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HELP! Getting side of Stinkhorn mushrooms
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Posted by AlbertaAnne Edm, AB (My Page) on Mon, Aug 30, 04 at 19:31
| Does anyone know of a good way to be rid of stinkhorn mushrooms? I have a bunch by my back door and they are horrid little things! The reek and they attract all kinds of bugs who are just spreading the spores all over the place. I keep waiting to see them pop up all over my lawn.
Will winter kill them off or will they just be back next year? HELP!
Thanks
Anne |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: HELP! Getting side of Stinkhorn mushrooms
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I'm sure no expert on mushrooms, but if I felt like you did, I'd just pick the mushrooms and put them in the garbage so that the spores (when they are ripe) don't fall in the same place. If you just let them be, they'll soon dry up and be gone anyway; this is what naturally happens once their fruiting cycle is done.
Apparently stinkhorns like a substrate of rotting wood - if they do return, maybe you could try removing the mulch or whatever they are growing on? I doubt very much they would spread to your lawn - perhaps you're thinking of fairy-ring mushrooms (which are entirely different than stinkhorns)? In our experience, mushrooms don't usually regrow where we saw them the previous year in our yard (unforunately!) - they seem to be pretty transitory things. Have you had these come back year after year? If not, then I'd guess you probably won't see them again next year anyway (based on our limited experience). By the way, sort of the opposite of your "problem", we are attempting to create a woodland-type setting in parts of our yard, and would like nothing more than an interesting variety of mushrooms to spontaneously arise here and there! (The thought occurred to me to collect some mushrooms from the woods and scatter them about with the hope that the spores would ripen and find suitable habitat, but I missed my chance this year...) |
RE: HELP! Getting side of Stinkhorn mushrooms
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| Goodness! If you want interesting mushrooms you are more than welcome to come dig up my stinkhorns lol This is the first time I have seen these things. I do hope they will not come back next year. It took quite awhile to even identify what they were (thank goodness for the internet!) Thank you for your input. |
RE: HELP! Getting side of Stinkhorn mushrooms
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| Our yard is a mushroom farm this year. We have had mushrooms of various kinds all spring and summer and are just having a large flush right now as it has recently rained. There is a big white mushroom growing in the middle of a Cerastium tomentosum. Our yard was carved out of a wild bush, in his infinite wisdom, the caterpillar operator pushed a bunch of chokecherry and saskatoon shrubs into the huge topsoil pile. This rotted away for over a year and then we moved the topsoil to spread it around the yard. We have literally thousands of sticks buried in the topsoil which we are forever pulling out. Well it has proved to be fertile ground for mushrooms, along with the fact that we finally got some rain this year, not a lot, but enough to fuel a mushroom boom. We also mulch with chipped poplar, chokecherry and saskatoon but the mushrooms are more concentrated in the topsoil. Following is a good website for identifying mushrooms. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Fungi of Saskatchewan
Help with Stinkhorns
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| Help. My son had a problem with stinkhorns last year around his pool area. He's ready to spend thousands of dollars to remove the mulch they were growing in and put down new mulch just so he doesn't have to see the ugly stinkhorns again. Is there a better (and cheaper) way of not getting these horrid stinkhorns back this summer. I read where these will probably not grow in the lawn; true?? Will they spread around the house or be confined to the pool area? Or is it anybody's guess. I hate to see him hire someone to remove all the mulch, spread the new mulch for a few stinkhorns here and there. Any input will be well appreciated. |
RE: HELP! Getting side of Stinkhorn mushrooms
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| I'm in Georgia and have acidic soil, which apparently mushrooms thrive in. I identified the two varieties in my yard as potentially poisonous (little brown mushrooms and Amanitas)-- which perhaps I'm mistaken... but after hours of internet researching, those are the closest varieties they resemble. One website suggested Lime, which I put down yesterday. As of this evening, no more mushrooms (they were growing back faster than I could pull them previously). Unfortunately, the lack of mushrooms also coincides with a change in weather (rain has stopped over past 3 days). However, Lime is very inexpensive so it is definately worth a shot. Make sure to water it in well- especially if you have pets. |
RE: HELP! Getting side of Stinkhorn mushrooms
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| I was also going to suggest putting down limestone to see if that gets rid of them. There is also no sense removing the old mulch and putting down new mulch as the same problem will occur. If the limestone doesn't work, maybe using some Round Up might help or even some boiling water might kill them? Debbie |
RE: HELP! Getting side of Stinkhorn mushrooms
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| My daughter was weeding a mulched area around my patio when she came upon "eggs". The next day there were about 15 of those "alien" looking fungi all over the mulch. I also noticed the flies on top...didn't know they spread the spores...the Round-Up did kill them, so we dug up the rest of the "eggs" and left them out in the sun to dry up before sprouting...hope they won't be back next year...very creepy if you ask me. Also we noticed a large number of wolf spiders in that same mulch...do they have anything to do with those eggs? The only other fungi that we ever saw on hardwood mulch before looked like someone "got sick", if you get the picture. Never saw stinkhorns before this year...have lived in this same house for 20 yrs. |
