stinkhorn fungus

Discussion in 'Garden Pest Management and Identification' started by thetrugs, Dec 16, 2008.

  1. thetrugs

    thetrugs Member

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    How do you kill these stinkhorn fungus, I just found 5 of these in my mulch around my trees and bushes and I have been trying to find the dead animal for a week, until these popped up. Does anybody know?
     
  2. fish dr

    fish dr Active Member

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    Give up now. You can't kill them. Maybe you can minimise their unpleasant effects, however.

    The offensive stinkhorn is just a fruit. It's like an apple. The mycelium, like the whole apple tree, is huge and is under the ground. Fungicides are incredibly toxic, and you don't even know the extent of the mycelium. This is true of all mushrooms, not just stinky ones.

    There are also a lot of questions that you also can't get reasonable answers to:

    What area does it cover? How deep does it go ? Which fungicide will kill it ? Where is my space suit (for spraying) ? Will it poison children, dogs and cats, squirrels, birds ? how much will it cost ? Will it even work ? Will it come back ?

    Often, in time, and left alone they will deplete whatever they are feeding on, and die out.

    I think the happiest people who are afflicted with stinkhorns, are the ones able to consider STINKHORN PATROL a new hobby.

    The mycelium, in my experience is pretty smart and the purpose of the fruit is to produce and spread the fungus spores. If you pick or destroy its fruit, it will know, and will produce more fruit. I have used this knowledge to promote large and frequent crops of good edible mushrooms by always picking them just before the spore release starts.

    I dont know if it would work, as a compromise, to make a tent over the stinkhorn with a bag and some coathanger. Maybe, with the stink (hopefully) contained by the bag, and the mycelium satisfied that it has been allowed to produce spores, the smell will be less, and your fruitings less frequent. Destroying them will only prolong the problem.

    Trying is the best I can suggest.

    I hope some of my colleagues on this forum will weigh in with their ideas on the subject. We are sadly short of mushrooms (sob) to ID at this time of year.
     
    Last edited: Dec 16, 2008
  3. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Agree 100% with fish dr.

    Also worth remembering that stinkhorns perform a valuable service in the garden, converting mulch into plant food.
     
  4. C.Wick

    C.Wick Active Member

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    U can always dig up the un'hatched eggs of them and cook them up also? :o) Do you know which variety of stinkhorn u have? i'm one of those weird people who find ANY kind of fungi fascinating....
     

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