I have a nasty mushroom that grows in my flower beds they call it the stinkhorn. It looks like a penis! It definitely stinks too. I can smell them way before they pop up and they seem to just grow overnight. They’re so nasty, i’m hoping you have some kind of spray I can use to make them disintegrate without having to touch them. What I found is that where one is growing, underneath it will be little golf ball sized pods that will grow out in another day or two. Sometimes I find 5-10 of these in a group, its so disgusting. Anything I can use on them? They collect hundreds of gnats too, so nasty.
This is the Phallus Fungus, also known as the Stinkhorn. They tend to grow around wood chips and the roots of trees when enough moisture is present. And you’re right, if you dig up the ground underneath one, you’ll find pods developing that usually take a few days to pop up.
We actually sell an aerosol you can spray them with that will both kill the bugs on them and make the mushroom disintegrate overnight. Give it a good soaking, about 15-20 seconds per mushroom, and the next day it will be 90% gone. FS MP AEROSOL comes with a straw you can use to spray into the hole up top. Lots of bugs will go inside it where they reproduce so be sure to spray the outside of it but in the hole too.
Sherry says
STINKHORN PHALLUS FUNGUS Is it poisonous?
Tech Support says
Sherry,
In general, the Stinkhorn is not poisonous to people or pets.
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Technical Support
bugspray.com
Elizabeth Shaw says
Is there anything larger that you can spray large areas covered in mulch rather than a spray can? And is this spray poisonous to pets?
Tech Support says
Elizabeth,
We do have a fungus killer that’s quite effective on the Stinkhorn.
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Its a wettable powder, no odor, you add .5 lb of per gallon of water and spray the mulch. Focus on where you see the stinkhorns as you need to saturate them and the ground where there will be more eggs. The stinkhorn eggs are like the size of a golf ball as you can see in the picture above so you want to make sure you get enough treatment applied under the ones you see.
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Side note, the Borathor will kill plants if you spray them directly so don’t treat any of the beneficial shrubs, bushes or flowers directly. For treating any stinkhorn alongside “good” plants, use the FS MP Aerosol.
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Here is a link to the Borathor WP.
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Borathor WP: https://bugspray.com/catalog/insecticide/wettable-powder/borathor-wp
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One bag is 1.5 lb so it makes 3 gallons.
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Lastly, keep the pets away when treating but once it dries, they can come back and go about their normal routine and not be presented with any hazard.
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Technical Support
bugspray.com