RE: HELP! Getting side of Stinkhorn mushrooms
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| those stinkhorns are dreadful; I have managed to mostly get rid of mine thru hard work: 1. digging out eggs, any affected mulch, and of course the stinkhorns themselves, disposing of them carefully and using disposable gloves so as not to spread the spores around.2. mixed up a copper-based fungicide solution and spraying down the soil and mulch. The eggs seem to cluster in and under very finely shredded mulch, and much of my mulch (it has been a wet summer) seemed to have spore-y looking white thread-y stuff in it, so I got rid of that. Additionally, it is sometimes hard to see the stinkhorns as they hide in dense foliage like day lilies and under shrubs and plants. What I am doing is looking out for flies, which tips me off to the presence of the stinky stuff. I think it is important to get right to it and not procrastinate, as the spores (the sticky black-ish goo on the tip of the orange thing) are spread easily by those flies, leading to a larger problem.As much as these things are interesting, they are also incredibly repulsive, particularly as mine were right outside the living-room windows, in my small urban front yard! I guess at least I don't have the "dog-vomit" fungus as well, is the bright side. As much as I love my garden, those stinkhorns made me want to pave it over completely, at least for a fleeting moment. |
RE: HELP! Getting side of Stinkhorn mushrooms
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Anybody tried chamomile tea as a fungicide ? I use it to
protect sprouts and seeds. |
RE: HELP! Getting side of Stinkhorn mushrooms
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| I guess I'm not alone with this stinkhorn thing. It really spooked me out, not knowing what they were. I found 2 growing under one of my mums. I got rid of the eggs and the mulch (it was a small garden). I never thought I'd be looking forward to the first frost. (i think that will get rid of any others.) |
RE: HELP! Getting side of Stinkhorn mushrooms
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| I have the problem now..have been at my present location for 4 years and this is the first summer I seen these smelly, nasty thing! I faithfully go out everyday to dig up what's above ground and the eggs and thankfully after 3 weeks of this I notice the problem has decreased. However, I do not get them much in my flower beds. My problem, thankfully, seems to be limited to my lawn. We've had hurricanes coming through (florida) which resulted in trees coming down..I notice that they sprout up where trees used to be so I think the problem originates in roots still in the ground and rotting. My efforts have to find a solution via the internet has been fruitless-I can't even get a name of a fungicide to specfically eradicate these things! I am preparing to try EC-888 (a lawn-safe fungicide) which I think will work for the "brown Spots" my lawn has...if they work on stinkhorn I will update this posting. Until then, keep on diggin'! |
RE: HELP! Getting side of Stinkhorn mushrooms
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| Alright, I'm always the one to create problems. Contrary to what I've read here, yes the Stinkhorn can thrive in lawn and they do. My first observation (and this is not a joke) was when I saw what looked like someone played a joke on me and buried a chicken headfirst in my lawn. All I saw was two chicken legs sticking up out of the ground right in the middle of my lawn. I've had the problem for about 4 months now with no end in sight. I get thirty to forty a day and they stink! My lawn looks like a giant dead carcus with all the flies hanging around. These are the Lantern Stinkhorn. I believe they may have been brought in from Wild turkeys in the area who left droppings on my lawn. I spoke to a garden nursery in town and they didn't even know what it was, but they seemed to agree that wild turkeys may have had something to do with them. I created a small panic in the nursery and made a new enemy when the counter person got stinkhorn sludge all over his fingers as he inspected the sample I brought in. I have searched long and hard for a way to get rid of them and the concensus is that you can't. I start my day with a garbage can and small shovel just to try to dig them up by the bulb before the flies get to them. I have tried Nitrogen, round up etc. but have only managed to leave my yard looking like the moon with funny little stinkhorn thriving while flies gently bounce from one stinkhorn to the next. Everything else has been killed. My neighbors are watching with anticipation as they now know these can spread. I also tried the advice of an earlier post to enjoy them. That worked for about two months and the kids got tired of the rescue the buried chicken game. This is getting old and worse fast! Much to my dissapointment most websites seem to think these little Demon fungi are enjoyable or fascinating. A delicacy in china? Let me see someone eat them and I'll believe it. Nasty. You can have mine for your garden anytime, but. You'll be sorry! Rich |
RE: HELP! Getting side of Stinkhorn mushrooms
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| As Stinkhorns are a fungi anything labelled herbicide (such as roundup) will do nothing more than kill the rest of your garden. Only fungicides will work to control them. They are in the phylum basidiomycota therefore research fungicides available in your area that control basidiomycetes. Products containing 2,3-dihydro-5-carboxanilido-6-methyl-1,4-oxathiin may work. |
RE: HELP! Getting side of Stinkhorn mushrooms
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Killing Stinkhorn Mushrooms...
