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In this post I mentioned that the soil in my schefflera plant's pot had been host to some yellowish fungus, but I somehow managed to misidentify some discolored perlite as the fungus in question.

However, I rediscovered the fungus yesterday; here a small growth can be seen about an inch in front of the base of the schefflera: schefflera soil fungus And here is a closeup of the same: schefflera soil fungus closeup

Then, when I was watering my philodendron, I discovered what appears to me to be a very similar, fuzzy yellow fungus on the surface of its soil as well: philodendron soil fungus 1 And: philodendron soil fungus 2

It doesn't really look quite like the dog vomit slime mold discussed here.

I removed the schefflera soil's strange cylindrical growth with a toothpick easily enough; but is this fungus something about which I should be concerned, or will simply scraping it off whenever it appears keep the problem at bay? Should I repot the schefflera and philodendron in new soil? Water less often? Or is it beneficial, and OK to leave as is?

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Colin Eagle
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  • What kind of soil did you use initially for this plant? If garden soil, this fungus and others are prolific. Use sterilized potting soil that also incorporates Mycorrhizae and Bacteria. Water deeply and allow to dry out before watering again. – stormy Aug 14 '16 at 21:01
  • I'm not sure what type of soil was used initially - I inherited both plants from family members - but both pots do seem to have a few wood & bark chips & sticks strewn about on top, which the second post I linked to suggests are favorites of fungus. – Colin Eagle Aug 14 '16 at 21:22
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    They more than likely used garden soil. I'd repot using potting soil. All soil, no rocks/gravel at the bottom, drainage hole and bottom of pot lifted off surface. No big deal, even so there are spores about and don't worry about cleaning the soil off roots as it might happen again. Use Osmocote fertilizer so there will be no problems with overfertilizing. Once or twice a year all that is necessary. – stormy Aug 14 '16 at 21:27

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Fungus are decay agents and can find a home where there is food (organic matter) and enough moisture to start. They will not cause any harm to the plant.

Solutions:

  • leave them be
  • or take a trowel or similar tool and stir up the top inch or two of soil

Generally speaking fungus and mould will not continue to do well in a pot where proper watering practices are followed: water thoroughly and let at least the top inch or two of soil dry out.

kevinskio
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Additional to the (good) answer you've already been given, you might be interested to read the link below - yellow mushrooms occurring in houseplant soil are not uncommon, and I'd suggest the yellow cylindrical object you removed was, in fact, a burgeoning, not quite developed mushroom similar to those shown in the link

http://houseplantscare.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/yellow-houseplant-mushroom.html

Bamboo
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    Yep, and to add a name, I'm pretty sure it's the yellow parasol mushroom, which can cause ulcers of the stomach (if eaten). – Ben Welborn Aug 15 '16 at 17:44
  • An informative link, Bamboo, thank you; I'm sure it will furnish some further, unrelated reading. And I am pretty sure that my little cylindrical mushroom was just a miniature version of those seen in this picture: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hI6Jy0aCjFg/TIBTEu1M9KI/AAAAAAAAABw/wiJEpUSGuf8/s280/yellow+mush+new.jpg Its a shame that she doesn't seem to have kept up with her blog since about 2011. – Colin Eagle Aug 15 '16 at 22:35