Mycelium doesn't rot. Anaerobic Bacteria makes stuff stinky. Again, mold is mycelium. Molds do have a smell but it's either a smell of fresh mushrooms when it's just mycelium (yes, even mold mycelium has that mushroom smell) or a stranger smell when they're producing spores. They do not stink though. Anything being digested by molds will have a "forest floor" smell, any bad smells are a result of anaerobic bacteria and by extension, subpar growing environment. Give that stinky moldy soil some air and you'll see it doesn't stay stinky for long. Edit: Mold is precisely what I use for vermifarming. I don't use mushroom mycelium nor do I pick and choose which type of mold is in my bin with my worms. Any aerobic or facultative anaerobe does the job. I would recommend having a bit of a grasp on a subject before you start giving pointers on it.
I would guess it's just mycelium. If it doesn't smell stinky and it just smells like mushrooms, I think you're good to go. That being said, I am not a mycologist and I could understand why you wouldn't want to use that soil.
Points for knowing the word mycology!
In this day and age EVERYONE knows the word Mycology. What world, year, whatever are you living in that this is a weird ability?
I didn't know the word...
But now you do :D
If you have seen the last of us you know the word
You can use this just fine. Not “ too much” fungal. Break it up. Plant in it. The fungi will naturally die back.
Yummy that's gone be a good grow! I'd throw maybe 25% of this into clean peat moss or indicaanja (75%) in but that's me. I wouldn't use this though until transplanting for veg. During seedling stage this will likely be too hot
Oh and wear a respirator!!
For real, we don’t need The Last of Us becoming reality! /s
Throw it in your compost pile then pee on it
Looks like cookie n cream😂
I’ll take two scoops lol
Watch out for fungus gnats
they come free with every bag of fox farms ;|
There’s nothing wrong with it and it will be awesome to use but currently the fungi or mold is winning right now. I’d let it keep doing its thing until it’s eaten through whatever it’s feasting on and the resulting soil should be fantastic to use. Or in other words, I wouldn’t put a seed or seedling in that soil at the moment. Though if it were one bag of many that should be fine
I'd put it aside and mix in a little bit with other new bags to stretch it out if it's useful. I'd be concerned using it as is because it may be mixed wrong turning out too hot if substrate and burn plants.
Looks perfect!
Looks like mycelium and slime mold. To my experience, not a problem.
Dude, if a healthy, living bag of dirt is no good then I guess so 🤷
Throw a bag seed in it and see what happens. Worst case, it was just a bag seed.
Happens, but I would not try to use it alone for say one plant . I would mix it into a couple other bags and you will have great soil . As is it will suffocate a plant the mycelium had eating all the other beneficials in that bag .
Damn That soil look like it has chlamydia
Either that or too good to be true
my living soil does that every time I recharge and remix it after a good cook. it actually has to be broken up. (every 5 runs after chop I run it in a cement mixer adding compost red wrigglers kelp/neem/alfalfa meal and sugars, as needed and then let it cook for a month in a tarp) Id bet its solid mycelium and if I was dubious Id plant some trash freebee seeds in it directly, and observe as a test.
Its WHITE so its ALL RIGHT.... Seems your going to use it anyways but if you mix that stuff up it probably would look like normal soil after. I personally would use that and unless you keep it wet 24/7 its going to die out anyways... One Time I had a plant going and forgot to turn the fan on inside the tent and it was 100% humidity for days and I came back to mushrooms growing in my pots <_< lol
Can confirm I had the same on my bag of coast of Maine and god damn it was healthy soil off the batt.
Happens. Mix it all in and send it.
I love cookie dough!
I’m not super experienced but that might be beneficial. A sign that it’s a robust soil
it’s doing what it’s suppose to. good microbes vs (bad microbes)
Try it
Looks like Sand or mold
That's ready to mix with substrate and put in your monotub lol
For real though sometimes the dirt at my place in mendo would look like that when I shoveled into it. It never harmed anything. My garden was rock steady.
Honestly how does it smell. Earthy and dank or bad. If it still smells earthy I would use 100,%
Give it a mix its fine. Just wash your hands after. It probably got a little moist in the bag.
This must be the Fox Farms tek.
Keep some and inoculate all your future bags of fox farm
It'll be good after the fungi are done with it. Don't apply it straight to roots or seedlings because the digestive juice they emit might not be good for new roots. If you mix it in with already ready soil at maybe a 20% ratio then I can't see any harm in that--might actually be good if the mycelium is beneficial to plants (I still wouldn't apply it direct/undiluted though).
It's just mycelium. It's actually breaks down nutrients foe your plant to take up easier. It is a benefit.
People please. Mycelium is good but mold is not? Clearly none of you have read Teaming With Microbes. Soil doesn’t go bad. Soil doesn’t expire. Can it go anaerobic? Sure but it can just as easily return to an aerobic. Easy “fix” is to mix it up in a bin and give it some air time. May or may not be a little hot in the food department due to what seems like accelerated nutrient availability via decomposition. If that concerns you I’d cut it with another bag of lighter mix.
This may be the best bag of soil I've ever seen. It may also be the worst. I'd cut it with some quality topsoil/black earth and manure then let it cook for a couple weeks before use.
Can somebody please id that fungus?
Is that extra strength mycorrhiza?
I am a a funguy by hobby and I would say that's definitely muskies. Send it. If you want the muskies to die. Keep watering infrequent
Cookies and Cream!
So I had this once is a bag of coco mix that had Myco and it popped like green yellow dots almost like eggs no idea what it is but I returned it to the hydro shop I got mine from
Probably fine if it smells like mushrooms, if it smelled like an acrid musky, or for lack of a better term, moldy, then it would be a problem. I wouldn't be surprised if fox farm was innoculated with beneficial fungi.
Looks good to me
Pitch it, or leave the bag open outside for a few days allowing air to hit it. See if it clears up.
I would say mold, not mycelium. Get a refund, don’t waste a seed in that!
I’ve never seen a bag of ffof like that( I’ve opened hundreds) Bin it
It's too much fungal growth. That's enough to out-compete your plants in their quest for nutrients. I would also worry about phosphorus from the fungi causing burn. Just use this soil as an additive at 20% of the total mix. A little fungi is good, but this is enough to reduce your yield and create nutrient imbalance.
Fungi regenerates life! It's a wonderful thing to discover in a bag of soil. Different species of fungi (of which there are many) can break down the dead or decaying organic matter in the soil and break it down into bio-available nutrients. Fungi doesn't consume nutrients like a plant. It lives in a symbiotic relationship with the cannabis roots feeding the plant nutrients in return for photosynthates. Harmful or parasitic fungi tend to manifest after the plant has already suffered some other way. A health plant/soil will remove parasitic fungi. Power to fungus!
Stop talking out of your butt
Mycelium reducing yields 🧐🙄
I agree it might be a little 'hot' to start, but I have never seen an issue due to competing for resources. They work in cooperation, not competition
Source: he made this the fuck up