I've had these stinky serpents for 3 years now. I've tried straight bleach on them and it only worked for a week or so but they came right back. My stinkers keep coming back in the same general area each year. That sounds like a desperate move I agree- but unless you've had them you can't imagine the raw stench. Well it's a new year and guess what- yep those stinking critters have emerged again. My wife wanted to cry and the kids laugh at the terrible smell. It really makes it hard to enjoy the outdoors. We have 5 stinkhorns popping up all at he same time with in 5 feet of eachother. Just look for the flys and they will help you locate the smallest stinker. Like I said they just started to poke up from the mulch and I figured I'd try a new assault tactic this year. SALT - that's right table salt. I ripped open a new container of salt and buried each stinker. It was almost instant that the smell had completely gone away. The flys were confused and they quickly lost interest. It has been 2 days and still no smell and it looks like the size of the stinkhorns have not grown. Is this a cure or a quick fix....? I don't even know at this early stage of the mushroom killing game , but I know we can enjoy the outdoors again without the smell. Hope this helps. Tim Babyak
North Carolina |
RE: HELP! Getting side of Stinkhorn mushrooms
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| Thanks for the tip Tim from North Carolina! I just tried your suggestion to use good old SALT. I will let you know if I get the same good results you got. Greg S.
Florida |
RE: HELP! Getting Rid of Stinkhorn mushrooms
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| Ok... the creepy-repulsive little sh_its (no pun) have crept into my mulch. I have talked with the experts (lol) and I'm told to keep digging up the mushrooms and egg sacks. Has anyone really found anything that works? Tomorrow it's more expensive chemicals and a new oxygen tank. |
RE: HELP! Getting side of Stinkhorn mushrooms
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| I posted yesterday but for some reason it did not come up here. I'd like to hear from the people that used lime, salt and the other suggestions. Did they work? |
RE: HELP! Getting side of Stinkhorn mushrooms
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| Being an amateur mycologist just starting out I'd have to say the boilling water idea mabee the most plausible with a litte "NO-DAMP" in the water would probably do the trick. because mycelium which is that white fluffy or stringy stuff spreading just under the surface..anyhow it cannot survive too much heat (thermal death occurs at 104 degrees F) in a lab setting.just my 2cents. |
RE: HELP! Getting side of Stinkhorn mushrooms
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| What you have is called an Elegant Stinkhorn which is part of the mushroom family. Being that mushrooms are considered a fungus, any fungal remover will work. Check with your local plant nursery for a recommendation. |
RE: HELP! Getting side of Stinkhorn mushrooms
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| I know this is an older topic but parts of this message sound like what I experienced so hopefully someone can tell me where to look for more information. The other day, after it rained and as we were leaving, I noticed something out in the back yard in the lawn. When I got closer it was a big white pile of something that resembled cottage cheese (closest I can describe it) and several flies were buzzing around. The comments in this message that refer to "dog-vomit" fungus struck a chord for what this might be. I vaguely remember seeing a mushroom in that particular area of the yard just a day or so before. I couldn't deal with it then as we were leaving for the weekend so he quickly sprayed it down with a hose. We just got back today and I didn't see again but am worried something will now overtake the whole area. Any ideas on what this could be, some search words that may help me find more information? So far, I am not turning up much. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you. |
RE: HELP! Getting side of Stinkhorn mushrooms
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| Well I am glad that I am not the only one being plagued by these creepy things. I found one of these "fingers" in my fiance's mulch last Friday. I was so disturbed by this that I made him dig it out at 9:30 at night along with what I know now to be "eggs". Well now we have another one with more eggs. After reading about them I am even more disturbed by them. He and my daughter are having a good time with this, teasing me about "the finger" coming to get me. I am having much anxiety over these horrible creatures. If anyone has tried a fungalcide or fungal remover please let me know if it worked and what it was. I am going to drive him nuts digging those things up all summer! Thanks |
RE: HELP! Getting side of Stinkhorn mushrooms
