Stinkhorn Mushrooms

Hey Everyone,

On a recent walk through the garden, these unique stinkhorn mushrooms made a spectacular display of oddity in the old potato bed close to the special needs area.  What a beautiful specimen they were!

Mushroom on the far right is developing a
green slime that attracts flies and
beetles to spread its fungus.

In the home landscape they are rarely much of a problem, however, in the vegetable garden they not only create foul odors but attract many undesirable pests as well.  The excessive rains and constant wet ground have been a catalyst in the formation of these mushrooms.  I have placed a link below for a simple strategy to remove them should they become a problem and spread into your garden beds.

The best advice is to eradicate them while still in the egg-like stage of growth as this affords the best success of easy elimination without the use of fungicides.  As a word of caution, all sites and a horticulturist I spoke with recommend wearing disposable gloves when handling as the odor is very hard to remove from skin tissue.

For those who would like to view other varieties of the stinkhorn mushroom, Walter Reeves has some photos on his site that is also below for your convenience.

The foul odor emitted from these mushrooms is most often
equated to the smell of rotting meat
or a dead animal's carcase.

Links:

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/how-to-rid-your-garden-of-stinkhorn-fungus#b - simple straightforward strategy to remove stinkhorns naturally.

http://www.walterreeves.com/gardening-q-and-a/stinkhorn-mushroom-identification-and-control/ - link to Walter Reeves post on stinkhorn mushrooms with additional photos.

Happy Gardening and Best Wishes for a Happy and Healthy New Year,

Denise, Beds 25 & 29