Ed's quarantine experiment was quite simple.
Isolate.
Observe.
[Aberrant Mushroom]
Aside from an occasional assessment, there wasn't much else for him to do and the assessments weren't particularly useful.
The mushrooms were always either aberrant or his own. Why?
Well, the virus just killed his fungi when it was isolated. The infected fungi then took that ground but further observation showed that the aberrant mushrooms did not have a large lifespan. They would die often and return, though lessened in numbers.
'It is clear that the virus does damage the host since it sacrifices stability for rapid growth' It was obvious to Ed why this would be beneficial behavior for a virus. The faster its host grew, the more ground it could cover and spread to other fungi.
'As long as there are other fungi to spread towards, this strategy is flawless' Like a wildfire, the virus would eat up the local fungi.
