Remove yellow fungus from house plant

August 20, 2017 3:52 AM

I have some yellow fungus growing in the soil around a Pachira Aquatica which has grown quite tall.

I normally water this plant from the bottom to keep the soil from getting too wet. I recently repotted the plant and saw the fungus and thought I had removed it all. Google tells me the fungus is not bad for the plant - even quite good - but can be dangerous if a child or animal ingests it. For this reason I would like to remove it or reduce it somehow. What are my options?

posted by bergnotburg to Home & Garden (2 answers total)

When I had a cat I covered my houseplant soil with decorative stones, pine cones, broken terracotta bits, sheet moss, that sort of thing. I could water "through" the decoration but the cat wasn't getting into the dirt. Since you water from underneath you don't even need to worry about watering through the decoration.
posted by xyzzy at 5:12 AM on August 20, 2017

You can apply copper based fungicides or neem oil, as described here.

Also, that's a swamp plant, not sure what you meant by 'too wet' but as long as it's not sitting in standing water for days, it can't really be too wet. I'd personally water it from the top, and that may also help with the fungus.

If you cover the top with mulch or stones the mushrooms can and will still poke through, and any dog or child that wanted to get to them could. I think netting would be a better way to prevent casual access.
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:46 AM on August 20, 2017 [1 favorite]