Hi guys. I've been making terrariums for a few years and last year made a few experimenting with a soil mix in some of them. I think I made it up of the following:
– bunnings premium potting mix
– orchid bark
– and tried an all purpose mushroom compost mix – thinking it would help longevity lol
Now I stick to the premium potting mix and orchid bark because some of them for obvious reasons developed some mushrooms networks in the soil and eventually some mushrooms. Not a huge problem at first just when the mushrooms would pass their life they'd leave a mess. Also, not a big deal.
However. Idk what it is in these pics. Are they a fungus, early development of mushrooms or something worse?
If anyone has any idea of what and how or if I can get rid of it if it's some kind of fungus, without having to take down and remake the terrariums entirely, that would be much appreciated.
They look beautiful but then this stuff kind of ruins their aesthetic. But at the same time I understand it's nature and I can't control certain things but surely I can avoid this from happening, just unsure if it's from the soil mix I explained or something worse that I can't really control.
Thanks for reading
by tpurplepie
10 Comments
Hey tpurplepie
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Need help identifying a mold or fungus? That can only be achieved using professional sampling methods and laboratory analysis. Your environment is too wet. if it’s a wet environment purposely it needs ventilation.
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Floooowwwweerrpooot fuuunguus
It’s not harmful but may be an indicator of too much moisture. In my terrarium I reduced moisture and tried to scrape away the most I could and most of it’s gone now
likely slime mold or mycelium
It’s normal 🙂
Maybe blue and orange isopods can help in this case, or perhaps someone can recommend a better cleanup crew.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucocoprinus_birnbaumii#Sclerotia
You could add springtails to the terrarium. They’ll eat any fungus or mold that ends up in there.
If you want to prevent it in the future you could pasteurize whatever soil mix you’re putting into there to reduce mushroom spores. The network you see is mycelium and all those little nubs are ‘pins’ which are the early stage of a mushroom.
As someone else has said your soil may be a bit wet too. Looks like the roots may have a bit of root rot. I’d let the terrarium breath a bit to get some moisture out.
Why?
Just let it do what it’s supposed to do
False sense of reality