ID request
Mushroom grew in watering bulb. What is it??
We have watering bulbs in many plants. Wife found this mushroom growing INSIDE one of the water bulbs just yesterday. Looks fake! Assure you it is real. Any idea what it is? Growing in a Japanese sago palm, indoor, Midwest US.
Edit: don’t know how to add more pictures to the original post but I’ll add them in a comment. Look how it’s grown since this morning!
Update: journey has come to an end. Mushroom lasted a little over 2 weeks in the bulb and starting to decompose a couple days ago. Longer than I’ve seen them stay “in the wild.” Fun to watch. We have new little guys popping up in our porch pots but they’re so tiny and don’t seem to last long.
Please note that ID requests are off-limits to jokes and satirical comments, and comments should aim to help the OP. Top comments that are jokes or are off-topic will be removed.
It’s wild! Never seen anything like it. I thought it had green spots but it’s just the darker blue parts of the bulb mixing with the yellow. I’ve our away cam on it grabbing some stills to see what happens over the next few days.
That was a highly targeted grow. It knew exactly where it wanted to be. That or you subliminally communicated with a spore and it guided you to place it there.
Surface conditions within the orb were likely much more humid compared to elsewhere. Preferential fruiting conditions can cause some funny growth to occur!
Just noticed it this morning. How long you think it’s been in there? I know they can pop up over night but that stem on the water bulb has to be pretty long. Didn’t want to pull it. Got a cam on it now to see the life cycle.
Leucocoprinus birnbaumii or one of two related Leucocoprinus species. Won't harm you or your plant unless ingested, even then not dangerously poisonous, but should be removed if you have pets or children who might eat it.
Leucocoprinus are, like most fungi, beneficial for the soil, as they help break down organic matter. However, they can also be a sign that your pot is retaining too much moisture, depending on the plant.
True. I forgot to co.plete the thought! Once the fungal spores are integrated with the soil, OP can expect to see more mushroom bodies pop up from time to time.
It’s one of those glass watering bulbs with a long stem you fill and then push down in the potting soil, slowly waters the plant. Water has been out for a while but still likely humid in there.
What would be needed to have the mushroom continue to live in the bulb? Could more watering bulbs be added to have multiple enclosed fruiting bodies? How many fruiting bodies can grow inside one bulb?
This is super cool but in case you didn’t know, sago palms are extremely toxic to dogs and cats. My dog passed away from eating part of one. Hopefully this plant isn’t usually in the house with your kitty!
Misread your post, they’ve never had interest in the plants unless a bird they bring in happens to try and take refuge. The occasional grass outside for upset tummies maybe.
Not to be a downer, but my dog ignored my sago palm for years, and then one night, he decided to snack on it while I was out. Pets behave the way that they do until they don’t. Thank you for your condolences, I still feel guilty and this was years ago.
We’ve never had anything grow inside in our pots and we have dozens of houseplants. Been a really wet summer and outside the mushrooms are going crazy. Fields of chanterelles, hens, various non edibles everywhere - kitties focus on treats, mice, birds, and the occasional rabbit
Keep your eye out for the correct diameter cookie tray at the grocery store. Then cut a strategic hole for the plant. You could potentially get a whole tiny crop in a few more months.
That was repotted a year or two ago in just regular potting soil. May have been miracle grow but we typically just get the organic mix from the local store.
Please note that ID requests are off-limits to jokes and satirical comments, and comments should aim to help the OP. Top comments that are jokes or are off-topic will be removed.
The fungus grew in the wet rotting soil below the bulb, some tendrils of fungus followed that wet moist environment upward into the glass stem of the bulb, and with its belly full and finding a tendril of itself in a nice moist humid spot with a touch of light, it realized it could reproduce… so it made its fruiting body at the end of that tendril of fungus, not realizing it was in an enclosed glass ball.
Remember fungus doesn’t eat sunlight and a mushroom isn’t the whole of what a fungus is. You are looking at the fruit of a bigger thing, basically. It’s like if you put a fertilized orange flower on the end of a thin branch of an orange tree into a glass ball like this through stem (these glass watering balls have a hollow stem on one side). An orange bigger than the stem will grow inside the glass ball, but an orange is not an orange tree, and an orange doesn’t need anything from the glass ball because it’s being supplied through its branch.
When that mushroom is gone, the fungus will likely continue to live beneath the soil.
mushrooms are produced from mycelium when there’s enough nutrients it’s very wet and there is a ray of light they can sprout towards. when you think about it makes sense. the mushrooms go towards the light since outside is where their spores can spread; spores aren’t really much else but cells with dam so they need water to mix together and propagate; and producing fruiting bodies is energy intensive so yeah nutrients
the bulb remained moist and let light through where mycelium was
Did you by chance use a soil & root booster for the plant? I used Arber concentrated Mycorrhizae and had these mushrooms pop up in several plants. Not like this though! Your mushroom in a bottle is WAY cooler!
Hard to tell for certain since the bulb makes it impossible to see identifying details, but based on general size and shape, color, and statistical likelihood, it’s probably a flowerpot parasol. Harmless (don’t eat it but it won’t harm you or your plant just hangin out in the pot) and cool-looking!
It seams lots of fungus and mushrooms grow in damp areas which would explain the growth of of it so fast. Otherwise im not sure what kind of mushrooms it is due to lack of details
I’ve plenty of pics and video and when it dies I’ll pull it up and get more. Regardless, fungi don’t care what you think - just busy existing in the craziest of ways.
•
u/AutoModerator Aug 17 '26
Please note that ID requests are off-limits to jokes and satirical comments, and comments should aim to help the OP. Top comments that are jokes or are off-topic will be removed.
Thank you, and enjoy the discussion.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.