The Annoying Downside That Can Come From Growing Mushrooms At Home

With so many varieties of mushrooms you can grow at home, it can be tempting to start your own mushroom garden. You could keep a regular supply of these healthy cooking ingredients growing in your home. Unfortunately, it may not be as easy as you might think to produce a healthy mushroom crop in your house. Beyond the common mistakes everyone makes when growing mushrooms at home, there is one annoying downside that can impact your growing and (potentially) living environment: pests.

The types of pests you may deal with depend on your growing environment. If you are growing indoors, you can reduce the risks of some major pests like slugs, but your crop will still be susceptible to flies that are damaging to mushrooms. Indoor environments can also be sterilized and controlled to reduce the risks of fly invasions. If you are planting outdoors, you may have more issues with pests in addition to flies, like slugs, nematodes, fungus gnats, and mites. In either case, phorid flies and sciarid flies are among the most damaging and hard-to-manage pests that become a major annoyance for mushroom cultivators. If you suspect a fly invasion, place your mushrooms in a plastic container in the fridge; the cold will draw any larvae out.

Phorid flies are tiny, and they look very similar to fruit flies. Though phorid flies are not the same as fruit flies, they can be just as annoying and difficult to get rid of. Females lay their eggs on spawned compost because the larvae feed on mycelium. While their feeding habits aren't known to cause significant damage to mushroom crops, they introduce fungal diseases when they land on crops. Plus, their presence can reduce growth and negatively impact mushroom crop yields.

The good news is, they don't present any immediate health risks to humans. In addition, they will only reproduce on your mushroom crop, so if they have invaded your living space, you don't have to worry about them reproducing in drains or other moist areas of the house. They generally won't reproduce in your yard, either, unless there is a significant source of mycelium for larvae to feed on. They are attracted to both natural and ultraviolet light, so you may see them gather toward windows or grow lights.

To remove the flies, vacuum up dead flies that have collected. For live flies, you can try using light traps or sticky traps. However, certain sticky traps can have chemicals that can be transferred to your mushroom crop if flies come in contact with both the traps and the compost. Instead, stick with chemical-free traps or the vacuuming method to control the population.

Sciarid flies are much more damaging to mushroom crops than phorid flies. These flies look less like fruit flies and more like small mosquitoes. They burrow through the stems and caps of mushrooms, and their eating habits can destroy the mushroom completely. In addition, they introduce bacteria and other organisms that will cause your crops to decay. Some common pathogens that they can introduce include mites, nematodes, and mold spores. Sciarid flies do not invade in as large of numbers as phorid flies, but you can recognize their presence from the appearance of small pin-sized holes on the tops of mushroom caps where adult flies emerge.

Sciarid flies do not like light, so light traps won't work to eliminate them. You also probably won't notice them around the house since they are more active at night. Sticky traps can help with the adult population, but may not be effective in eliminating the problem completely. Partner pest control practices with improved grow room control conditions and sanitation to take care of the problem.