Stink Horns.

[NovemberMorn]

I don't know if this has been talked about in the past, I have only just seen the gardening section.

I have a recent problem with a fungus that is growing in the garden, I googled and they are called 'stinkhorns'. The latest one popped up, and it grew big overnight, only a few hours after we filled a hole in with topsoil.
The main problem is, true to their name, they actually do stink horribly.
So far we have been tying them tightly in recyclable bags and putting them in the bin...the smell seeps through though, everytime the bin is opened the stink wafts around.

Any ideas?

Do you have a compost bin? An enclosed one, or bury it under something else. You might end up growing more mushrooms though. Is there a local woodland/nature reserve near you that wouldn't mind? I release snails there and no one cares.

Mushroom season doesn't last long.

Yes, they go in the compost bin and it does have a lid...but they still stink the bin out.
If mushroom season is short, hopefully we won't be getting many more, but they have ben coming up for over a month now.
I have a feeling the fact that now peat is no longer included in shop bought soil and compost, other stuff is going in that is ideal for mushroom growth.

According to this

https://www.wildfooduk.com/mushroom-guide/stinkhorn/

They grow from rotting wood. I wonder if they might grow from wood chips used as mulch.

Thanks (for both who have replied)

I bet the compost does contain rotting wood now they have had to replace peat...I know it's nowhere near as good as compost we used to buy a few years ago.

My heart dropped when I saw the stinkhorns will grow until November, they really are ugly horrible things, and it's true, you do smell them before you see them.

Spore Stop. You’re welcome.

That wouldn't work, but thanks anyway.

Have you tried it? It does stop fungus as well as horse tail spires ao son’t be ao quick to dismiss it.

A product or spray targeting spores will not get rid of stinkhorn mushrooms. Stinkhorns grow from underground "egg" structures fed by a vast network of hidden fungal threads living off rotting wood and mulch. Killing surface spores does not stop the underground fungus from growing new mushrooms.

If it's any consolation OP the stinkhorns at least aren't poisonous, if a visiting Australian uses them in a dish. They don't seem to be actively harmful to other plants, although they're also not symbiotic so not beneficial either. The RHS suggests trying to break up the mycelium which might stop the fungus accumulating the necessary energy to produce the fruiting bodies. Also removing the rotting wood, if possible. I've been buying Melcourt's Sylvagrow compost. Mostly because it doesn't contain green waste, I was sick of finding plastic and how unrotted (although it varied) other brands often were.

Thanks. I read they are not harmful to other plants, in fact, they grow in good fertil soil, which is one plus point, but the smell is enough to drive us inside on a hot day.

I am convinced the compost they now sell in garden centres and nurseries is full of god knows what to bulk it out in replce of peat....which was far more nurishing for most plants.

I even have small white mushrooms (thankfully with no smell) growing in an indoor plant I recently repotted with the appropriate soil.

I have a stumpery and we got stink horns one year. We were the talk of the neighbourhood and people dropped in to see them.

They’ve never come back since.

The stinkhorns, not the people. We are not yet totally ostracised. (Might be if we get a pampas)

😆

Growing together they would CERTAINLY make a talking point. 😏