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| Am getting stinkhorns in my front yard rocked area. Went to a home gardening store and was looking for some fungicide. An employee told me to try digging up the stinkhorn and eggs and then pour a good amount of mouthwash (Listerine or similar) into and around the site. Tried it a couple of days ago and have not gotten any back in that site. Am getting some in other places. The area had a tree that was cut down. Maybe the decaying roots etc. are where the stinkhorns are growing. Guess I have to go get some more mouthwash!!! |
RE: HELP! Getting side of Stinkhorn mushrooms
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| I did a little searching for every one. I read this and it sounds sensible to me. Do nothing and it may be there next year too http://www.wikihow.com/Kill-a-Stinkhorn-Fungus |
RE: HELP! Getting side of Stinkhorn mushrooms
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| Easy to get rid of just pour 1/4 cup gasoline on each one as it pops out. Even if it's right next to your prize plant. The stinkhorn soaks up the gas down to it's roots, it will be dried up, dead and not stinking in 3 or 4 hours.I killed about 50 in 2 or 3 weeks 2 years ago, haven't see or smelled one since. |
RE: HELP! Getting side of Stinkhorn mushrooms
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| Help! We are overcome by these nasty looking mushrooms. Everyday we dig them up and everyday they're back. They are in my perennial garden, as so I'm not quite sure as how to kill them. I will try the gasoline method and hope I don't kill anything else. They make me see sick looking at them. The other day I saw a squirrel getting ready to eat one, but I chased him away, not knowing if they are poisonous. We have never had them before ,and only hope next year they decide on living elsewhere. Thanks to any one on advise on how to get rid of them . Bev |
RE: HELP! Getting side of Stinkhorn mushrooms
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| HOLY COW! I DROVE UP TO MY DRIVEWAY TODAY AND NOTICED A HUGE WHITE FINGER GROWING IN MY FRONT YARD THAT WASN'T THERE WHEN I LEFT AND AFTER MUCH INTERNET SEARCHING APPARENNTLY I HAVE SEEN MY FIRST STINKHORN MUSHROOM. MY HUSBAND PULLED IT UP AND WALKED IT TO THE GARBAGE CAN AND PEW!! THESE SHROOMS ARE DISGUSTING! ANY TRIED AND TRUE METHODS FOR GETTING RID OF THEM IF THEY BECOME A PROBLEM? THANKS! |
RE: HELP! Getting side of Stinkhorn mushrooms
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- Posted by ditas z4b-5 Iowa (My Page) on
Wed, Sep 9, 09 at 23:04
| Hi - I too, just discovered these red-orange sticks sprouting out from under a few of my mini-rose shrubs ... stench is not so overwhelming because of my 6 Lavender shrublettes helped by sending up wafts of lovely fragrance ... a deodorizer, if you will!!! Common sense told me to search under MUSHROOMS & hoping to find what the strange things were, certainly REMEDY!!! ... as I picked up with bare fingers ... help! ... yuck! One site I read said to use *Garden Soap* solution, another= fungicide ... remembering Cornell U Formula ... solution for sawfly caterpillars that skeletonize rose bushes ... I searched & found CORNELL UNIVERSITY MUSHROOM BLOG ... scary!!! ... watched a short video "Time Lapse Stink" a condenced form of a 4-day watch ... a "jaw-dropping spectacle"(to paraphrase author of study) ... google it, I recommend highly ... just for the brave hearts!!! LOL I collected those white eggs & will try recommended *mason jar* experiment!!! Have fun ... I think!!!? |
RE: HELP! Getting side of Stinkhorn mushrooms
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- Posted by ditas z4b-5 Iowa (My Page) on
Sat, Sep 12, 09 at 11:25
| Hi again - BTW I went on rounds checking my several other beds ... w/ fingers crossed these orange finger-like-shrooms, seemed to be confined in a garden patch where pine-wood chips were used as the cover mulch, when I had it expanded in 2006 ... 'wonder if the pine chips are more conducive to the growth of this variety. On my other beds I've used cedar mulch. There are mushrooms popping up from the grass, as expected, around the trees we have removed in the past few years, but nothing like this STINKHORN ones ... would anyone know if indeed there are certain, rotting woods/roots more friendly to these guys? TIA to feedback!!! €;) |
RE: HELP! Getting side of Stinkhorn mushrooms
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| OK, so we've seen Salt, Listerine (alcohol), gasoline, bleach -- the WikiHow site above tells you how to physically remove them, and the bleach method. Can anyone (a scientist?) out there say why or why not to Salt or alchol (can I use house-brand rubbing alcohol?)? They both seem like drying agents, and seemingly more benign to other vegitation and kids and dogs than other options... Anyone with any luck yet?? Thanks!!! We're stinky!!! |
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